"Change” in our time!
America blindly turns to the left with Obama
1 May 2008 by Scott Johnson
Change in Iraq could spell the death of Shiite,
Sunni and Kurdish dreams, as witnessed by
former US Allies, the Montagnards.
Obama’s calls for “change” are reminiscent of Chamberlain’s fateful
meeting with Hitler, when upon his return to Britain he waved false
hopes, of “peace in our time”. Such naive promises should hark a dire
warning for America and those dependant on US assistance as experienced
by former allies - the Montagnards. These indigenous people, in the wake
of the Vietnam War would only find themselves jettisoned by the United
States with Machiavellian disregard. A failure in Iraq will escalate an
already complicated state of affairs in the Middle East and for the
Iraqi people whose future hangs on American support, the warning of
“change Obama style” should usher in fears of absolute terror.
The disillusionment with the war in Iraq has unfortunately triggered a
dramatic swing to the far left in American politics as Barrack Hussein
Obama, the most liberal US politician finds himself propelled towards
the US Presidency. Even more disconcerting is this junior Senator, one
of the least experienced Congressmen today may become Commander in Chief
of the US military. Obama’s repeated cries for change may promise utopia
but his trumpet call of withdrawal smells of ill fated future decisions
for Iraq, at a time when the troubled nation needs calculated decision
making and certainty.
Disillusionment with progress in Iraq however, is justified and
Americans cannot be expected to remain complacent today, especially
families of those killed in Iraq. However, the reactive flip to the far
left in American politics is not justified. General Petraeus’ recent
assessment of the situation and implications of the tactical surge have
cast some hope for the conflict, hope that need not be burdened with
timetables of withdrawal nor other idealistic notions. Whatever the
reasons and lies presented to us for initially invading Iraq by the
war’s architects, a withdrawal now from Iraq or similar reaction will
not bring us peace, nor resolve the global implications in the region.
Similarly the aftermath of the war in Vietnam brought only a deadly
result for the people of South East Asia and echoed a devastating impact
on American foreign policy for decades. The history books however, were
not kind to the Vietnamese people who fought and died fighting
communism. The war became mired in deception and the media long
presented its version of folly in Vietnam, assisting in what is probably
one of the greatest ironies in modern history. The Vietnam War was in
fact won by the US and South Vietnamese, by Montagnards, by the Hmong,
and not marginally, but in a clear victory on the battlefield. However,
as Congress tired of the war and withdrew financial aid to South Vietnam
the sellout commenced. While the US withdrew vital support to its South
Vietnamese allies, the Soviet Union and China increased aid to North
Vietnam tenfold. In the end Hanoi was handed a cold war victory just as
the South Vietnamese on their own, started turning the tide against the
communists.
The complexities of that conflict is not done justice in these short
words but the essence of the deceitful irony can be found in the words
of a North Vietnamese colonel named Bui Tin who, disenchanted with
communism, defected in 1990. In a 1995 interview with the Wall Street
Journal he was asked the question: How did Hanoi intend to defeat the
Americans? He responded, “By fighting a long war which would break their
will to help South Vietnam. Ho Chi Minh said, "We don't need to win
military victories, we only need to hit them until they give up and get
out."
Congress did indeed give up and was unwilling to stand by its allies
even at the brink of victory. For the Montagnard hill tribes, commonly
recognized as one of America’s most loyal ally in that conflict it was
deadly and they already lost over 200,000 dead, about one quarter of
their entire population. Half of their male population had died fighting
for the United States.
The takeover of South Vietnam saw the Montagnards vengefully subjected
to ethnic cleansing by the ruling communists. The never ending
repression, decades of Christian religious persecution, confiscation of
ancestral lands, deforestation, abuse of family planning programs,
torture, killings has taken its toll against this ancient race of
people. Today, Human Rights Watch has identified 350 Montagnard
religious and political prisoners currently imprisoned in Vietnam, while
their entire race remains repressed and forgotten. In 2008 the Hmong in
Laos too, are still being hunted down in military operations conducted
by both Laotion and Vietnamese soldiers.
For the Kurds, the Shiites and Sunnis, the majority of Iraqi’s who
reject terror and desire peace for their families, they should now get a
commitment in writing from the United States. They may need it just in
case Obama’s calls for change leaves them in the cold. Then at the very
least they can hold it up and say “Remember us? You promised to help us”
and pray that unlike Chamberlain’s written promises from Hitler, these
will be honored.
The 350 Montagnard prisoners rotting today in Vietnamese communist jails
had no promises in writing. Their people, along with the Hmong, the
Laotians, the Cambodians and South Vietnamese got only verbal promises
of “change”….which in the world of politics is worthless….
Scott Johnson,
Western Australia
1 May 2008
