'When John McCain was my captive'

Tran Trong Duyet - a sprightly retiree and amateur ballroom dancer - must rank as one of John McCain's more unlikely supporters.

Four decades ago, during the Vietnam war, Mr Duyet was in charge of the notorious Hoa Lo prison - the place where Mr McCain says he was brutally beaten and tortured during five-and-a-half years as an American prisoner of war.

"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.

Navy pilot John McCain was shot down during a bombing raid over the North Vietnamese capital, Hanoi, in 1967.

He ejected from his aircraft and parachuted into a city lake - only to be dragged out by an angry crowd, barely conscious, and with two broken arms and a broken leg.

From there he was taken to Hoa Lo prison, known to its American military inmates as the "Hanoi Hilton."

McCain has since described enduring months of solitary confinement and systematic torture which drove him to try to kill himself.

"I don't know how he'd react if he met me again," said Mr Duyet, flicking through old black and white photographs of himself and his American prisoners at Hua Lo.

"But I can confirm to you that we never tortured him. We never tortured any prisoners."

Mr Duyet reminisces instead about how he often summoned the future US presidential candidate to his private office for informal chats.

"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."

So is Mr Duyet implying that that Senator McCain lied about his treatment at the Hanoi Hilton?

"But I can somehow sympathise with him. He lies to American voters in order to get their support for his presidential election."

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.

Mr McCain played a crucial role in bringing about that initial rapprochement - a fact which helps explain Mr Duyet's enthusiastic support for the McCain presidential campaign.

"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."

It was obvious that they were Latin Americans. He said he was there to help me with my defense. I was to be tried by the war crimes tribunal, the Bertrand Russell Tribunal for War Crimes against the Vietnamese people, and he would work on my defense for me. Then he sent me back to the room. I didn’t know what to make of these two guys, but they weren’t the normal delegation like the one I had just seen. They were a little scarier; they were a little more intense. They were sitting with the camp commander to his right, which is a position of authority.

1967 : (VIETNAM ERA : BERTRAND RUSSELL "HEARINGS") The BRussells Tribunal, inspired by the hearings held in 1967 by philosopher Bertrand Russell into American war crimes in Vietnam---"Permanent war ," Al Ahram Weekly, 15 - 21 April 2004, Issue No. 686, Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875

Believe it or not, the Bertrand Russell type douchebags are still around, waging war on the Bush admin.

MARCH 21, 2003 : ('WAR ON CHENEY, RUMSFELD & WOLFOWITZ' : PUBLICATION OF SILLY-ASS PETITION AGAINST PNAC-- See ICTI, BERTRAND RUSSELL PEACE FOUNDATION, BRUSSELS TRIBUNAL {see RAMSEY CLARK, DENIS HALLIDAY [UN Oil for Food official], HANS VON SPONECK [Denis Haliday's successor in the UN oil for Food program]} ) Let me [Belgian Lieven De Cauter] briefly evoke the history of our initiative. Just before the start of the war in Iraq a petition was launched. It was signed by some 500 artists, writers, intellectuals and academics. It called for moral and, if possible, legal action against the 'Project for the New American Century' and the authorities responsible for the war against Iraq. It was published on March 21st [2003] in two Belgian newspapers, De Standaard and De Morgen. It soon appeared that legal action was unlikely to succeed as the United States have consistently acted against any legal authority that would be liable to threaten them and still continue to do so. Hence the idea to set up a 'Moral Court' or 'People's Court' to condemn the new American policy as well as the think tanks behind it (the latter always remain beyond the grasp of legal action). A broad platform composed of several Belgian cultural organizations was created to carry out the petition's first proposal: to set up a Brussels Tribunal, after the historical example of the Russell Tribunal. -----"THE PEOPLE VERSUS TOTAL WAR INCORPORATED" LOOKING BACK TO THE BRUSSELLS TRIBUNAL (Yokohama-testimony, 5th ICTI hearing June 6th 2004)http://www.icti-e.com/Lieven%20De%20Cauter.html

1997 SPRING : (PNAC IS FOUNDED-- SEE KAGAN, KRISTOL, THE WEEKLY STANDARD, CHENEY, RUMSFELD, FL GOVERNOR BUSH, FUKUYAMA, WOLFOWITZ, SCHMITT, ARMITAGE,...) In the spring of 1997 the neo-conservatives Robert Kagan and William Kristol of The Weekly Standard founded 'The Project for the New American Century' (PNAC). The most distinguished signatories of the mission statement are Dick Cheney, Donald Rumsfeld, and Jeb Bush (George W. Bush's brother), Francis Fukuyama, and 'last but not least' Paul Wolfowitz, a former Professor of International Politics and former Dean of the Department of International Politics at Johns Hopkins University. Its current director is Gary Schmitt. It is important to note that many of its members have close ties with both the military and the oil industry. PNAC describes itself as "a non-profit, educational organization whose goal it is to promote American global leadership."
Its 'Statement of principles' is unequivocal: "The history of the 20th century should have taught us that it is important to shape circumstances before crises emerge, and to meet threats before they become dire. The history of this century should have taught us to embrace the cause of American leadership." (That is the doctrine of "Premptive Strike" and "Benevolent Hegemony")---SOURCE : "THE PEOPLE VERSUS TOTAL WAR INCORPORATED" : LOOKING BACK TO THE BRUSSELLS TRIBUNAL," (Yokohama-testimony, 5th ICTI hearing June 6th 2004), Lieven De Cauter http://www.icti-e.com/Lieven%20De%20Cauter.html
1998 : (RUMSFELD & WOLFOWITZ LETTER TO PRESIDENT CLINTON -- SEE PNAC)DONALD Rumsfeld...and ...Paul Wolfowitz wrote to President Bill Clinton in 1998 urging...the removal of Saddam Hussein...
Those who signed the letter, dated January 26, 1998, include Bush's current Pentagon adviser, Richard Perle; Richard Armitage, the number two at the State Department; John Bolton and Paula Dobriansky, under-secretaries of state; Elliott Abrams, the presidential adviser for the Middle East and a member of the National Security Council; and Peter W Rodman, assistant secretary of defence for international security affairs. It reads:
' We urge you to seize [the] opportunity and to enunciate a new strategy that would secure the interests of the US and our friends and allies around the world. 'That strategy should aim, above all, at the removal of Saddam Hussein's regime from power.'
' We can no longer depend on our partners in the Gulf war coalition to uphold the sanctions or to punish Saddam when he blocks or evades the UN inspections.
'If Saddam does acquire the capability to deliver weapons of mass destruction, as he is almost certain to do if we continue along the present course, the safety of American troops in the region, of our friends and allies like Israel and the moderate Arab states, and a significant portion of the world's supply of oil, will all be put at hazard.'
Bush's current advisers spell out their solution to the Iraqi problem: 'The only acceptable strategy is one that eliminates the possibility that Iraq will be able to use or threaten to use weapons of mass destruction. In the near term, this means a willingness to undertake military action as diplomacy is clearly failing. That now needs to become the aim of American foreign policy.
'We believe the US has the authority under existing UN resolutions to take the necessary steps, including military steps, to protect our vital interests in the Gulf. In any case, American policy cannot continue to be crippled by a misguided insistence on unanimity in the Security Council.'
The letter -- also signed by Zalmay Khalilzad, Bush's special envoy to the Iraqi opposition; ex-director James Woolsey and Robert B Zoelick, the US trade representative -- was written by the signatories on behalf of the Project for the New American Century (PNAC), a right-wing think-tank, to which they all belong. Other founding members of PNAC include Dick Cheney...---- "Rumsfeld urged Clinton to attack Iraq," Sunday Herald (UK) ^ | March 16, 2003 | Neil Mackay, Home Affairs Editor
[NOTE THAT CONTRARY TO THE LEFT'S ASSERTIONS, THE CONCERN ABOUT IRAQ IS IT MAY GAIN THER ABILITY TO DELIVER WMD, NOT THAT IT HAS THE ABILTY YET.]
OCTOBER 1998 : (ANYTHING FOR AN OIL VOUCHER...-- SEE HALLIDAY {SEE BRUSSELS TRIBUNAL}) Washington DC - A bipartisan ad-hoc congressional hearing on Tuesday, October 6 on the effects of sanctions on Iraqi civilians coincided with the official delivery to President Clinton of a congressional letter calling upon the U.S. government to delink economic sanctions from military sanctions, improve and expand the "oil-for-food" program, and stop impeding the flow of humanitarian goods into Iraq. The letter has gathered the signatures of 44 U.S. members of Congress. Senators Paul Wellstone (D-MN) and Spencer Abraham (R-MI) also sent the President a letter calling for the easing of sanctions on Iraq...
Mr. Halliday, who resigned last Wednesday from his posts as UN Assistant Secretary-General and head of the UN humanitarian mission in Iraq, spoke of the "tragic incompatibility of sanctions with the UN charter and the Convention on Human Rights." The hearing was chaired by Rep. John Conyers (D-MI), who said that he would insist on full committee hearings on this issue. The hearing was organized with the aid of the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC), the Arab-American Institute (AAI), and a national network of religious and peace organizations.-------44 Reps., 2 Senators Send Clinton letters Calling for Easing Iraq Sanctions; Former UN Official Denounces Iraq Sanctions at Congressional Hearing, Press Release For Immediate Release from Peace Action October 6, 1998
MAY 3, 2000 Wednesday : (CONGRESSIONAL BRIEFING : THREE UN OFFICIALS - HANS VON SPONECK, DENIS HALLIDAY {See BRUSSELS TRIBUNAL, OIL FOR FOOD} & SCOTT RITTER CALL FOR THE LIFTING OF SANCTIONS AGAINST IRAQ - US REPRESENTATIVES / DEMOCRATS DENNIS KUCINICH, JOHN CONYERS & CYNTHIA MCKINNEY ALSO CALL FOR THE LIFTING OF SANCTIONS)
SEPTEMBER 2000 : (PNAC PUBLISHES ) In September 2000, before George W. Bush won the presidential election, PNAC published 'Rebuilding America's Defenses: Strategies, Forces And Resources For A New Century'----------"THE PEOPLE VERSUS TOTAL WAR INCORPORATED" : LOOKING BACK TO THE BRUSSELLS TRIBUNAL, (Yokohama-testimony, 5th ICTI hearing June 6th 2004), Lieven De Cauter http://www.icti-e.com/Lieven%20De%20Cauter.html
JANUARY 21, 2001 : (INAUGERATION DAY) Many of the key supporters of the Project for the New American Century (PNAC) entered the White House along with George W Bush in 2000, and have been instrumental in designing and launching the war on terror in general, and the occupation of Iraq in particular. -------- "Permanent war ," Al Ahram Weekly, 15 - 21 April 2004, Issue No. 686, Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875
SEPTEMBER 11, 2001 : (9/11)
SEPTEMBER 2002 : (WHITE HOUSE: BUSH SIGNS NATIONAL SECURITY STRATEGY DOCUMENT...) ... the PNAC theories became a blueprint for the American defense and international policy. This policy was officially accepted in a White House document personally signed by President Bush: 'The National Security Strategy of the United States of America' (September 2002).

JUNE 3, 2003 Tuesday : (BELGIUM : THREE MORE TOXIC LETTERS FOUND BY POSTMEN, THESE ADDRESSED TO PRIME MINISTER, JUSTICE & FOREIGN AFFAIRS MINISTER, A BELGIAN COURT, AND THE US EMBASSY; AN ADDITIONAL THREE LETTERS ARRIVED AT BRUSSELS COURT, OSTEND AIRPORT & ANTWERP PORT AUTHORITY) Coinkidink?

JUNE 3- 4, 2003 Tues & Wed : (BELGIUM : TOXIC LETTERS CONTAINING HYDRAZINE & PHENARSAZINE CLAIMING TO BE SENT BY THE "INTERNATIONAL ISLAMIC SOCIETY" ARE DISCOVERED; WERE ADDRESSED TO AMERICAN, SAUDI & BRITISH EMBASSIES, THE BELGIAN PRIME MINISTER, JUSTICE AND FOREIGN AFFAIRS MINISTRY OFFICES, AND AIRPORT DIRECTOR)

JUNE 4, 2003 Wednesday late : (BELGIUM : TOXIC LETTERS CASE : IRAQI'S HOME SEARCHED) Police searched the home of the Iraqi late Wednesday and took him to the local police office for questioning. If convicted of the charges, the suspect could face up to three years in prison. Five police officials were treated for skin and eye irritation and breathing problems after examining bags of documents seized at the man's home in Deinze, some 30 miles west of Brussels, said judge Lieve Pellens. The five policemen increased to 20 the total of people needing treatment after coming into contact with suspicious toxins over the past days. None remained hospitalized. Fifteen other people who handled the letters during the past days developed identical symptoms. - "Iraqi Arrested After Letters In Belgium (Arsenic Derivatives)," by Raf Casert, Associated Press Writer, The Guardian (UK) , Friday June 6, 2003 3:09 AM

JUNE 4, 2003 Wednesday, late : (BELGIANS DETAIN AN IRAQI MAN IN CONNECTION TO LETTERS CONTAINING PHENARSAZINE CHLORIDE TO PRIME MINISTER, US, SAUDI & UK EMBASSIES, AN AIRPORT, PORT AUTHORITY AND A COURT TRYING AL QAEDA SUSPECTS)

JUNE 2003 end : (BRUSSELS, BELGIUM : BERTRAND RUSSELL PEACE FOUNDATION CONFERENCE -- See BRUSSELS TRIBUNAL, 'WAR ON PNAC, CHENEY, RUMSFELD & WOLFOWITZ') It soon appeared that legal action was unlikely to succeed as the United States have consistently acted against any legal authority that would be liable to threaten them and still continue to do so. Hence the idea to set up a 'Moral Court' or 'People's Court' to condemn the new American policy as well as the think tanks behind it (the latter always remain beyond the grasp of legal action). A broad platform composed of several Belgian cultural organizations was created to carry out the petition's first proposal: to set up a Brussels Tribunal, after the historical example of the Russell Tribunal. At a networking conference set up by the Bertrand Russell Peace Foundation at the end of June 2003 in Brussels it was decided that a series of hearings would be held in different places all over the world, culminating in a final session in Istanbul. The Brussels Tribunal was the official opening session of the has become the World Tribunal on Iraq and of wich ICTI an integral part.------"THE PEOPLE VERSUS TOTAL WAR INCORPORATED" LOOKING BACK TO THE BRUSSELLS TRIBUNAL (Yokohama-testimony, 5th ICTI hearing June 6th 2004)http://www.icti-e.com/Lieven%20De%20Cauter.html

APRIL 15-17, 2004 : (BRUSSELS, BELGIUM : "PEOPLE'S TRIBUNAL" OPENS- A CESSPOOL OF MARXIST & ANTISEMITIC CONSPIRACY THEORIES CENTERED AROUND FEARS OF "US HEGEMONY")This week, a People's Tribunal opens in Brussels, Belgium, to try the PNAC for their part in dragging the world into a state of permanent war. The BRussells Tribunal, inspired by the hearings held in 1967 by philosopher Bertrand Russell into American war crimes in Vietnam, is just the first session in a series of citizens' forums which will be held around the world over the next year, and which seek to expose and condemn the dark face of current American foreign policy. As the Tribunal opens in Belgium, Frederick Bowie spoke to participants about what they hoped to achieve, and what the world needs to know about America's neo-conservative palace revolution. Blueprint for war The BRussels Tribunal began life as the brainchild of Belgian philosopher Lieven de Cauter. On the eve of the proceedings, he talks to Fredrick Bowie about "benevolent hegemony" and the coming state of permanent catastrophe For a justice to come Lieven De Cauter talks to Jacques Derrida about the BRussells Tribunal 'We are Palestinians now' Fredrick Bowie talks to the Iraqi film maker Hana Al-Bayaty about her film screened at the BRussells Tribunal No way back Fredrick Bowie talks to Immanuel Wallerstein, the distinguished historian who believes the invasion of Iraq marks the end of an era in US foreign policy A beginner's guide to PNAC Al-Ahram Weekly talks to Jim Lobe, Inter Press correspondent in Washington DC, and 'defence counsel' of the BRussells Tribunal about the fundamental delusions inherent in the Project for the New American Century --- "Permanent war ," Al Ahram Weekly, 15 - 21 April 2004, Issue No. 686, Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875

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