1968 Geneva Peace Accords on the War in Vietnam

[RinKou]

Lê Đức Thọ
Head of the Central Organizing Commission

To open, gentlemen, we must recognize that the war in Vietnam is not the doing of the colonized peoples of Vietnam. We only wish to be allowed our rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of an equitable and just society through national self-determination. Our dream of liberty, however, has been stymied by adventuring foreign imperial powers and their illegitimate puppet regimes.

With the arrival of an advanced extraterrestrial force on this planet, though, we must address the insignificance of our petty squabbles. As life as we know it has changed irrevocably from this moment on, we must also address that our old ways also must change. In this new world, imperialism can have no place.

With this in mind, the Democratic Republic of Vietnam proposes the following framework for a permanent peace in Vietnam.

I. An immediate ceasefire will be implemented across all parties and theatres of the Vietnam conflict, to be held to until the successful conclusion of these talks.
II. Foreign military personnel are to be immediately withdrawn from the entirety of Vietnam, with the exception of US military forces as expanded upon below.
IIa. Given the size of the US military contingent in Vietnam, in the interest of an orderly and peaceful withdrawal, the US will commit to a gradual reduction of forces at the rate of 1 unit per turn.
III. The Democratic Republic of Vietnam will be admitted to the United Nations as a full member until Vietnamese reunification is completed.
IV. Vietnam is to be reunited upon the complete withdrawal of all foreign military personnel, no later than L1969.
V. A free, open and at-large national plebiscite is to be held across Vietnam to determine the leadership of the reunited Vietnamese state no later than L1969.
Va. The national plebiscite will be organized by an independent UN commission.
VI. Following the national plebiscite, the newly formed Vietnamese government will be given full membership in the United Nations.

[OYID]

George W. Ball,
United States Ambassador to the United Nations

The United States agrees to most of the points, but posits that the proper joint construction of peace requires not such a hasty withdrawal. Rather than do it within a year and a half, two years and a half seems more sensible and likely to gain the support of sufficient commanders in the South.

The withdrawal scheme we propose is thus:

E 1968 - 1 unit
E 1969 - 1 unit
E 1970 - 1 unit, after joint inspection and ratification of the Peace Accords.

We wish to remind the delegate from the North that this accord is already a hard enough sell in an American mainland going through political transition at this point, and so it would be irresponsible to allow pride to stand in the way of an even-handed solution.

[RinKou]

Lê Đức Thọ
Head of the Central Organizing Commission

Accepting these terms will naturally delay the implementations of Articles IV, V and VI, as amended below. All amendments have been bolded for clarity.

I. An immediate ceasefire will be implemented across all parties and theatres of the Vietnam conflict, to be held to until the successful conclusion of these talks.
II. Foreign military personnel are to be immediately withdrawn from the entirety of Vietnam, with the exception of US military forces as expanded upon below.
IIa. Given the size of the US military contingent in Vietnam, in the interest of an orderly and peaceful withdrawal, the US will commit to a gradual reduction of forces at the rate of 1 unit per year starting in E1968 and continuing on the first turn of each following year until complete.
III. The Democratic Republic of Vietnam will be admitted to the United Nations as a full member until Vietnamese reunification is completed.
IV. Vietnam is to be reunited upon the complete withdrawal of all foreign military personnel, no later than E1970.
V. A free, open and at-large national plebiscite is to be held across Vietnam to determine the leadership of the reunited Vietnamese state no later than E1970.
Va. The national plebiscite will be organized by an independent UN commission.
VI. Following the national plebiscite, the newly formed Vietnamese government will be given full membership in the United Nations.

If these terms are acceptable to our opposites in the US and RVN, the DRV is ready to sign.

[OYID]

The United States is also ready to sign.

[Smyg]

Kingdom of Laos

We respectfully request that our American friends do not leave us out to hang, as they withdraw from Vietnam. North Vietnamese troops have been operating on our territory for years, and the 1962 International Agreement on the Neutrality of Laos is long broken.

Republic of Vietnam

The Republic of Vietnam will not support a peace proposal does not also allow the ROV into the United Nations as a full member until unification is complete, and we will not participate in any unified government until we receive complete assurances regarding the civil liberties of our people in this... future unified state. Additionally, we view the complete withdrawal of foreign troops as highly problematic, as it means that the freedom of a future plebiscite will likely go unenforced.

[OYID]

The USA acknowledges the concerns of our allies and asks that the Northern delegation adress them if this deal is to move forward.

As for the issue of thr UN seat, the American proposal is that both sides share a seat.

[Smyg]

Secretary-General U Thant

As Secretary-General of the United Nations, I plead with the American and North Vietnamese representatives to come to an agreement as soon as possible.

[RinKou]

Lê Đức Thọ
Head of the Central Organizing Commission

If the RVN is willing to share a UN seat, we are ready to sign.

In response to the Laotian delegate, our forces, wherever they may be, are holding to the international ceasefire. This is a time for peace and reconciliation.