Best remembered for the military conflict which included American troops, sent overseas to help stop the spread of communism to South Vietnam and other countries. Whether it was public opinion, or politics, the Americans fought to an agreed stalemate, some calling it "Peace without Malice". But know this: The American military was not defeated in Vietnam… just not allowed to finish their jobs. 

In early 1975, North Vietnamese regular military began a major, inflicting great damage to the south's forces. The communists took Saigon on April 30, 1975, two years AFTER the American military left Vietnam, and announced their intention of reunifying the country. The Democratic Republic of Vietnam (north) took possession of the former Republic of Vietnam (south) to form the Socialist Republic of Vietnam on July 2, 1976. 

After the so-called reunification, the government confiscated privately owned land and forced citizens into Government collective agricultural practices. Hundreds of thousands of former South Vietnamese Government and military officials, as well as intellectuals previously opposed to the communist cause, were sent to re-education camps to study socialist doctrine. 

The Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV) is the only legal political party, and the most recent National Assembly elections, were neither free, nor fair. Since all candidates were chosen by the CPV's Vietnam Fatherland Front (VFF), an umbrella group that monitors the country's "political organizations, socio-political organizations, social organizations and individuals representing all classes, social strata, ethnic groups, religions and overseas Vietnamese." Article 1, Law on the Vietnam Fatherland Front 

Opposition parties, independent media and labor unions, as well as unsanctioned religious organizations are strictly banned by the one-party communist state. The government requires consultation on the appointment of bishops and the selection of candidates for the priesthood. Catholic schools have not been reopened. Catholic-run health clinics and kindergartens in the north remain few and although Vietnam exchanges delegations with the Vatican for annual visits, it does not have diplomatic relations with the Holy See. 

The Vietnam Government does allow the Internet through a limited number of Internet Service Providers (ISPs), all of which are state owned, joint stock companies. The government forbids direct access to the Internet through foreign ISPs, requires domestic ISPs to store information transmitted on the Internet for at least 15 days, and also requires ISPs to provide technical assistance and workspace to public security agents to allow them to monitor Internet activities. Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor March 6, 2007

The Ministry of Public Security created a new office to monitor the Internet for 'criminal' content, used to intimidate people from circulating information that authorities could deem to be a 'state secret' or otherwise unauthorized.

A 34-year-old Vietnamese doctor and businessman, Pham Hong Son, was arrested in Vietnam in 2002 for a cyber offense. He had translated an article from the Web site of the American Embassy in Hanoi titled 'What is Democracy?' He e-mailed the article to friends and to senior Vietnamese government officials. He urged in an open letter to the head of the Vietnamese Communist Party that the country was ripe for democracy. Apparently not. He was charged with espionage, accused of 'collecting and dispatching news and documents for a foreign country to be used against the Socialist State of Vietnam.' After a half-day trial in Hanoi in June 2003, he was sentenced to 13 years, his sentence was reduced to five years plus an additional three years of house arrest.

The government limits citizens' privacy rights and freedom of speech, press, assembly, movement, and association. Violence and discrimination against women persists, as well as child prostitution and trafficking in women and children, although the government reportedly has intensified its efforts to combat trafficking. The government continued to limit workers' rights, especially to organize independently.

On February 18, dozens of police in Hue raided the parish home of Father Nguyen Van Ly, a Catholic priest and former prisoner of conscience. They confiscated computers, telephones and more than 400 pounds of documents. They moved him to a remote location, where he remains under house arrest.

Father Ly is one of the founders of "Block 8406," a democracy movement launched in April 2006 when hundreds of people throughout Vietnam signed public petitions calling for democracy and human rights.

Father Ly, Nguyen Van Dai, a lawyer who defended individuals arrested for their human rights or religious activities, and Le Thi Cong Nhan, a spokesperson for a progressive labor party in Vietnam, have been charged with carrying out propaganda against the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, under article 88 of the Penal Code. If convicted, they face sentences of up to 20 years in prison. 

The Vietnamese Communist Party daily newspaper, Nhan Dan (The People) announced that the government had "smashed" the "extremists' sabotage scheme." 

Prison conditions can be severe. Especially considering the prisoner may have only been guilty of speaking his mind, contrary to CPV views. Overcrowding, insufficient diet, and poor sanitation reportedly remained serious problems in many prisons. Prisoners generally are required to work but received no wages. Prisoners reportedly are sometimes moved to solitary confinement, where they were deprived of reading and writing materials, for periods of up to several months.

Severe malnutrition is a problem; approximately 39 percent of children under five years of age were underweight during the 1995 2000 period. United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF)

Logging and slash-and-burn agricultural practices contribute to deforestation and soil degradation; water pollution and overfishing threaten marine life populations; groundwater contamination limits potable water supply; growing urban industrialization and population migration are rapidly degrading environment in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City

"Vietnam's prestige has been lifted to new heights following the events of becoming an official member of the WTO, the successful organization of the 14th APEC Meeting and then the nomination by Asian countries to become a nonpermanent member of the UN Security Council in the 2008-2009 period ... the country [has a] bright future under the leadership of the Communist Party of Vietnam…[which] is striving to build a prosperous people, a strong country and an equitable, democratic and civilized society." Vietnamese Communist Party daily newspaper, Nhan Dan (The People) 

"Despite the official rhetoric, the Vietnamese government can't really pretend to be working towards a just and democratic society when it continues to persecute those who articulate different political views, who support multi-party democracy, or simply advocate for basic human rights," Sophie Richardson. HRW.org 

"The ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) countries, Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand stayed free of Communism because of the U.S. commitment to Vietnam. The Indonesians threw the Soviets out in 1966 because of America's commitment in Vietnam. Without that commitment, Communism would have swept all the way to the Malacca Straits that is south of Singapore and of great strategic importance to the free world. If you ask people who live in these countries that won the war in Vietnam, they have a different opinion from the American news media. The Vietnam War was the turning point for Communism." General William C. Westmoreland