Posted on 01/02/2003 2:56:47 AM PST by Skooz
Edited on 07/12/2004 4:00:03 PM PDT by Jim Robinson. [history]
Christmas came late this year to the hill people in Vietnam known as the Montagnards, and when it came, it was at the point of a gun and the heel of a jackboot.
The Vietnamese government took the largely-Christian holiday as an opportunity to launch another wave of repression against this largely-Christian minority. Late last week, it pronounced another series of long prison terms on eight Montagnards accused of political crimes, and that was probably just a small part of its offensive Christmas offensive. According to the Montagnard Foundation, Degar Christians (a subgroup of Montagnards) were threatened with fines, imprisonment and execution for celebrating the holiday. Moreover, the Vietnamese government backed up those threats with the mobilization of 600 squads of "fast-deployment teams" of soldiers in the highlands last October.
(Excerpt) Read more at washtimes.com ...
Yeah, I really wonder...not.
While the above story makes it appear that only the Montagnards are being persecuted, the truth is that the entire Christian population of Vietnam self-censors its Christmas expressions specifically out of fear of the Hanoi government.
Vietnam is about 10 percent Catholic (7-8 million people) and 1 percent Protestant.
Right! ;)
McCain doesn't like Christians. He'll probably applaud them.
Of course "born-again-Christian" Jane Fonda will protest the current outrage.
If she needs transportation to protest in person, we can duct-tape her to a bomb and drop her into Jane Fonda City.
" It's worth remembering (especially since the communist Vietnamese government certainly does) that the Montagnards have long been friends of the United States. During the Vietnam War, they gave sanctuary to U.S. soldiers and their lives to the U.S. cause — more than half of adult Montagnard males were killed fighting alongside American soldiers during the conflict. In the short term, Washington should pressure Hanoi to end it's holiday repression. In the long term, it should do all it can to offer succor and aid to its friends, the Montagnards."
Bump.
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