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Loading ...A somewhat strange story from BBC in which a man who held John McCain captive at the Hanoi Hilton years ago now expresses support for McCain’s presidential bid.
Tran Trong Duyet has many interesting statements:
“McCain is my friend,” said 75-year-old Mr Duyet as he feeds the caged birds he now keeps in his garden in this coastal city.“If I was American, I would vote for him.”
. . .
“I don’t know how he’d react if he met me again.”
. . .
“We used to argue about the war - about whether it was right or wrong,” he says.
“He is a very frank man - very conservative, and very loyal to his country and the American ideal.
“He had a very interesting accent and sometimes he taught me words in English and corrected my accent. I have followed his career since he left prison.”
Of course, Mr. Duyet’s account of the events that took place at the Hanoi Hilton is quite different from McCain’s:
“But I can confirm to you that we never tortured him. We never tortured any prisoners.”. . .
“He did not tell the truth,” he says.
“But I can somehow sympathise with him. He lies to American voters in order to get their support for his presidential election.”
. . .
“Of course the Americans started the war in Vietnam and killed so many people - but now we want to leave the past behind.
“So now I consider John McCain my friend because he did much to mend relations between our two countries. And if he becomes president he will do more to improve those ties.”
BBC hypothesizes one possible reason Mr. Duyet speaks the way he does about the war:
But Mr Duyet’s propaganda-perfect version of events is impossible to verify - and should be treated with caution in a country where the Communist authorities still keep a tight control over the media.Relations between Vietnam and the United States have improved dramatically in recent years, following the normalisation of ties between the former enemies in 1995.
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