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Is Bush's Vietnam Policy Causing His Moral and Ethical Compass To Spiral Out of Control?

By Ted Sampley
U.S. Veteran Dispatch
June - 2005

President George Bush, a "born again Christian," once said, "it is not enough to have an ethical compass to know right from wrong, America needs leaders who have the moral courage to do what is right for the right reason."

Some American war veterans claim Bush's invite of Vietnam's prime minister, Phan Van Khai to the White House marks a betrayal of a Bush campaign promise and is "ethically and morally" wrong.

The veterans say Khai represents a totalitarian terrorist government with an official policy of human rights violations, genocide and ethnic cleansing.

Specifically, the vets point to Human Rights Watch reports of Vietnam's continuous use of murder and brutality against evangelical Christians amongst ethnic minorities in Central and Northern Vietnam borders.

Khai brought a delegation of more than 200 people, including 81 business people. He met with Bill Gates, the chairman of Microsoft Corp, who wants to increase its foreign business.

Khai and Gates announced that the Vietnamese government and Microsoft had signed two memoranda of understanding, to train and develop more Vietnamese information technology companies, and to offer computer and software training to more than 50,000 teachers in the country.

Gates noted that in March, Microsoft introduced a Vietnamese language package to work on its Windows operating system and Office business software. Since then, he said, the package has been downloaded more than 18,000 times.

"That really makes us rededicate our commitment to Vietnam," he said.

On June 13, Gates' Microsoft, joined Google and Yahoo to block users of its Internet portal in China from using the words "democracy," "freedom" and "human rights," to appease Beijing. Khai wants a similar agreement for Vietnam.

Khai will ring the bell on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, visit Harvard, and boost his country's bid to join the World Trade Organization.

The Bush administration plans for Vietnam and the United States to cooperate in the exchange of intelligence on terrorism and transnational crime, and Vietnam will send military officers for training in the United States.

Members of Rolling Thunder, one of the nation's largest veteran's organizations, are claiming Bush is violating a promise he made to them. Bush met with Rolling Thunder leadership at the White House last year while campaigning for reelection and pledged his support for the POW/MIA issue.

Rolling Thunder vets say Vietnam has reneged on all promises to cooperate in the search for answers about what happened to American prisoners of war known to have been held by Vietnam, but never released.

Rolling Thunder chairman Mike Cobb complained to the Washington Post last month that Bush should be doing more to pressure Vietnam to answer questions pertaining to live American POWs.

"We've had promises, and they're not being done," Cobb said.

On human rights, Brad Adams of Human Rights Watch said, "President Bush has raised expectations with his call for democracy and more open societies around the world. The biggest test of whether he means it is his willingness to press countries such as Vietnam on basic rights issues."

Adams listed some examples of Vietnam's human rights abuses:

- Dr. Pham Hong Son translated the article "What is Democracy?" from the U.S. Embassy Web site, and distributed it through the Internet. He is now serving a 12-year sentence.

- Mr. Nguyen Khac Toan helped others write petitions and appeals against illegal appropriation of land. He is now serving a four-year sentence.

- Mr. Nguyen Vu Binh applied for permission to form an independent political party. He is now serving a seven-year sentence.

- Montagnard Christians, Mennonites, Cao Dai, Hoa Hao and Unified Buddhist Church adherents are beaten, persecuted and imprisoned for not following communist orthodoxy. Catholics are severely restricted in their observance.

Vietnam, according to Khai, plans to join the war against terrorism.

"Terrorism has become a global threat," Khai said. "To eliminate terrorism . . . and to prevent it from causing catastrophic consequences to innocent people has become a pressing issue that requires joint efforts and cooperation of different countries. Vietnam is not an exception regarding this threat."

By terrorism, Khai was referring to Vietnam's anti-communist activists such as the  People's Action Party of Vietnam, rather than al Qaeda or other radical Islamic organizations, which are not known to have a presence in Vietnam.

Pictured right, President George Bush with People's Action Party Chairman Nguyen Si Binh and Vice Chairman Dr. Nguyen Xuan Ngai.

The organization goals are to unite the people of Vietnam with a democratic government and reform government programs in education, health care, economy, and Human Rights.

Vietnam routinely arrests People's Action Party members. Twenty-one were arrested and detained by Vietnam without trial for more than 2 years.