The Dulles Brothers and Ho

[Ron Bulman]

I never realized the US involvement in the Vietnam War one might say originated with them.  Reading The Brothers by Stphen Kinzer.  Foster as Secretary of State wanted to nuke the Vietnamese at Dien Ben Phu on behalf of the French.

He and Allen of the CIA had taken down the leaders of Iran and Guatemala as purported Communists.  Their next target was Ho Chi Min.  

They failed miserably to the detriment of our and their history.  Hundreds of thousands of lives lost in total, and Ho won.

Much more detail here.

Was the fired Allen Dulles still supporting efforts to win the war against communism, for the rubber trees, in Vietnam when JFK was killed?  

[Matt Cloud]

"The rubber trees."

"... But what's puzzlin' you is the nature of my game 

... after all it was you and me."

 

 

 

 

Rescuing the World

The Life and Times of Leo Cherne

By Andrew F. Smith
Foreword by Henry A. Kissinger

Subjects: Biography

Paperback : 9780791453803, 272 pages, August 2002
Hardcover : 9780791453797, 272 pages, August 2002

 

A biography of one of America's leading humanitarians who, as an advisor to nine presidents, also had a lasting effect on American foreign policy.

 

 

 

 

 

Description

Leo Cherne's life brimmed with paradox and improbability. He was born in the Bronx to a poor, immigrant, Jewish family, and yet rose to the heights of economic and political power in WASP America. A successful entrepreneur and an unofficial advisor to nine presidents, he nevertheless devoted the majority of his time to humanitarian causes, particularly the International Rescue Committee, which he chaired for forty years. From Hungary to Cuba to Cambodia, Cherne traveled across the globe on behalf of political refugees. A consummate networker, he also had the uncanny ability to attract and cultivate talented people before they became prominent, including such figures as John F. Kennedy, Ronald Reagan, Patrick Moynihan, Claiborne Pell, Tom Dooley, William Casey, John Whitehead, and Henry A. Kissinger. He was presented with the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1984 by Ronald Reagan, who proclaimed that although never elected to governmental office, Leo Cherne had more influence on American foreign policy than most elected officials. The underlying theme of his life was that one person, without family contacts or wealthy connections, could make a difference worldwide in political and humanitarian affairs.

 

Andrew F. Smith is the president of The American Forum for Global Education and teaches at The New School University. He is the author of many books, including The Saintly Scoundrel: The Life and Times of Dr. John Cook Bennett and International Conflict and the Media.