What linchpin misleads US voters, hiding a 1954–2026 imperial foreign policy?

The linchpin is, on the biggest war since 1945: Virtually 100 percent of US voters are misled to believe that the US entered Viet Nam in 1954. Thousands of hidden documents show that the US entered decades earlier: US businesses operated in Viet Nam during 1865–1954, enabled by French invasion brutality. A State Dept consular office opened there in 1889. This business enabled by force was ignoble, not noble.

Viet Nam being the biggest war since 1945, whether its purpose was good or for evil remains important in the views of US voters. Falsely believing the US entered in 1954, many voters believe the purpose was good. To fight communism. But starting in 1955, US leaders attacked by a proxy force, trying to continue the early business expansion by force. And, since the 1975 defeat of the US, US leaders have continued business expansion by force elsewhere. Many voters remain fooled. But the purpose has been for business expansion, often by force, like in Viet Nam. This has been an evil force behind the 100-plus coups, destabilizations, and invasions.

Many 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, a professor played by Robert Redford tells a student, “They bank on your willful ignorance.” A newspaper writer played by Meryl Streep challenges others with, “Connect the dots.”

The dots connect, with the false claim at the center. The false claim is presented in detail in this writer’s two books, in https://briandroesch.substack.com, and in this website.

The resulting evil foreign policy has three main effects:

1. US soldiers die and are injured because they are misled to think their actions are for a good purpose;

2. Pursuing the evil purpose, US leaders pit the US against people who are justly defending their nations against wrongful business expansion by force; and

3. The false narrative allows some leaders, including President trump, to mislead the public by saying the US is fighting bad people. Instead, US leaders have long been pursuing an evil foreign policy of business expansion, often by force. Good people often fight back.

A prime example of good people fighting back appears in Viet Nam’s victory over the US and France. In 1954, Viet Nam defeated the French invasion. That threatened to end the hidden 1865–1954 US business, which had been enabled by brutal 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 no such country ever existed. 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 they did not disappear: They defended against US attacks. Misled, US soldiers found out the hard way.

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.

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 (February 2026) uses analytical lenses 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 the false claim is pervasive in US high schools, colleges, books, websites, and discussions.

But now, voters can read the truth. 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.