Adding to extensive public knowledge about US leaders' imperialism, business expansion by force during a hidden, early period in Viet Nam has continued as the nucleus of US foreign policy worldwide through 2025. US leaders falsely claim that the US entered Viet Nam in 1954. But instead, US businesses operated in Viet Nam during 1865 to 1954, enabled by French invasion violence. Upon the 1954 defeat of the French, US leaders attacked, trying to continue the US business. That was the real reason for the US-Viet Nam War.

The claim of a 1954 entry is, thus, obviously false. But it misleads many voters to think that—on that biggest US war since 1945—US foreign policy was noble, to fight communism. That false belief misleads many to think foreign policy has continued into 2025, to be noble. But it has produced a false War on Terror.

People say, ‘But what can I do? I am just one person. In “Lions for Lambs,” a film probing the falsities of the so-called War on Terror, Robert Redford tells a student, “They bank on your willful ignorance.” Newspaper writer Meryl Streep challenges others with, “Connect the dots.” The dots start with the real reason for the US-Viet Nam War. They connect to attempts at business expansion by force in Gaza, Afghanistan, Africa, South America, Climate Change, and many other areas.

In 1954, Viet Nam defeated the French invasion. That threatened to end the hidden, 1865 to 1954 US business that had been enabled by force. So, in early 1955, US leaders attacked, trying to continue their early business. That was the real reason for the US-Viet Nam War. Free of blame by the US public for the hidden, wrongful US attack, US leaders have similarly pursued US business expansion by force elsewhere, through 2024.

The false claim of a 1954 entry hides that real reason.

As part of that false claim, a false assertion is that a country called “North Viet Nam” existed that the US fought. But north and south, Viet Nam remained one country after 1954. The overwhelming majority in the south, like in the north, helped defeat the French in 1954 and then in the 1960s they defended against the US.

It is “an absurd concept” to think the 1954 Geneva Accords created two countries, historian Joseph Buttinger wrote. Click for full quote. Article 14(a) of the Accords says, in plain words, that France had a temporary duty to administer the southern “regrouping zone” until elections. That means Viet Nam was not split into two countries. Instead, the Accords simply created two temporary zones  to separate the armies of the two sides, which were entangled in many places.

The Accords explicitly stated that the temporary line between the north and south zones “should not in any way be interpreted as constituting a political or territorial boundary.”

The Accords also prohibited the US from inserting soldiers into Viet Nam. After all, Viet Nam was one country.

Ignorance of the one-country principle of the Geneva Accords allows business expansion by force by US leaders, which led to the statement in “Lions for Lambs,” that “They bank on your willful ignorance.”

Viet Nam knows that most southern people fought tooth and nail against the illegal US insertion of soldiers. It was as if a foreign nation invaded the US and at New Orleans. Most US citizens in the south would fight back, tooth and nail.

Corporate Tsunami in Countryside Paradise : 1875–1900 Origin of US War in Viet Nam (2020) details the early US business. And, in the 1940s, US leaders set up a system for worldwide business expansion, often by force. They decided not to tell the US public. As part of that system, In 1954, the US leaders pressured France to depart from Viet Nam. Then, the US leaders attacked trying to continue the early business.

Betrayal by Foreign Policy Fault Line 1619–2024, US in Viet Nam 1865–1975 (set for publication in late 2025) spotlights numerous fact patterns that show the real reason for the US-Viet Nam War was business expansion by force. Though stopping communism was a factor, it was not the main reason. This volume details how the US-Viet Nam War was part of a 1619–2024 pursuit of US business expansion, often by force, often against people of color.

At Viet Nam’s April 30, 2025 celebration of its 1975 victory, Viet Nam said that a US-Viet Nam strategic partnership exists, but that the war was a US imperial invasion. That was an appeal to the US public, if not the US government, to state the truth.

“But what can I do?” some say. Indeed, the false claim is pervasive in US high schools, colleges, books, websites, and discussions.

But now, voters can read the truth. The US claims it is a democracy. So, voters can require government to provide truthful facts to supplement the truthful facts that this volume documents. Then, voters could meet their traditional role to debate and guide the general direction of foreign policy. Should the US support fair trade and mutual economic growth like it says? Or should it pursue business expansion by force like it often does?

US soldiers who die for foreign policy deserve that much. The approximately 3.5 million citizens of Viet Nam, whe died after Viet Nam made repeated offers for mutual trade and peace during 1873 into the 1960s, deserved that much. Today’s world deserves that much.