Free Republic

President Biden on Tuesday announced he will be visiting Vietnam “shortly” during remarks at a campaign fundraiser, not elaborating on details about his upcoming trip. “I’m going to be going to Vietnam shortly because Vietnam wants to change our relationship and become a partner,” Biden told a group of donors in New Mexico. “We find ourselves in a situation where all these changes around the world are taking place at a time—we have an opportunity…to change the dynamic.” He was discussing in his remarks that “allegiances are changing around the world” as a result of the war in Ukraine.

Stephen Talbot knew that taking on a project about the Vietnam War was going to be an incredible task. There were going to be hours of research, as well as dozens of interviews planned. Then the pandemic hit in March 2020 and it looked like the project wasn’t going to move forward. Then Talbot got an idea. “I thought, what if I did all of the interviews audio only,” he says. “This made sure everyone was safe and I had the information that I needed.” Flash forward a few years and Talbot’s “The Movement and the ‘Madman’ ” will premiere...

MSNBC anchor Katy Tur defended Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) from President Trump's criticism this week, saying the senator "took full responsibility for what he called a few misplaced words" regarding his false claim that he served in Vietnam. The defense comes as President Trump argued Monday that his Supreme Court nominee, Brett Kavanaugh, was treated unfairly by Democratic senators and specifically Blumenthal during testimony before the Supreme Court Judiciary Committee on Thursday. “Look at Blumenthal. Lied about Vietnam for 15 years, and he said he was a war hero,” Trump said to reporters in the Rose Garden. “He said he...

The Civil Aviation Department of Hong Kong has received a pilot’s report that a large amount of debris was spotted in Vietnamese waters. The pilot, flying a Hong Kong to Kuala Lumpur plane, says the debris is located about 60 kilometres southeast of Vietnamese city Vung Tau, some 500 kilometers from where the Malaysian jetliner lost contact with air traffic controllers. The department has submitted the message to the relevant authorities.

Giuliani believes that the [international] system is not functional and should be repaired: "A primary goal for our diplomacy - whether directed toward great powers, developing states or international institutions - must be to strengthen the international system, which most of the world has a direct interest in seeing function well. After all, the system helps keep the peace and provide prosperity". The UN isn't the only establishment Giuliani doesn't trust: "Another step in rebuilding a strong diplomacy will be to make changes in the State Department and the Foreign Service. The time has come to refine the diplomats' mission...

Last week I used this space to explore the history of dirty tricks in American politics. As you would remember, the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth had released a sequence of advertisements on television casting doubt on Senator Kerry's much vaunted Vietnam War record. Today, as I sat down to submit my article, I noticed an item in the news concerning the swift boat vets once again. Early yesterday, Max Cleland, a former US Senator from Georgia ventured down to the President's ranch in Crawford, Texas, to deliver a letter to Bush requesting him to personally denounce the Swift Boat...

<p>Whether Iraq will be the next Vietnam may be very interesting, especially to those still basking in the I-told-you-so glow of Saigon's fall. But taking into account that this is 2003, here's the more illuminating question: Is Vietnam the next Iraq?</p>