VIETNAM GENERAL REVEALS SECRET TO DEFEATING U.S.

In July 1968, revolutionary would-be assassin Võ Thi Thang was sentenced to 20 years of hard labour by the US-backed South Vietnamese government during its war against the Soviet-backed North. Her response, with a smile, was: “Twenty years? Your government won't last that long!” Seven years later, her prophecy came to pass, as the last of the Americans hastily retreated from the South’s capital, Saigon - paving the way for the reunification of the country into the Socialist Republic of Vietnam.

Vietnam embodies the saying, “It’s not the size of the dog in the fight, but the size of the fight in the dog that matters.” In a brutal, 20-year conflict that killed more than a million Vietnamese between 1954 and 1975, North Vietnam fought against the US and the South - and won. In this clip, People’s Army general Võ Nguyên Giáp reveals the secret behind his side’s success: high morale among the troops and widespread support from the people.

Vietnam - then a poor, largely agricultural country - showed that colonialism can be fought back against successfully. So did Angola, South Africa and Kenya. It’s a lesson we can still learn from. Flag independence gave way to neocolonialism, and the imperialist powers that looted Africa 100 years ago still do so today. But an educated, patriotic populace can break those chains. Don’t you think?