Chipster: Thanks for the Hearnden reference. I've skimmed it too, but will now read it carefully (I have it here). My impression formed some time ago is that he is good on FRENCH imperialist motives, but less so on US economic motives. But I may be wrong. I'd encourage you to respond to the following: WHY is/was the US anti-communist? What is anti-communism all about, if not, ultimately, about the defense of capitalism? And what is that if not a defense of exploitation? Therefore, down at the bottom of all the anti-communism -- or so it seems to me -- lie economic motives. Surely they get voiced clearly from time to time. Consider the following quotations: "I am an investment banker by trade, and I speak as an investment banker when I say that today's less developed nationsl are tomorrow's richest economic and political asset." -- C. Douglas Dillon, former Secretary of the Treasury, _Department of State Bulletin_, 5/6/58. "In the coming decades ... American policy regarding raw materials will need to give close attention to the underdeveloped countries ... in Southeas Asia. Our purpose should be to encourage the expansion of low-cost production and to make sure that neither nationalistic policies nor Communist influences deny American industries access on reasonable terms to the basic materials necessary to the continued growth of the American economy." -- Percy Bidwell, former Director of Studies, CFR, _Foreign Affairs_ 10/58. "Let me use your pages to make this proposal: A massive invasion of South Vietnam by American industry ... In the modest development effort that presently exists, a number of American-sponsored enterprises have been eminently successful." Guy Francis Startk, chief industrial development adviser for U.S. foreign service in Taiwan and Saigon, in WSJ 11/11/67. "Vietnam thus does not exist in a geographical vacuum -- from it large storehouses of wealth and population can be influenced and undermined." -- Henry Cabot Lodge, _Boston Globe_, 2/28/65. There's a relationship between business leaders and government leaders. It seems to me that this should have been explored somewhere. I'd appreciate your comments on these questions -- especially on the matter of anti-communism and economic motives. -- Bobby4N