Editing Dean Rusk (section)

====French Indochina====
When question arose as to whether the United States should support France in maintaining control over Indochina against the Communist Viet Minh guerrillas, Rusk argued for support of the French government, stating that the Viet Minh were just the instruments of Soviet expansionism in Asia and to refuse to support the French would amount to appeasement. Under strong American pressure, the French granted nominal independence to the State of Vietnam in February 1950 under the [[Emperor Bao Dai]], which the United States recognized within days.<ref>Stanley Karnow, ''Vietnam: A History'' (New York: Viking, 1983) pp. 179–180</ref> However, it was widely known that the State of Vietnam was still in effect a French colony as French officials controlled all of the important ministries and the Emperor bitterly remarked to the press: "What they call a Bao Dai solution turns out to be just a French solution."<ref>Karnow, Stanley ''Vietnam: A History'', 1983 p.175</ref> In June 1950, Rusk testified before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee: "This is a civil war that has been in effect captured by the [Soviet] Politburo and, besides, has been turned into a tool of the Politburo. So it isn't a civil war in the usual sense. It is part of the international war&nbsp;... We have to look at in terms of which side we are on in this particular kind of struggle&nbsp;... Because Ho Chi Minh is tied with the Politburo, our policy is to support Bao Dai and the French in Indochina until we have time to help them establish a going concern."<ref name="Vietnam: A History 179">Karnow, Stanley ''Vietnam: A History'', New York: Viking, 1983 p.179</ref>