Tag: Powell Doctrine

To beat a dead horse

Even to this day, people still using the Vietnam War as a figure of speech: “Syria will be another US‘ Vietnam” etc…

It was meant to be the new Boogeyman. To scare off the children. To conjure bad imagery and bring back nightmares.

In Rambo, Stallone’s rare line was “where they call Hell, I call Home”.

Occasionally, we read about the Powell Doctrine (purportedly derived from Vietnam War) i.e. if engaged at all, finish it quickly.

Not to beat a dead horse, Vietnam War has been like the Wave, in a football stadium. After a while, it dies down. Don’t try to start one yourself, without feeling silly. It’s like the Bee Gees “I started a joke”.

The irony is, both Kerry and Hagel were by-products of US involvement in Vietnam (not to mention McCain).

A generation comes of age in “Hell”. Trial by fire, baptized by fire.

Hot war on cool medium. America first Television War (pre-CNN era).

Now we got Al Jazeera, whose host died yesterday (David Frost – so, tell me, Mr Nixon, when a president does something, it’s not illegal?). It’s like the Vietnam War got covered by South East Asian News Network. “Unbias” and In-depth coverage.

After all, it’s their region and they know the conflicts as the back of their hands.

With that kind of money buying out Current TV, A J Network is poised for the new theater of war.

The gods of vengeance has moved from Europe to Asia, and now onto the Middle East. I don’t smell the smell of jasmine.

Nor do I smell napalm. This time, you can’t see nor can you smell anything.. Just drone and precision striking.

Powell doctrine + powerful broadband. Yet they still use Vietnam as a figure of speech. For fear of being dragged in.

For fear of war fatigue. I hear the other side saying “So what you’re gonna do about it” ( I used chemical weapon, so what?).

Go ahead, and call 911. It will be another Vietnam for you e.g. quagmire, divided nation, deficit, and post-traumatic disorder.

Where they call “Hell” you shouldn’t call “Home”. But then, can you sit still when your neighbors keep beating the kids, not with stick, but by spraying deadly poison. Wouldn’t you call 911 and to Hell with it. Another Vietnam? So what! Let it be.

Stories of Suffering

Unlike America where suffering is well hidden behind locked doors, here in Vietnam, it is in your face: lottery ticket sellers.

They could be an under-age child, a blind man, or the worst case, a young man who dragged himself (both feet paralyzed) along an extremely crowded street peddling tickets.

Even the Cu Chi tunnel, once hot and carpet-bombed, now welcomes visitors to its hollow chamber of suffering.  Underground resistance come clean.

To be here, to see those sites, to feel the heat, the smell, the suffering which might be raw to us, but taken for granted by everyone, is to face reality.

No pain killers, no aspirin.

Just raw sewage and suffering.

And when it heats up, in the middle of the day, you will know what it was like to endure, to persevere and to fight for survival.

A generation of leaders in politics and media have come of age: TV anchors (now retired) ambassador-nominee (J Kerry), committee head ( J. McCain) all had walked this ground.  One word that sums up Vietnam: HOT. Hot war during the Cold War, hot because of the heat, and now, “hot” is used for Retail during Christmas.

First-time visitors to Vietnam, from America, would step off the Cruise Ship.

Checked in an A/C hotel and showed up for tours.

He/she might find out at nearby bookstores that Vietnamese readers browse all sorts of literature from Russia, France, Japan, Australia, Eastern Europe and occasionally US.

In short, military powers don’t equate with cultural influence.

By 2030, studies reveal that Asia blocks and other emerging nations will share the various seats at the table. The dialog and discussions will be diverse.

The best outcome of America’s experience in Vietnam goes beyond the Powell Doctrine. It’s to produce a generation of leaders whose mindset now look beyond the surface (glossy), to the  suffering.

Cu Chi Tunnel or other tunnels. They are there to invite searchers and researchers to face and learn about other people, their aspiration and operation.

I haven’t yet taken that tour, but everyday, suffering is in my face. I shared a table with a blind man this morning over coffee. He stepped off a ten-person passenger vehicle (xe lam), found his way to the usual spot and lit up.

Then he pulled out a pocket-size radio for background music. I listened to that song (about mid-night mass rendez-vous) and felt what he felt: when your world is reduced to darkness and only darkness, you “dig” your way out of it, via other senses (touching and hearing). He used his fingers to measure the level when pouring his tea, while enjoying his portable music.

This was just one story of suffering. There are many more. If one cares and dares to face them instead of hiding them behind institutional doors.