so the first indochina war. they declared independence in 1945. but declaring independence is one thing. getting it is something completely different. in february of 1946, the french return. they want to reassert control over their former colonies. in december of 1946, the viet men, they staged their first attacks against the french. and this launches an eight-year war. the communists are driven out of hanoi in the initial fighting. and then the communists withdraw into the mountainous region north of hanoi. in october of 1947, the french launched an extremely large operation called "operation lea." and they're trying to clean the communists out of this area. they hammer the communists really hard, but they have bases to fall back on and they have in some respects sanctuaries in china certainly to draw support from. in february of 1950, the head of the vietnamese communist military force, general jiap, he bien ffu opini. the north vietnamese, they fight with the french, they move from being a guerrilla army, a light, small guerrilla force to being

heavy downpours also in southern thailand could be targeted and skirting across the indochina peninsula chances of thunderstorms will be remaining over the weekend. bangkok 34 degrees. chances of thunderstorm activity there. and a pair of 8s in beijing. seoul looking at tokyo at 6 for the saturday high. still yet again another wintry weather there. and a long winter they're experiencing at-10 for the high. let's head over to the americas. finally things in the east are going to be making a great improvement as this cold front leaves the land masses. we'll still see some snow showers across the great lakes region and then towards new england. and then towards the gulf states finally things are going to be tapering off, yet again starting about sunday, the front is going to be back towards the area so the zone of drenching rain could be targeting louisiana, texas, arkansas, just around the arklatex region. the total amounts could exceed about 150 millimeters in some areas. things are going to get gusty in the pacific northwest. temperaturewise seattle 11 degrees and vancouver at 8. summer

then down towards the indochina peninsula showers in cambodia will move towards the north over the coursef thursday and it could become heavy at times. temperature wise getting up to 23 degrees in hong kong and 8 degrees in shanghai. 7 degrees in seoul with plenty of sunshine. tokyo again getting up to 14 degrees, but it will cool down to 9 degrees on thursday. now, heading over to the americas. it's mostly dry and warm in the east, but stormy and cool in the west. and in between these areas very strong winds are prevailing, red flag warnings have been posted for much of the southern half of the u. particularly dry in parts of new mexico as well as texas. the risk of wildfire is extremely high here. meanwhile, a low pressure system continues to track eastward along the u.s./canada border spreading widespread snow showers up to 20 centimeters is possible in southern manitoba. then we have another low pressure system moving across the central rockies spreading winter storm conditions. and back behind the system there's a lot of cool air, so as the cold front moves through, temperatures will

heavy downpours also in southern thailand could be targeted and skirting across the indochina peninsula chances of thunderstorms will be remaining over the weekend. bangkok 34 degrees. chances of thunderstorm activity there. and a pair of 8s in beijing. seoul looking at tokyo at 6 for the saturday high. still yet again another wintry weather there. and a long winter they're experiencing at-10 for the high. let's head over to the americas. finally things in the east are going to be making a great improvement as this cold front leaves the land masses. we'll still see some snow showers across the great lakes region and then towards new england. and then towards the gulf states finally things are going to be tapering off, yet again starting about sunday, the front is going to be back towards the area so the zone of drenching rain could be targeting louisiana, texas, arkansas, just around the arklatex region. the total amounts could exceed about 150 millimeters in some areas. things are going to get gusty in the pacific northwest. temperaturewise seattle 11 degrees and vancouver at 8. summer

scattered thunderstorms across parts of indochina and northern philippines and taiwan seeing anotheret day today. temperatures continue to be a little on the cool side for this time of year. just 15 degrees in hong kong. usually see 22 in the middle of march. 11 in shanghai, and chilly day in tokyo today at 9 degrees. as we head into north america, another winter storm to talk about here, up in the pacific northwest. now it is really going to get fairly intense for the northern mountains of california. you could see 90 centimeters of snow in the next 24 hours, accompanied by strong gusts. that will make travel hazardous in some areas. even as this system moves inland and starts to dissipate, there's a steady stream of moisture the next couple days. really the rest of the week looks wintry for canada, bc, through in towards central california. then we run into high, dry weather here. not always a good thing because we have a surge of warmth and may-like temperatures coming up from the south. however, it's going to be dry. that means potential for fire weather for the central and north

towards indochina, showers in the eastern half of the ninds.ore intense showers, so watch for flooding and land slides. highs up to 32 in manilla, 23 in hong kong, with foggy morning here. 7 degrees in seoul. 10 degrees in tokyo with sunny skies. heading over to the americas. deep trough of low pressure continues to bring cold, stormy conditions in the east. but unprecedented warmth -- i should say the west, and unprecedented warmth in the east. montana seeing up to 50 centimeters of snow in the next 24 hours. freezing rain in saskatchewan. particularly severe in southern, central plains, tornados not out of the question. and on monday, the threat moves into the mississippi valley. temperature wise, eastern two-thirds of canada and the u.s. will see warmer conditions. 25 degrees in winnipeg. to give you an idea how warm it is, normal high is minus 1 degree. 26 in chicago, which feels like mid june. d.c., 23 degrees, according to national park service in d.c. cherry blossom in full bloom this week. speaking of warmth, temperatures in eastern eur

now heading over to east asia, thundershowers are expanding over the indochina peninsula, cambodia andorthern thailand will be at the high risk of flash floods. meanwhile, rain showers on the south coast of china will continue into the next week. as for japan, widespread showers, southern half of the country. most of the precipitation will be gone by saturday afternoon. however, another round of rainy weather is on the way to impact the tohoku area as well as western japan. snow is also possible in tohoku starting sunday. heading over to the americas, a long frontal line has been sliding over the eastern u.s. and canada, spreading heavy precipitation and strong winds from eastern canada all the way down to the southern plains. however, finally, severe weather in eastern texas, louisiana and mississippi will come to an end on friday. so that's good news. however, torrential rain will continue over the weekend. so you do want to watch out for flooding. as the rain comes in, temperatures will drop significantly. we will show you the details in just a moment. meanwhile, drying out across m

now into east asia, thundershowers developing over much of the east indochina peninsula.bodiaill see heavy rain. the risk of flash flood is very high here. meanwhile, showers in the south coast will linger into next week. as for japan widespread showers to the southern half of the country but by saturday morning -- by saturday afternoon most of the precipitation should be gone. we may see some snow on saturday morning, 9 degrees in seoul, 8 degrees in shanghai and some light rain in taipei with 23 degrees. a long frontal line is still with you producing heavy rain and strong winds from eastern canada into the southern plains because of humid air from the gulf of mexico lots of things are going on in areas like eastern texas, louisiana as well as mississippi. we're talking about severe thunderstorms, large hail, damaging winds and even tornadoes, but as the rain comes in, temperatures will drop significantly. so the exceptional warmth will finally come to an end on your friday. we will show you the figures in just a moment. but behind that very dry, but as you can see a sy

towards the indochina peninsula, rain in southern vietnam and cambodia will move towards the northeast on your thursday. temperature wise, getting up to 35 degrees in bangkok, 23 degrees in hong kong, with some rain patches. cooling down to 8 degrees in shanghai. tokyo, again, 14 degrees, but it will drop to 9 degrees tomorrow. heading over to the american express, it's mostly dry and warm in the east. however, stormy and very cool in the west, and in between these areas, very strong winds are blowing and red flag warnings have been posted for much of the southern half of the u.s., particularly dry in parts of texas and new mexico. the risk of wildfires are dangerously high here. meanwhile, a low pressure system continues to track eastward over the u.s., canada border, spreading widespread snow showers here. up to 20 centimeters in manitoba in the next 24 hours. a system is moving over the rockies producing winter storm conditions. behind the storm, there's very cold air, that will continue to move southeastward, pushing down temperatures. so on your wednesday, cooling down to 2 degree

but light precipitation for indochina and the philippines, looking clear across much of the philippines. just a few scattered thunderstorms. here are the temperatures. 21 in taipei and hong kong. then we cool off to the north. but not too bad. 10 in tokyo, 8 in seoul, 5 degrees for beijing. heading to north america, to the west, you can see the swirling cloud. widespread snow here at the beginning of the day friday. but that's going to start to clear up for you. there is another round coming on its heels by friday night. we are still dealing with storms to the east. you can see a long front, just starting to push over the atlantic. that's going to give you a bit of a break in the severe storms. this will be snow for new england. again, moving out fairly quickly, but it will bring 20 centimeters to novembera scotia. this is going to take its place quickly, there will be the potential for more severe thunderstorms, all of this on your friday. here we go. this is the storm forecast. tornados, damaging winds, large hail and locally heavy rain possible across much of the eastern united state

scattered thunderstorms in indochina, and also another wet day in taiwan and into the northern philippinestemperatures improving a little to the south of china. hong kong coming in at 18 wednesday. tokyo meanwhile, 10 degrees forecast for the high. 9 in seoul. and finally we are getting above zero here, 2 degrees the forecast high for wednesday. and into north america, a very split picture here. you see all the clouds in the northwest. we have a snowstorm here, winter storm. it is going to be bringing significant amounts of snow, particularly to the upper elevations of northern california. very windy here, too. but anywhere west of that front line is going to be experiencing may-like warmth. very, very warm temperatures. departures of 17 degrees in some places. i'll show you some of the figures, in fact. let's go to the temperature chart. you can see the oranges moving into central canada. 7 degrees in winnipeg. 26 in chicago. 25 forecast in d.c. and to give you an idea of what the averages usually are in some of the places, rapid city, south dakota, up to 22 degrees thursday. usually see

down towards the south, looking nice and clear for indochina.nd we have a new tropical depression that has formed here in the south china sea. at the moment, it's just sitting over the water but it's slowly moving in towards the coast of vietnam. so we'll see consistent heavy rain here as well as high waves caused by some pretty strong winds coming in from the northeast. now as we head towards the philippines, heavy rain has been targeting central portions for the last couple of days. starting to ease off here. that's certainly good news. it's just going to be moving north. seeing those downpours hitting luzon. tomorrow, looking like a clear day across much of the country. and indeed we'll be feel something warmer winds from the south as well which will be fairly pleasant. all right. as we head into north america you can see the circulation in the cloud there. this is going to be a round of heavy rain at the coast and mountain snow. the olympics you can see about two feet of snow in the next 24 hours. it will be accompanied by strong gusts, too.

things are start to dissipate across indochina into the next 24 hours. more heavy rain will be taking aim at the central philippines. some places in last 24 hours have had 100 millimeters of rain. that's quite significant. if that continues into the next 24 hours, which it is likely to do, then, of course, we will see the higher risk for land slides as well as flooding. temperatures are going to be continuing to be fairly warm across much of central and even northern china as well. beijing seeing 20 degrees. this isn't going to last, though. some cooler air is going to spill down from the north and bring your high down to just around 10 degrees on friday. and, in fact, we'll be seeing rain turning over to snow toward the north of china. 13 degrees in tokyo. a bit of an improvement. into wednesday, we'll see a few degrees added on to that high. as we head into north america, another western storm is going to be bringing yet more wind and rain to the pacific northwest. we have a couple of lows across the u.s./canada border here. more severe weather with th

down towards the indochina peninsula, heavy rain will occur in cambodia as well as southern vietnam on your saturday. as for the highs, scorching day for you in bangkok with 37 degrees. cooler than average in shanghai with 11. tokyo dipping down to 9 degrees on friday, but 15 degrees on saturday. so very changing weather here. heading over to the americas. we can see rotating clouds over the central u.s., so severe thunderstorms are still impacting this area, and it hasn't moved very much, so the rainfall total will become even more significant. currently parts of alabama and mississippi are experiencing the brunt of it. tornado watches have been issued here. over the next 24 hours, as i mentioned, it won't move very much so the risk of flash floods is very high here. out towards the west, a wintry mix and freezing rain will move into central canada. meanwhile it stays dry across the west coast. however, as a strong low pressure moves in, things will turn wet and gusty over the weekend. as for the highs. historic warmth will continue across the western half of the u.s., getting up to 2

and indochina peninsula, wide spread scattered showers will be popping up. even isolated thunderstorms, gale, gusts, and also some large hail could be possibility here in southern thailand. taking a look at your temperatures, well, bangkok is going to be hot and hazy here at 35 degrees. hong kong will be a bit foggy in the morning hours at 19. seoul just seven degrees. and tokyo, ten degrees for the thursday high. all right. let's head over to the americas. things are going to be much messier as we progress in towards the week. we have a few system that will be just sweeping across much of the eastern portions of the united states. here in canada, also, ontario all of the way to quebec, those are going to be blowing snow and snow could be piling up a lot in the mountainous areas. and in the great lakes region we'll have an intense cold front swinging across the area. and that's going to be just colliding with the warm air surge from the gulf. thunderstorm activity will be seen in around gulf states even on wednesday. this is the set-up for wednesday. and her

things clearing out for much of indochina. if you can just see this very small pink dot here forming and heading towards southern vietnam, this is a low-pressure system that looks likely to become a tropical depression in the next 24 hours. we'll keep an eye on that one. also heavy rain continuing to target the central philippines. as we head into north america now, a big system once again targeting the northwest. now this one is going to be bring something heavy rain at the coast. and also significant mountain snow. that could be reducing visibility. the snow will be buffeted about by winds up 80 kilometers an hour. that could impair driving conditions certainly. across the u.s./canada border just here we've got thunderstorms continuing. actually going to be a lot of wintry mix and potentially some freezing rain right along this purple band where you see just north of the great lakes. so some of that could be a little bit nasty. here's where our severe thunderstorms are going to be today in the mid-mississippi valley. and the

heavy thundershowers and strong winds are impacting the southern half of the indochina peninsula, as well as much of the may le pen minutes la. as you can see, pink showing up, meaning very heavy rain in cambodia. up towards the north, the southeast coast of china is still dealing with a lot of rain. the risk of flooding is dangerously high here. meanwhile, stays dry across the korean peninsula and similarly dry across much of japan. however, as you can see showers will develop across the pacific side. now, temperature-wise, getting up to 23 degrees in taipei. but cooling down to 7 in seoul. tokyo, 5 degrees lower than yesterday with 11 degrees. and it will drop to single digits from tomorrow. now, heading over to the americas, we are looking at a long frontal line stretching from eastern canada all the way down to the southwestern u.s. a wintry mix to the north and rain in parts of the midwestern states and the central plains and winter storm conditions in the central rockies, up to 50 centimeters is possible in the next 24 hours. and behind the system there's a lot of cool air. so

further toward the south, scattered thunderstorms for the indochina peninsula as well as the philippines, but it shouldn't be anything particularly heaviy. seasonal light thunderstorms. japan will see an area of rain moving from west to east. most of it falling as rain apart from the mountainous regions of central japan. by the time it hits tohoku, it should be changing over the snow. a little chillier towards the north. but not too bad in tokyo. today ten degrees forecast for the high, eight in seoul and five in beijing. eight in shanghai as well, taipei and hong kong both at 21 degrees but a hot day in bangkok. 36 for your high. into north america we go. to the northwest we're seeing a system here starting to dissipate as it moves farther inland, which is certainly good news. this one a windy system bringing snow as well as coastal rain in the last 24 hour. but even as thins settle down here, there's going to be yet another system coming in on its heals friday night. something to keep in mind. go out to the east because really severe storms have been just ripping up the midwest and eas

looking pretty good down toward the south of indochina.owever, there is a tropical depression in town. it's just formed here in the south china sea. it's stationary right now but it's going it be moving very slowly toward southern vietnam and helping to really bring down those heavy rains as well as seeing some strong winds. we have a northeasterly flow which is quite consistent and that's going to be helping to bring high waves at the coast, too, over the next couple days. central parts of the philippines will see clearing. the heavy rain is starting to weaken off a little bit, but it's pushing up toward the north. luzon will be getting downpours. 31 degrees in manila. 24 in hong kong. actually temperatures looking pretty good all the way up to beijing, 19 degrees here. however, it is going to be changing. by friday, beijing back down to about 11 which is just about your seasonal average. we can already see that cold shot of air influencing ulan bator at 3 degrees and then we have the mid teens in seoul and tokyo, so warming up towards th

things are starting to dissipate across indochina into the next 24 hours. more heavy rain will be taking aim at the central philippines. some places in the last 24 hours have had about 100 millimeters of rain. that's quite significant. if that continues in to the next 24 hours, which it is likely to dohen we will see t higher risk f landslides as well as flooding. temperatures are going to be continuing to be fairly warm across much of central and even northern china as well. beijing seeing 20 degrees. this isn't going to last, though. some cooler air is going to spill down from the north. bringing the high down to about 10 degrees on friday. in fact we'll be seeing some rain turning over to snow towards the north of china. 13 degrees in tokyo. a bit of an improvement. into wednesday, a few degrees added on to that high. as we head into north america, another western storm is going be bringing yet more wind and rain to the pacific northwest. then we have a couple of lows across the u.s./canada border here. more severe weather with that. and it's going to be

years later, may 25th, 1954, bob accepted an assignment for life magazine to cover the french war in indochina. i didn't want him to go. i had to offer it to him. i was the executive editor of magnum and made the--such arrangements. i telephoned to him in tokyo and said, you know, 'y--don't go. it's not our war.' but he said, 'don't worry. i'll be back soon.' but on may 25th tw--two weeks later, he stepped on a land mine and died instantly. so when his film came in, i had his very last frame printed with the sprocket holes and everything with a black border around it. and a--as a kind of testament to this really tremendous photographer. one of the--he's one of the truly greats of the 20th century. c-span: and who's dirck halstead who took those pictures? >> guest: and i also had to help the family make funeral arrangements. we had a memorial service and the quaker meeting in--in amawalk, new yo--in purchase, new york, and then buried him in a sm--little quaker cemetery. and as we were putting him in the ground, a young photographer came up and one of the family members said to me, 'john, this

they still want french indochina. but at this point they will back off from the very aggressive phase ii and concentrate more on guerrilla war and try to rebuild their infrastructure, units and lick their wounds for a little while. now, what is important for them to be able to do this, one of the things that makes them able to rebuild after this is the situation in cambodia. now, cambodia is important in this war particularly for the communists grew the longer the war went on. they began using cambodia as a base area in the late '50s and they benefited from the fact that the prince was pretty pliable, didn't have a great grip on the couldn't pri. he decided he would appease hanoi. this didn't work out very well. the communists basically turned his country into a war zone as a result of it. and they eventually went to supporting the khmer rouge fighting against cianouk. it becomes critical for communist supply efforts in south vietnam. now, in 1970, a general -- cambodian general overthrows cianouk and starts fighting

french indochina. it's the conquest of south vietnam. that's what they want. they tell us the first thing we need to do is figure out the nature of the war. again, for our purposes for this, when you start your study of this case study, you start investigating this case study, think about that. what is the nature of this war? one of my colleagues back in newport, he talks about this being a war within a war within a war. and it's interesting perspective to think of because you have a multilayered series of events and activities obviously that are going on here. and different ways of fighting it. for the communists in many ways this is a revolutionary war. they want to expand communism in southeast asia. again, south vietnam is only the next stop on the road to that. and a regular warfare, guerrilla warfare is the how, but not all of it. of course, you have a regional war that develops here as well between north vietnam and the united states. and this, of course, spills over and allows cambodia and so on and south vietnam, the fighting in north vietnam as well

unfamiliar physical surroundings, it would be just as likely to affect our downfall as the jungles in indochina were to the colonial french troops. mr. speaker, it is clear the united states congress, the media and america's -- and america are truly focused on the dire economic situation here at home and i share those concerns. i also recognize in the importance of not turning our backs on the principle obligation vested in us as elected leaders to protect and defend the united states of america against enemies foreign and domestic. . the wars my father and brother fought in and the cold war we were engaged in when we first put on those uniforms 30 years ago, all of them were clearly defined. we knew our enemy, we knew his tactics. we knew his weapons and the uniform that he wore. we even at times, mr. speaker, laid down our arms temporarily to observe religious holidays like christmas and tet. with the advent of the 2 isst century bat -- 21st century battlefield that paradigm no longer exists. if we are to achieve our objectives we must be ready to adapt to changing circumstances. we cannot si

showers are clinging to the southeastern edge of china here and scattered thunderstorms across indochina. those are starting to dissipate in the next 24 hours, but there will be some spots of rain continuing across parts of vietnam. the philippines seeing scattered thunderstorm activity. rain heaviest to the north. here are temperatures. you can see they're diving down, even towards hong kong. rainy day for you, just 14 degrees. usually see the low 20s this time of year. 9 in shanghai. 11 forecast for tokyo. minus 6, still chilly in u lamb about a tour. in america, a winter storm in the pacific northwest. coastal rain, mountain snow. as the system progresses inland, it is going to be dying down a little bit. however, as it heads south here, you can see the cold front. we're going to be seeing significant snow, maybe 45 sent meters forecast kads and olympus. that's for monday. then you run into severe weather, low frontal system stretches across the southern plains to the gulf of mexico. around the ark-la-tex, you'll see severe storms sunday night into monday. tornado warnings are posted