Fifty Years From Paris

Fifty years ago today, envoys of the United States, North Vietnam, and South Vietnam met in Paris to sign the document that ostensibly ended the war in Vietnam. The Nobel committee promptly bestowed its peace prize on the chief negotiators, Henry Kissinger and Le Duc Tho. No amount of international celebration, however, could suppress the discontent of both North Vietnam and South Vietnam with the agreement. Scarcely had the champagne flutes been drained before the longtime antagonists were fighting for dominance in the South Vietnamese countryside.