Liar McCain Exposed. Liar can't be trusted to lead USA.
'When John McCain was my captive'=20
By Andrew Harding=20
BBC News in Haiphong, Vietnam =20
Tran Trong Duyet - a sprightly retiree and amateur ballroom dancer - must=
=20
rank as one of John McCain's more unlikely sup****ters.=20
Four decades ago, during the Vietnam war, Mr Duyet was in charge of the=20
notorious Hoa Lo prison - the place where Mr McCain says he was
brutally=20
beaten and tortured during five-and-a-half years as an American prisoner
of=
=20
war.=20
"McCain is my friend," said 75-year-old Mr Duyet as he feeds the caged
bird=
s=20
he now keeps in his garden in this coastal city.=20
"If I was American, I would vote for him."=20
Informal chats=20
Navy pilot John McCain was shot down during a bombing raid over the North=
=20
Vietnamese capital, Hanoi, in 1967.=20
He ejected from his aircraft and parachuted into a city lake - only to be=
=20
dragged out by an angry crowd, barely conscious, and with two broken arms
a=
nd=20
a broken leg.=20
From there he was taken to Hoa Lo prison, known to its American
military=20
inmates as the "Hanoi Hilton".=20
McCain has since described enduring months of solitary confinement and=20
systematic torture which drove him to try to kill himself.=20
"I don't know how he'd react if he met me again," said Mr Duyet, flicking=
=20
through old black and white photographs of himself and his American
prisone=
rs=20
at Hoa Lo.=20
"But I can confirm to you that we never tortured him. We never tortured
any=
=20
prisoners."=20
Mr Duyet reminisces instead about how he often summoned the future US=20
presidential candidate to his private office for informal chats.=20
"We used to argue about the war - about whether it was right or wrong,"
he=
=20
says.=20
"He is a very frank man - very conservative, and very loyal to his
country=
=20
and the American ideal.=20
"He had a very interesting accent and sometimes he taught me words in
Engli=
sh=20
and corrected my accent. I have followed his career since he left
prison."=
=20
Rapprochement=20
So is Mr Duyet implying that that Senator McCain lied about his treatment
a=
t=20
the Hanoi Hilton?=20
"He did not tell the truth," he says.=20
"But I can somehow sympathise with him. He lies to American voters in
order=
=20
to get their sup****t for his presidential election."=20
But Mr Duyet's propaganda-perfect version of events is impossible to
verify=
-=20
and should be treated with caution in a country where the Communist=20
authorities still keep a tight control over the media.=20
Relations between Vietnam and the United States have improved dramatically
=
in=20
recent years, following the normalisation of ties between the former
enemie=
s=20
in 1995.=20
Mr McCain played a crucial role in bringing about that initial
rapprochemen=
t=20
- a fact which helps explain Mr Duyet's enthusiastic sup****t for the
McCain=
=20
presidential campaign.=20
"I wish him success in the presidential election," he says.=20
"Of course the Americans started the war in Vietnam and killed so many
peop=
le=20
- but now we want to leave the past behind.=20
"So now I consider John McCain my friend because he did much to mend=20
relations between our two countries. And if he becomes president he will
do=
=20
more to improve those ties."=20
Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/asia-pacific/7459946.stm
Published: 2008/06/23 16:59:19 GMT
=A9 BBC MMVIII
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