Jeff Jacoby - Boston Globe

August 9, 2004 |

With the presidential race generating so much talk of John Kerry's Vietnam record, one could almost forget that "Vietnam" is not just the name of a war that ended 30 years ago. It is also the name of a country of 82 million human beings -- men, women, and children who live under one of the most repressive dictatorships on Earth. Whatever political value there may be in recalling the Vietnam of years gone by, it is the people of Vietnam today who desperately need our attention.

Vietnam Still Holding Nguyen Hong Quang in Unknown Location

Accusations of wrongdoing used to undermine jailed activist’s character.

Special to Compass

LOS ANGELES, July 8 (Compass) -- In the month since his arrest, the Rev. Nguyen Hong Quang, general secretary of the Mennonite Church in Vietnam, remains in an unknown location and has become the victim of a propaganda campaign by Vietnamese authorities

The North Vietnamese general in charge of the military campaign that finally drove the U.S. out of South Vietnam in 1975 credited a group led by Democratic presidential front-runner John Kerry with helping him achieve victory.

History has entwined our two countries in sometimes-tragic ways. But we only compound that tragedy if we focus narrowly on economic or security relations at the expense of human rights. As we learned with the Helsinki Process during the Cold War, the three must move forward together for effective change to occur.

Please point your browser to http://www.swiftvets.com to watch the ads.

A group of Vietnam veterans has bought television time in three swing states for an advertisement that attacks Senator John Kerry, accusing him of lying about his war record, including the circumstances surrounding his medals, and betraying his comrades by later opposing the war.