Ghosts of Vietnam haunt US presidential race

WASHINGTON – Three decades on, the Vietnam War has returned to haunt the US presidential campaign, pitting a decorated combat veteran against an incumbent president embroiled in a controversy over his own military service.

US Senator John Kerry of Massachusetts, aged 60 and favoured to win the Democratic Party presidential nomination, won the Silver Star and Bronze Star for valour in Vietnam and received three Purple Hearts for wounds. President George W. Bush, three years Kerry’s junior, never went to Vietnam.Instead, he chose to fulfil his military obligation by enlisting in the Texas National Guard as a fighter pilot, which was perfectly legal, but is nonetheless viewed by some veterans as a copout from serving on the battlefield.Beyond that, Democratic National Committee chairman Terry McAuliffe has accused Bush of going absent without leave from the National Guard.The charge is tied to a murky period in Bush’s National Guard record in 1972-73 when his whereabouts have not been fully documented.There is however no evidence Bush was absent without authorisation.The White House has produced Bush’s National Guard pay slips and other records for the period in question, claiming they show him to have been present and accounted for.But the presidential press corps has been relentlessly dogging White House press secretary Scott McClellan for more proof, in an incessant feeding frenzy that has overshadowed most of his briefings.The White House made public a 2.5-inch-thick stack of documents Friday from Bush’s time in the Texas National Guard in its latest effort to quash the charges.But the records released on Bush’s order are unlikely to quell charges from Democrats that he shirked his duties.Kerry, who enlisted in the navy in 1965, has made Vietnam a central campaign issue, vexing Republican efforts to portray the Bush administration as the sole guardian of national security.On the campaign trail Kerry routinely surrounds himself with fellow Vietnam veterans, one of whom he saved from certain death in the Mekong Delta.Both men find themselves campaigning against the backdrop of another war, Iraq, as controversial and divisive as was Vietnam.Each has been trying to sell the electorate on his patriotism, character, sense of duty and leadership qualities.Both camps have cranked up the rhetoric in recent days, with the Democrats accusing Bush of using family influence to shirk service in Vietnam, and the White House accusing the Republicans of “trolling for trash for political gain”.Kerry, untouchable on his service record, is proving easy prey for the Republicans for what he did when he returned from the war:his participation in the popular anti-war movement.The conservative Washington Times ran on its front page a 1970 anti-war demonstration photograph of actress Jane Fonda, nicknamed “Hanoi Jane” for her volatile visit to the North Vietnamese capital at the height of the war.Behind her in the picture is a slightly blurred but unmistakable John Kerry.Indignant Republican congressmen said it called into question Kerry’s abilities to serve as commander-in-chief of the armed forces.An equally indignant Fonda took to the airwaves calling Kerry “a real patriot” and declaring, “We didn’t even shake hands!” “The Republicans are freaking out because it’s being publicly recognised that Bush, who defines himself as a war-time president, a hero of the war against terrorism, playing macho man, is in fact a chicken-hawk,” said Bobby Mueller, president of the Vietnam Veterans of America Foundation.For Bush, Mueller told AFP, “the National Guard was a way to escape serving in Vietnam”.Vietnam veterans, he said, “are absolutely outraged about this administration getting us into another Vietnam-type of war, in Iraq, a war that we are losing, a war that we have no way out of, a war that’s being continued for political purposes”.”Vietnam is still a very emotional issue,” said Peter Kuznick, a war historian specialising in Vietnam, who saw a hero in neither candidate.”Kerry is running as if it’s a good thing to serve in an immoral war,” he said, while “Bush used his family ties and privileges to avoid service in a war that his generation got called upon to fight in”.- Nampa-AFPPresident George W. Bush, three years Kerry’s junior, never went to Vietnam. Instead, he chose to fulfil his military obligation by enlisting in the Texas National Guard as a fighter pilot, which was perfectly legal, but is nonetheless viewed by some veterans as a copout from serving on the battlefield. Beyond that, Democratic National Committee chairman Terry McAuliffe has accused Bush of going absent without leave from the National Guard. The charge is tied to a murky period in Bush’s National Guard record in 1972-73 when his whereabouts have not been fully documented. There is however no evidence Bush was absent without authorisation. The White House has produced Bush’s National Guard pay slips and other records for the period in question, claiming they show him to have been present and accounted for. But the presidential press corps has been relentlessly dogging White House press secretary Scott McClellan for more proof, in an incessant feeding frenzy that has overshadowed most of his briefings. The White House made public a 2.5-inch-thick stack of documents Friday from Bush’s time in the Texas National Guard in its latest effort to quash the charges. But the records released on Bush’s order are unlikely to quell charges from Democrats that he shirked his duties. Kerry, who enlisted in the navy in 1965, has made Vietnam a central campaign issue, vexing Republican efforts to portray the Bush administration as the sole guardian of national security. On the campaign trail Kerry routinely surrounds himself with fellow Vietnam veterans, one of whom he saved from certain death in the Mekong Delta. Both men find themselves campaigning against the backdrop of another war, Iraq, as controversial and divisive as was Vietnam. Each has been trying to sell the electorate on his patriotism, character, sense of duty and leadership qualities. Both camps have cranked up the rhetoric in recent days, with the Democrats accusing Bush of using family influence to shirk service in Vietnam, and the White House accusing the Republicans of “trolling for trash for political gain”. Kerry, untouchable on his service record, is proving easy prey for the Republicans for what he did when he returned from the war:his participation in the popular anti-war movement. The conservative Washington Times ran on its front page a 1970 anti-war demonstration photograph of actress Jane Fonda, nicknamed “Hanoi Jane” for her volatile visit to the North Vietnamese capital at the height of the war. Behind her in the picture is a slightly blurred but unmistakable John Kerry. Indignant Republican congressmen said it called into question Kerry’s abilities to serve as commander-in-chief of the armed forces. An equally indignant Fonda took to the airwaves calling Kerry “a real patriot” and declaring, “We didn’t even shake hands!” “The Republicans are freaking out because it’s being publicly recognised that Bush, who defines himself as a war-time president, a hero of the war against terrorism, playing macho man, is in fact a chicken-hawk,” said Bobby Mueller, president of the Vietnam Veterans of America Foundation. For Bush, Mueller told AFP, “the National Guard was a way to escape serving in Vietnam”. Vietnam veterans, he said, “are absolutely outraged about this administration getting us into another Vietnam-type of war, in Iraq, a war that we are losing, a war that we have no way out of, a war that’s being continued for political purposes”. “Vietnam is still a very emotional issue,” said Peter Kuznick, a war historian specialising in Vietnam, who saw a hero in neither candidate. “Kerry is running as if it’s a good thing to serve in an immoral war,” he said, while “Bush used his family ties and privileges to avoid service in a war that his generation got called upon to fight in”. – Nampa-AFP