The two journalists, Hoang Hai Van and Tan Tu, recount stories about Pham Xuan An, a "Viet Cong" secret agent. Before 1954, Pham Xuan An worked for the French Army´ sGeneral Commmand. After that, he worked at Ngo Dinh Diem administration´s Department for Political, Cultural and social Studies. He studied journalism in the United states with the Diem administration´s funding. He also used to work asa reporter for the new agency Reuters and magazine Time before 1975, but his true job wasn´t revealed until 1975. Currently, many foreign journalists still visit and write about him, in the hope of securing an anwser to the question, "Why were the americans defeated in Vietnam?"