Larry Berman's book, The Perfect Spy: The Incredible Double Life of Pham Xuan An is a fascinating read on many levels. First, I believe the book should be considered an indispensable volume in the vast collection of Vietnam War literature. It is more than an intriguing tale of espionage and history of the Viet Nam War, it's an enlightening view into the soul of the American press corps and how they provided cover and legitimacy to North Vietnam's most successful spy. An, working for his communists' masters, successfully deceived and manipulated the foreign press corps as well as U.S. and South Vietnamese security officials for the duration of the war. Truly An was one of the great spies of the Twentieth Century, whose chief enablers were well-known members of the American press corps.
The book unfortunately is colored by the author's desire to make An's treachery something we should accept and forgive, notwithstanding his direct culpability in the deaths of U.S. servicemen and untold numbers of South Vietnamese soldiers and civilians. If I had a nickel for every time An was referred to in the book as "charming" or "helpful" I'd have a nice start on my son's college fund. For the most part, these "friends" served as useful idiots to An, who played them like a fiddle. The larger question that remains unanswered is to what degree An succeeded in coloring press stories critical of U.S. policy. The book points out that almost all the newly arrived American correspondents in Viet Nam sought out An because he was a man of uncommon insight and had the best sources. An surely fed anti-American or anti-war views to the Viet Nam press corps, many of whom arrived in Viet Nam profoundly opposed to the war. He essentially gave them what they wanted to hear. An's impact on the U.S. press reportage must have been enormous. Despite An's professions of love and friendship for his American press colleagues, he must have been utterly amazed at how easily duped and trusting the anti-war journalists were.
The author quotes Frank McCulloch of Time who said of An, "I can say in retrospect that being a spy never warped his journalism." How could it not? I've never heard a more ridiculous statement and the book is full of quotes by An's former American colleagues that are equally ludicrous. But then they are trying their best to justify their association with this utterly charming and helpful communist spy. Robert Sam Anson was quoted as saying that the "delicious irony was that all the while the empire of Henry Luce, the great Asian anti-Communist, had been paying his (An's) salary." In truth the most delicious irony here is that anti-war journalists like Anson were willing pawns in planting communist slanted stories influenced and/or partially written by a North Vietnamese agent, who successfully manipulated the American press corps for years.
An, like all good spies, was calculating and cold blooded, but above all he was a master at manipulation. How else can one explain the loyalty of his former Time colleagues felt towards An even after they learned he betrayed them and their country. The most extraordinary part of the story is that An was able to continue to manipulate his press friends long after they found out he had duplicitously used them. With very few exceptions, his former war time press friends seemed all too happy to overlook An's treachery to forgive and even praise. This reveals quite a bit about the American Viet Nam press contingent, many of whom have gone on to make a great deal of money criticizing America's involvement in the war. They are eager to forgive enemies, but are less magnanimous when it comes to forgiving Westmoreland and Nixon. Most of these Viet Nam era journalists viewed the U.S. government/military as the main adversary so it's understandable they would be so quick to forgive An.
There is much that An does not share, by the author's own admission, presumably because it would be even too much for his loyal American friends to stomach. An claims that he only provided detailed analysis of events to North Viet Nam leadership. He also admits to helping plan the successful assaults on Saigon during the Tet Offensive (how many Americans and ARVN died in Saigon during Tet?) and to passing to the North Vietnamese advanced warning of impending offensives. Despite his denials, An undoubtedly provided lists of anti-communist South Vietnamese officers and officials that would eventually be liquidated by the Viet Cong. It strains credulity that An would not provide such lists. One can only guess what the brutal Viet Cong would do to those found on such a lists. What other murderous acts An conducted on behalf of NVA/VC one can only speculate.
An has quite a bit of blood on his hands, but we should forgive him, according to many sources quoted by the author, because he was a "nationalist" and loved his country. When the war was over, An even had the gall to send his family to the safe confines of America and later even persuaded his former friends at Time to underwrite An's son's education in the United States. It's ironic indeed that these journalists, whose careers were made by their so-called "principled" stand against the Viet Nam War, owe so much to a North Vietnamese spy. Fearing they were being used by the American military, our journalists were oblivious to the spy in the room who helped them write their stories. I highly recommend the book, but one has to read between the lines to understand the true value of the book.
