Customer Reviews

The Palace File

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The Palace File should be number one on Hamid Karzai's reading list! The promises made in secret between one nation's leader and another have little value, it seems. Some would argue that such secret pledges should never be made by the elected leader of a true democracy. "Our" sincere pledges never to abandon an ally and never to waste the blood sacrifices of American troops are well-documented in The Palace File. The documents speak for themselves.

Those who doubt American staying power in the "war on terrorism" will find much ammunition for their arguments in a quick read of this sad tale of failed adventure in Vietnam. Our new but familiarly avid "nation builders" need to study The Palace File before they charge full-speed down the same slippery slope toward ignominy.

This book has also been published in the Vietnamese language, and is a wonderful learning tool for students of Vietnamese who are preparing for official assignments in Vietnam.

Appendix A reproduces the official "Top Secret" communication received by Thieu from DC via the Saigon embassy. It is like an extension of the Pentagon Papers in the 1972-73 period and these are photocopies of Thieu's actual hardcopy so have his own handwritten notes and questions on them in places.

Letter 19, dated Jan 17, 1973, lists exactly what textual concessions (13 in total) the final cease fire agreement achieved for Thieu compared to the October agreement that he rejected (which resulted in the December bombing so trumpeted by militarists as a great victory of US application of force).

I searched online for the words in this particular communiue from Nixon and could not find it, so this book is the only place to see what the "Christmas Bombing" achieved (hint: not much).