Wednesday, October 27, 2004
The Hanoian Candidate
The "New York Sun" reports on some interesting Vietnamese documents:
And this in turn brings up some interesting questions about John Kerry's activities after his return from Vietnam. Just who was he meeting up with in Paris in 1970 and what was really discussed? Kerry says he was exploring avenues for the release of American prisoners of war. One day, when Vietnam is free again, the Hanoi files will be open and we might finally get a chance to learn what had transpired - that day couldn't come soon enough.
|
"The communist regime in Hanoi monitored closely and looked favorably upon the activities of the Vietnam Veterans Against the War during the period Senator Kerry served most actively as the group's spokesman and a member of its executive committee, two captured Viet Cong documents suggest.In itself, this is nothing new. It's self-evident that communist regimes "looked favorably" on the efforts of various "peace" and "anti-war" groups in the West. The only question is to what extent such groups were in contact with the commies and whether they received any foreign assistance.
"The documents - one dubbed a 'circular' and the other a 'directive' - were captured in 1971 and are part of a trove of material from the war currently stored at the Vietnam Archive at Texas Tech University at Lubbock. Originally organized by Douglas Pike, a major scholar who is now deceased, the archive contains more than 20 million documents. Many are available online at the Virtual Vietnam Archive and, as the election has heated up, have been the focus of a scramble for insights into Mr. Kerry's anti-war activities. The Circular and the Directive are listed as items numbered 2150901039b and 2150901041 respectively. Their authenticity was confirmed by Stephen Maxner, archivist at the Vietnam Archive."
And this in turn brings up some interesting questions about John Kerry's activities after his return from Vietnam. Just who was he meeting up with in Paris in 1970 and what was really discussed? Kerry says he was exploring avenues for the release of American prisoners of war. One day, when Vietnam is free again, the Hanoi files will be open and we might finally get a chance to learn what had transpired - that day couldn't come soon enough.
|
