nomad,
i maintain that it is easy to spot troops on the ground from high above. when sitting in an airplane 12 kms from the ground, i can see clearly the fields and trees on the ground, there is no reason why the aircraft pilots at 2km from the ground could not identify the troops to fix the target for bombing. Let remember that gps technology was not available for fighter-bomber at that time. i would expect that visual identification (+ some computerised calculation) is the main method for target identification.

the example you gave the driver of a travelling car could not observe surrounding objects is very funny. when you fly a few kms above the ground, the object on the ground will appear to move very slowly.

as to the 5%, i dont think you have anything to offer on that statistics that would deserve my attention.

GUYS, If nomad cant read vietnamese, maybe we can provide him with some statistics. he thought that with some basic background in the military, he would be able to evaluate dien bien phu battle. well, that is not correct. there have been tones of books written on the subject by experts and they all seem to agree that dien bien phu was well-executed by giap.

the more nomad venture out of his field, atm i assume to be military operation, the more disillusioned i find his view to be.

Don't waste your time, man. nomad is pretty much all by himself in his wild claims, whatever they might be. No ba que is ever gonna come to his aid and bash our General.

The French unconditional surrendered at DPB. Why are the Western media trying to cover this?

No, they're not. Journalists are educated. It's only nomad that's against the journalists.

Dien Bien Phu was nothing for the VNCH motherfu-kers, because they can b!tch and win even more spectecular battles. Even more spectecular then the Battle of Bach Dang won by Tran Hung Dao.

Again, stop aruging with the VNCH doggies because your neck will be hurt from constantly looking down.

Dien Bien Phu was an epic battle that reverberated across many colonized as well as newly independent countries in the 50's since it showed for the first time an Asian country had convincingly defeated a Western colonial power. The soldiers that fought under the French flag included many ex-SS German soldiers. These were the most fearsome, battle-harden German soldiers in WWII.

The VC didnt win that battle. The VICTORY of Dien Bien Phu belongs to the Vietnamese people! Long Live Viet Nam!

you talked like Gen. Võ Nguyên Giáp

VC wasn't even existed at the time. Please use the word properly in a proper historical context!!!

Ok Sorry.
Ho Chi Minh, Vo Nguyen Giap and the Vietnamese Communist Party didnt win that battle. The VICTORY of Dien Bien Phu belongs to the Vietnamese people. Long Live Viet Nam!
It pisses me off that the VC took all the credits!

Ok now you do sound like Uncle Ho

What does "Minh Rau" sounds like?
Hes just a promotional image used by the VC.

correction needed there. lolz are you a troll?

It is absolutely unbelievable that I am reminded that GPS technology was not available in 1954. And the rest of your comment is exactly what I described of those who are unfamiliar of certain aspects of life who are misled by simplistic depictions of war in particular and military affairs in general.

Could not observe surroundings? Try reading my reply and again. I distinctly demanded 'details'. The human eye and mind is geared towards movement and if there are masses, crowds or even clusters of troops moving on the ground, of course such movement would be seen. But the 37 mm anti-aircraft guns at DBP can reach up to 5,000 ft, nearly one mile, in altitude. I challenge you, the next time you leave your house, to see if you can make out the DETAILS of an UNMOVING object a quarter mile away.

The point was not about statistics, as in hard number of murders the Viet Minh committed upon orders from the Chinese. It was about the adoption of the measure that according to Mao, at least %5 of the population must be considered 'class enemy'. Surely an attorney should be able to make such a distinction.

And what statistics might those be?

What you said is a trademark of President HCM and General Giap. You might get sued for using the trademark without asking.