oyuki

Sunday, June 25, 2006

My Lai/Haditha

Reading articles on New America Media web-site. Some I find fascinating and others I can leave. But still it is a new source to dig through. Like this article, it should have been obvious - ask the VietNamese if they think linking Haditha to My Lai is accurate.

The generation that lived through the Communist war to conquer VietNam support the US in Iraq while it seems many of the younger generation that grew up on the West Coast, with no memories of family being killed before their eyes by the VC or frantically fleeing in a fishing boat out to sea to find the American Navy, have been mesmerized by the progressives' siren song.

This reporter's father, former Lt. Gen. Lam Quang Thi of the South Vietnamese Army, says that, "Innocent people are killed in any war, conventional or unconventional. For example: the Nazi crimes in Europe and the Japanese massacre at Nanking during WWII. The difference is that it is a policy for dictatorial regimes and an accident or breakdown in discipline for Western democracies."
On the other hand, General Lam, author of a Vietnam war memoir called "The 25 Year Century," says that while his support for the war is unwavering, he's angry at the U.S. military's indiscriminate killings in Iraq. "I think it is mandatory for the U.S. generals in Iraq to clearly spell out the rules of engagement, and any violations should be severely punished."
Lets find out the facts first at Haditha and as General Lam says if there are violations they should be punished severely. If there are verifiable violations of course. And Lt. Gen Lam Quang Thi says, it is dictatorial regimes that kill as part of policy: Stalin, Mao, Pol Pot, Che, Castro, Hitler, and Ho Chi Minh to name a few.

On the other side are the ones calling for withdrawal like Hong Tran, She wants to be a Senator but displays thinking found in the likes of Kerry or Kennedy.

"The U.S. invasion of Iraq was a mistake that cost thousands of lives, billions of dollars, and has increased regional instability."


Once you have finished reading the article, take a look at the commentary. Wow. Things to think on. Just noticed one of the anti-war posters display some of the group think we have come to expect in English - Stephanie Nguyen ends her post with 'Hoa Binh va Doan Ket! (Peace & Solidarity!)' after talking about the evils of the American Empire.

PS: In the article they give the name of the Army helicopter pilot who protected VietNamese civilians at My Lai from Calley's rogues.

2 comments:

Mike's America said...

Logic Times had an interesting take on Haditha:

http://www.logictimes.com/haditha.htm

bottom line: If incidents like Haditha were the norm, not the exception, Iraqis killed by Americans would be stacked up like cord wood.

Newsmax is reporting that a video from an overhead ultralight showed that a battle was raging in Haditha:

http://www.newsmax.com/archives/articles/2006/6/25/173358.shtml?s=lh

There's no doubt that innocents were caught in the crossfire. But it's also clear that insurgents were using civilian homes as firing locations.

Anna said...

I know, Haditha stinks to high heaven of being a 'created' or 'staged' atrocity like the Koran flushing or the poor family 'killed' by errant IDF artillery shells.

It is coming apart this atrocity. The tragedy is how fast the lie spread and no matter how much the truth is reported, those lies will fester in some peoples' minds as truth. One just has to look at those who think Roosevelt knowingly allowed the Japanese to attack Pearl Harbour just to get the US into WWII to realize how it becomes part of some peoples firmament.
http://www.usncva.org/books/book-10.html