Going Back

ATOP A GRASSY HILL OVERLOOKING THE PLAIN AT Dien Bien Phu, where almost 4,000 French soldiers died and nearly 11,000 were taken prisoner 39 years ago, President Francois Mitterrand listened as General Maurice Schmitt pointed out the landmarks: the mountains from which General Vo Nguyen Giap's troops bombarded the fields below, the airstrip, the hilltop positions that fell one by one until General Christian de Castries and his exhausted men finally surrendered on May 7, 1954, ushering in the end of France's colonial rule in Indochina. "I felt the need to pay my respects," said Mitterrand, who called the war a "mistake." His 48-hour visit, the first by any Western leader to communist Vietnam, was more than symbolic, however. He signed seven economic, scientific and cultural accords designed to promote development and reinforce Vietnam's links with the West. Mitterrand also promised to push for more multilateral aid and called on the U.S. to end its "anachronistic" embargo.