'Hanoi Hilton' jailer says he'd vote for McCain

Fox News ^ | June 27, 2008 | FOXNews.com

[Uncle Ralph]

John McCain has fielded the unlikeliest of endorsements -- from his former captor in the Vietnam War.

Tran Trong Duyet, who was in charge of the so-called "Hanoi Hilton" where McCain was imprisoned for more than five years after his plane was shot down in 1967, told the British Broadcasting Corporation that he now considers McCain his "friend" and that if he had the chance he would vote for him for president.

"If I were American, I'd vote for John McCain," Duyet, now 75, told the BBC. "I think he'd make a very capable president. He's done so much to improve relations between our two countries."

Duyet, who called McCain "very conservative" and "very loyal to his country," said he has followed the Arizona senator's career since he left the prison.

"I wish him success in the presidential election," he said.

Duyet said that while McCain was imprisoned the two used to argue over the war, but he now wants to "leave the past behind."

...

"We never tortured any prisoners," Duyet told the BBC, adding that McCain "lies to American voters" to summon support for his presidential bid.

The BBC noted that Duyet's account is impossible to verify.

[Uncle Ralph]

Duyet's statement about torture is false.

[Jeff Chandler]

This is weird. I swear I saw this article before.

[Perdogg]

There are people here on FR who actually believe that Sen McCain was brainwashed by the North Vietnamese a la “The Manchurian Candidate”.

[OpusatFR]

Of course he’s going to say the Viet Cong never tortured their prisoners.

War crimes doesn’t have a statute of limitations.

[mware]

Part of the testimony of one of the former POW's during a Senate hearing.

After “Fidel” failed in having any of his group released, the “Cuba Program” continued without any real purpose or meaning. Two weeks later I moved to another room with Paul Schultz. I rarely saw “Fidel” again, except on one or two occasions. “Fidel” had been working with some other men and it appeared that one of them, Earl Cobeil, was resisting “Fidel” to the maximum. Of course, “Fidel” was retaliating. Several days after I was moved, Earl Cobeil was moved in with Don Waltman into the room next to mine. Waltman said Earl was all mixed up in his mind. On one occasion, one of the guards, Grimsey, came to the shower area and took us back to our room. “Fidel” was standing at the door. All three of us lined up. I had moved into this room with Waltman and Cobeil. We went to the shower, then we came back. So Waltman and I bowed, but Cobeil just stood there again. I said, “Hey, Cobeil, bow.” Nothing happened. Suddenly Grimsey raised his leg and pushed his foot against Cobeil¹s body, who went tumbling over toward the back of the room. “Fidel” yelled loudly at Cobeil to stop cheating him or he would teach him a lesson he would never forget. The door closed.

After having seen “Fidel” for almost every day for six months, I knew that “Fidel” was going to get his way. He was not going to let the Vietnamese see him fail in any endeavor. I was convinced that he would take a man to any length to get what he wanted. In addition, the difference between the Vietnamese and “Fidel” was that more or less once the Vietnamese got what they wanted they let up at least for awhile. Not so with “Fidel.” There wasn’t a day that went by that there weren’t threats or warnings to all of us. I was in this room with Cobeil and Waltman now; and for the rest of the quiet hour, Waltman and I tried everything imaginable to get Cobeil to come down to earth, but we were unsuccessful. Shortly after the gong sounded ending the quiet hour, “Fidel” came to the door and told me to come outside. “Fidel” asked me if Cobeil was squared away. I told him that in my honest opinion, Cobeil was not at all rational; if he continued working Cobeil over, Cobeil would never make it. I was hopeful that he would believe me about Cobeil.

He accused me of trying to help Cobeil cheat him. The door was closed, locked, and bolted. I started to talk to Cobeil again for a few minutes, when all of a sudden, “Fidel” jumped up in the window, holding the bars, screaming in his loud voice, “I caught you, I caught you cheating me.” Seconds later the door slammed open. “Fidel” screamed to me, get out, get out. A few minutes later “Fidel” returned with what looked like a fan belt of a car, but cut so it was like a whip. As “Fidel” passed by he looked at me with a glaze in his eyes of an enraged madman. “Fidel” went in after Cobeil with Grimsey and Cedric. I could hear the thud of the belt against Cobeil’s body again and again as “Fidel” screamed. I guess Cobeil was hit around 20 or 30 times. It was hard to listen, as I did, to “Fidel” beating Cobeil, a frail, diminutive man, his wrists swollen three times the normal size, a vacant stare in his eyes already pushed by torture beyond the limit for which he might have a chance to regain his sanity. It had been far easier for me to endure the straps than to have to go through this. The guards all stood around talking loudly, laughing and yelling in Vietnamese. When I saw “Fidel” with the fan belt, I was sur-prised, because up to that time I had never heard of anyone getting hit like that. As I stood there with my crutches, my heart and mind overflowed with emotion. It was the most sickening feeling to hear what was going on and know there was nothing I could do about it.

That was the last day I saw Cobeil. “Fidel” unmercifully beat a mentally defenseless, sick man to death. He, as well as the North Vietnamese Communists, must bear full responsibility for that and other acts

[mware]

The foreign press has been playing this angle for some time. I think it was Feb. when the BBC interviewed Cubans asking them if they were involved in torturing POW. Of course they denied it. I’ll see if I can find the article

[mware]

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1968655/posts

[ETL]

He might be doing this to hurt McCain and help Obama.

[maine-iac7]

"We never tortured any prisoners,"

OKay, folks. You can take his word for it - or you can take Col. Day's =

http://elections.foxnews.com/2008/05/08/mccains-former-hanoi-cell-mate-describes-character-in-deplorable-conditions/

This 'endorsement' from Vietnam sounds like an obamamama trick to smear his opponent, something he is well known for in past campaigns...

Live link next post

[ETL]

McCain on lower right

In August of 1968, a program of vigorous torture methods began on McCain, using rope bindings into painful positions and beatings every two hours, at the same time as he was suffering from dysentery.[84][79] Teeth and bones were broken again, as was McCain's spirit; the beginning of a suicide attempt was stopped by guards.[79] After four days of this, McCain signed and taped[94] an anti-American propaganda "confession" that said, in part, "I am a black criminal and I have performed the deeds of an air pirate. I almost died, and the Vietnamese people saved my life, thanks to the doctors."[79] He used stilted Communist jargon and ungrammatical language to signal that the statement was forced.[89]. Source

Also see:
John McCain, Prisoner of War: A First-Person Account
By John S. McCain III, Lieut. Commander, U.S. Navy;
http://www.usnews.com/articles/news/2008/01/28/john-mccain-prisoner-of-war-a-first-person-account.html

__________________________________________________________

[maine-iac7]

http://elections.foxnews.com/2008/05/08/mccains-former-hanoi-cell-mate-describes-character-in-deplorable-conditions/

[reasonisfaith]

“He might be doing this to hurt McCain and help Obama.”

It’s the oldest trick in the book. First make a grab for credibility by saying something favorable, then do the damage you set out to do in the first place which in the end more than compensates for the original favorable comment.

Marxists do this all the time. Watch Democrat politicians, it’s a favorite tactic of theirs.

[vladimir998]

So he says he would vote for a guy he accuses of lying?

Somewhere in there is a moral lesson about communism.

[radar101]

Isn’t that just special:
A Communist endorser for each candidate for President

[Uncle Ralph]

Thanks for the photos and links, people.

[Uncle Ralph]

What you wanna bet Howard Dean has this Tran Trong Duyet’s number in his Rolodex® ?

[ETL]

Isn’t that just special: A Communist endorser for each candidate for President

You're joking, right? Because Obama is up to his eyeballs in communist advisers and supporters. This guy in Vietnam I suspect is full of it.

[ETL]

You’re welcome. Thank you for posting the article.