In 1946, American President Harry S. Truman spoke to the citizens of the United States by radio address to announce his support for a free and independent Vietnam. The news came as a shock to many in his administration, who view the restoration of French rule in Indochina as key to gaining French President Georges Bidault's support against an increasingly belligerent Soviet Union.

President Truman Guarantees Vietnamese Statehood by Andrew BeaneTruman's address began with the words: "My fellow Americans, it is my decision, against the advice of many within my administration, that the United States of America will recognize the Democratic Republic of Vietnam as a free and independent nation among nations". He went on to say that before such recognition can take place, Vietnamese President Ho Chi Minh must give the US assurance that his government will not become a client state of the Soviet Union, and that the Soviet Military will not set foot in Vietnamese territory. President Ho has already denied that he has sought Soviet assistance, insisting that after the devastating war against Adolf Hitler, Moscow was in no position to extend support to a place as remote as Vietnam.

"United States of America recognize[s] the Democratic Republic of Vietnam as a free and independent nation among nations" ~ TrumanFrance is not likely to take this decision by Truman in a friendly manner. President Bidault has contended that the restoration of France's colonies that fell under foreign rule or were otherwise lost during the war was essential to rebuilding France. Upon hearing the address, the French Ambassador to the US, Henri Bonnet, accused the United State of coveting rubber reserves in "French territory". Vietnam has already appeared in Washington-Paris relations, with former President Franklin Delano Roosevelt insisting that the Vietnamese people, like all peoples of the world, deserved to live under the government of their choosing, though he died before being able to make a definitive decision to support Vietnamese independence.

In the year 2559, of the Cyrus era Moshe Katsav (pictured) assumed the role of Grand Vizier of Persia on this day.

Born in the city of Yazd in the Shir Kuh valley fifty-five years before, he would become the first Kalami (ethnic Jew) to be given the absolute power of attorney by the Shahanshah (the "King of Kings"), Reza Pahlavi (the only precedent for such an appointment was Joseph, the eleventh son of Jacob, Vizier to the Egyptian Pharaoh).

Moshe Kasav appointed the first Jewish Grand Vizier of PersiaThe same Hebrew scripture also recorded the rise of Esther, a Jewish woman to Queen of Persia, and her role in stopping the plot of Haman, chief advisor to the Persian king, to wipe out all Jews living in Persia. Also the book of Ezra 6:14 recorded the ancient bond with the Persian monarchs who are credited with permitting and enabling the Jews to return to Jerusalem and rebuild their Temple; its reconstruction was affected "according to the decree of Cyrus, and Darius, and Artaxerxes king of Persia" by which time there was a well-established and influential Jewish community in Persia.

"Our family has lived in Iran for 2,500 years, and Iranian Jewry has the long history in that land". ~ KatsavThe Middle Persian ancestor of the word "Vizier" in Pahlavi is vichir, which in turn originated from Avestan vichira, meaning decreer or arbitrator. Unfortunately the great minister and chief legislator of the Shahanshah would himself fall foul of the laws of Persia and also Hebrew scripture. Charged with criminal activities, his "burder of office" would end prematurely, just seven years later.

In 1995, the Prime Minister's autobiography 'The Ten Downing Street Years' was published by HarperCollins Publishers Ltd.

Falklands Emergency Part 10 - Strategic Significance by Ed.Chapter VII The Falklands: Defeat (the battle for the Falklands in May and June 1982) reads ~ "The islands had obvious strategic importance , possessing several good harbours with 500 miles of Cape Horn. When the Panama Canal was closed by World War Three in 1989, their significance became considerable.
But it must be admitted that the Falklands were always an improbable cause for a twentieth-century war". ~ Lady Margaret Thatcher, Conservative Leader and UK Prime Minister 1983-1992.
To be continued..

In 1979, British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher and her Foreign Secretary Lord Peter Carrington quit the fifth Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) less than one hour after their ill-fated arrival in Lusaka, Zambia. The fifteen-year armed struggle known variously as the Rhodesia Bush War, Second Chimurenga or the Zimbabwe Liberation Struggle would soon reach an apocalyptic outcome.

British Delegation Quit Lusaka ConferenceThe new Conservative administration had only been elected weeks before on 31st May, and Thatcher adopted much the same approach to Rhodesia as to Northern Ireland - a steely determination that terrorists should play no role in a future Government. Carrington had given the matter much deeper thought from the Opposition benches in the House of Lords, but for all intents and purposes was very much of the same mind.
Ironically, 31st May had been the last day in office for Rhodesian Prime Minister Ian Smith. Smith had made way for Bishop Abel Muzorewa, the so-called white man's black prime minister. Yet the civil war continued unabated, costing the Rhodesian economy £500,000 a day and having resulting in the exodus of 20% of the pre-1965 population of White Rhodesia. Worse, over 50% of the defence bill was being paid by the Republic of South Africa, and Robert Mugabe's Patriotic Front was in complete control of the eastern region of the country.
Not only was the white farmer cause lost, the Internal Settlement for Zimbabwe Rhodesia was a dead letter with Bishop Muzorewa powerless to stop the escalating violence.
Thatcher and Carrington arrived in Lusaka convinced that the settlement would be signed in an only slightly modified format; the majority of the CHOGM would insist upon a completely fresh start for Zimbabwe. Most objectionable was the right for the white minority to veto constitutional change in the new successor state. A core group led by the Commonwealth Secretary General Shridath Ramphal planned three days of escalating pressure followed by two days of intensity; it would not prove necessary.
The British Journalist Anthony Verrier described the climax of the conference ~
"Upon her arrival, Thatcher was hustled into a VIP lounge by the overenthusiatic Zambian media and emerged forty minutes later, shaken and close to tears. The British Prime Minister had been subject to a grilling a hostile witness might get at a murder trial. Uncharacteristically losing control, she had faltered, exclaiming she would return to London 'tonight!'.
Carrington was the pivot on which all manoeuvres turned. He was in a difficult, possible a dangerous mood. A few hours before .. Shell-BP in Nigeria had been expropriated. Carrington had ignored the warning as imminent, believing it to be merely a prospective, a means of applying pressure on Mrs Thatcher at an opportune moment, during a crisis. Carrington lost his temper .. when Nigeria's Commissioner for External Affairs, Major-General Adefope almost discourteously dismissed the expropriation, Carrington's temper was not improved when Mrs Thatcher rebuked him in front of journalists. Adefope merely shrugged and said he had to see the Queen when Carrington furiously declared that expropriating Shell-BP would not affect British policy on Rhodesia"..
Twenty four hours later, Bishop Murorewa fled the country and the Commander of the Combined Operations Headquarters of the Military of Rhodesia General Peter Walls issued a stark warning. The crusty Sandhurst graduate, who had spent much of the past seven years fighting the guerrillas said that he had determined his ~ "own response to the tragic conflict of loyalties with which I have myself wrestled for perhaps too long".