Karnal
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None of the "peacekeeping action" that constituted the Vietnam war for our side was technically a war. That doesn’t exempt those involved from the Geneva Convention on the treatment of prisoners of war. The evidence of war crimes is there, and if there was a solid enough international legal framework, those responsible in Australia and the US could legally be indicted and prosecuted.
I’m referring to both Tonkin incidents, as I doubt there would be a need for a second if the US was found to be faultless in the first. Still, these incidents were only instrumental in getting force approved by the US Congress. The international standards that apply today were not as applicable during the height of the Cold War, and anyway, war courts and tribunals are only ever established by a victor against the vanquished.
What’s amazing today, 37 years on, is being able to walk the streets of Hanoi and be made to feel welcome. Same in Cambodia, same in Laos. Sure, the dollar is a powerful motivator, but we’re talking about an entire region where everyone knows someone who was killed by a US bomb, bullet, landmine, flamethrower or nepalm attack. Everyone.
A few years after the "Amerikan war", the Vietnamese had to do some peacekeeping action of their own in Cambodia. If you want my idea of a just war, there it is: getting rid of the Khmer Rouge. In Cambodia, you see very few people over 50, and they’ve forgiven us too. You see?
All are forgiven unconditionally and loved beyond measure.
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