US calls for release of Vietnam protesters

[Judi Lynn]

Source: Radio Netherlands

US calls for release of Vietnam protesters
Published on 23 August 2011 - 4:50am

The United States on Tuesday called for the release of peaceful protesters detained when Vietnamese security forces broke up a weekend rally against Beijing's actions in the South China Sea.

"We are concerned by the detention of several individuals for what appears to be the peaceful expression of their views," a spokesman for the US embassy told AFP.

"We call on the Vietnamese government to release all individuals detained for exercising their human rights and fundamental freedoms."

An official police newspaper reported on Monday that 47 people were initially detained at Sunday's rally in central Hanoi.



Read more: http://www.rnw.nl/english/bulletin/us-calls-release-vietnam-protesters

[gateley]

1. God - reading that subject line was surreal.

Glad I clicked on the link - weird.

[provis99]

2. how ironic and nutso that headline is,

given the past way that Vietnam War protesters were treated in this country.

[Judi Lynn]

3. They seem oblivious of our own country's history, so damned sick.

From a wildly condensed look at the Vietnam war protesters:

Vietnam Protest Movement

~snip~
As the war continued, more and more Americans turned against it. People were particularly upset by the use of chemical weapons such as napalm and agent orange. In 1967, a group of distinguished academics under the leadership of Bertrand Russell, set up the International War Crimes Tribunal. After interviewing many witnesses, they came to the conclusion that the United States was guilty of using weapons against the Vietnamese that were prohibited by international law. The United States armed forces were also found guilty of torturing captured prisoners and innocent civilians. The Tribunal, and other critics of the war, claimed that the US behaviour in Vietnam was comparable to the atrocities committed by the Nazis in Europe during the Second World War.

In November, 1965, Norman Morrison, a Quaker from Baltimore, followed the example of the Buddhist monk, Thich Quang Due, and publically burnt himself to death. In the weeks that were to follow, two other pacifists, Roger La Porte and Alice Herz, also immolated themselves in protest against the war.

The decision to introduce conscription for the war increased the level of protest, especially amongst young men. To keep the support of the articulate and influential members of the middle class, students were not called up. However, students throughout America still protested at what they considered was an attack on people's right to decide for themselves whether they wanted to fight for their country.

~snip~
The most dramatic opposition to the war came from the soldiers themselves. Between 1960 and 1973, 503,926 members of the US armed forces deserted. Many soldiers began to question the morality of the war once they began fighting in Vietnam. One soldier, Keith Franklin, wrote a letter that was only to be opened on his death. He was killed on May 12, 1970: "If you are reading this letter, you will never see me again, the reason being that if you are reading this I have died. The question is whether or not my death has been in vain. The answer is yes. The war that has taken my life and many thousands before me is immoral, unlawful and an atrocity... I had no choice as to my fate. It was predetermined by the war-mongering hypocrites in Washington. As I lie dead, please grant my last request. Help me inform the American people, the silent majority who have not yet voiced their opinions.

More:
http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/VNprotest.htm

[Judi Lynn]

4. Absolutely must mention the US Gov't's COINTELPRO:

COINTELPRO (an acronym for Counter Intelligence Program) was a series of covert, and often illegal,<2> projects conducted by the United States Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) aimed at surveilling, infiltrating, discrediting, and disrupting domestic political organizations.

~snip~
According to attorney Brian Glick in his book War at Home, the FBI used four main methods during COINTELPRO:

1. Infiltration: Agents and informers did not merely spy on political activists. Their main purpose was to discredit and disrupt. Their very presence served to undermine trust and scare off potential supporters. The FBI and police exploited this fear to smear genuine activists as agents.

2. Psychological Warfare From the Outside: The FBI and police used a myriad of other "dirty tricks" to undermine progressive movements. They planted false media stories and published bogus leaflets and other publications in the name of targeted groups. They forged correspondence, sent anonymous letters, and made anonymous telephone calls. They spread misinformation about meetings and events, set up pseudo movement groups run by government agents, and manipulated or strong-armed parents, employers, landlords, school officials and others to cause trouble for activists.

3. Harassment Through the Legal System: The FBI and police abused the legal system to harass dissidents and make them appear to be criminals. Officers of the law gave perjured testimony and presented fabricated evidence as a pretext for false arrests and wrongful imprisonment. They discriminatorily enforced tax laws and other government regulations and used conspicuous surveillance, "investigative" interviews, and grand jury subpoenas in an effort to intimidate activists and silence their supporters.<20>

4. Extralegal Force and Violence: The FBI conspired with local police departments to threaten dissidents; to conduct illegal break-ins in order to search dissident homes; and to commit vandalism, assaults, beatings and assassinations.<20><21><22> The object was to frighten, or eliminate, dissidents and disrupt their movements.More:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/COINTELPRO

[truthisfreedom]

6. Ack.

My country? Jeepers. I'm glad I was a kid when this was going on. If I'd been cognizant of it, I'd be so much more disillusioned today. And I'm pretty f-ing disillusioned.

[Hulk]

5. Makes me wonder...again...just WTF was I killing in Vietnam for again?

The world has certainly turned upside down in just the forty years of my adult life. Maybe this can be a lesson for all those who "brought democracy to Iraq"? We, the military, are just pawns in the hands of corporate powers. Will we ever wise up? I doubt it.

[The Northerner]

7. And what about those held indefinitely in Gitmo? n/t