Call for Democracy
Tuesday there was a massive whole page ad in the Post.
I'm used to seeing the logo for Martin Marietta or Lockeed on these.
They always seem to have the cash on hand. This one on the other hand
had a simple drawing of a torch and outline of Vietnam. "An open
letter to George W. Bush..." it began. The group is A Call for Democracy
- Loi Keu Goi Dan Chu. They are a dot org from Santa Barbara. They took
this ad out in this paper and presumably others [apparently it ran to 3 pages in the Washington Times] because they fear a
love fest (Bush Vows Increased Ties With Vietnamese)
will break out between the US and the current government of Vietnam now
that Prime Minister Phan Khai has come here; hung out with Bill Gates,
bought planes from Boeing and met with the President. Vietnam, they
caution, is still a one party state which brooks no dissent or
criticism. Which, also, never made life easy for the country's
remaining Catholics.
I should ask Tran what she thinks of all this, I thought. So I
pulled that page out and folded it up to read it in detail later.
Before I had a chance to ask her, she brought this up with me on her
own. What did I think of his being here? I don't have anything against
normalization of diplomatic ties, and trade, and believe that
constructive engagement is the only true and practical international
relation. As long as you have the fortitude and ability to take the
long view. Khai Phan, Tran pointed out - and here I was struck by the
rather intense way she seemed to bite the words of his name in half and
hurl them into the air - Mr. Phan she declared has stated that American
politicians will apologize for the war and he will graciously accept
it. "He shouldn't hold his breath waiting for that," I replied, "He
won't get it." He wouldn't even get that from me.
Tran seems to be be involved in a local affiliate of this Call for
Democracy organization. She mentioning that people in the VA/DC/MD
Vietnamese community were planning a protest against his visit on
Thursday, She was considering going, but probably only if her father [didn't]
need her [I knew I was misunderstanding something on the first draft of
this - her father didn't go, but if he had she would have gone with
him]. Apparently some people had worked for a number of
months or perhaps years to prevent this visit from taking place and are
not happy about it. She could not understand why President Bush would
meet with this delegation . This Boston Globe article indicates the
protests will be in every city Prime Minister Phan visits.
Bush hosts, praises Vietnamese leader - The Boston Globe - Boston.com - Asia - News
. I suppose the U S Government needs to encourage at least the level of
trade and globalization to allow markets to develop and the right
attitude concerning intellectual property rights to foster. I also
pointed out that they are meeting with national security officials to
make arrangements for intelligence and military cooperation. Today's
Department of Defense e-ring managers enforce a strict "don't ask don't
tell" policy concerning human rights.
Engagement is a tricky thing, It has in the past led some
governments to conclude that the US was happy with the way they carried
out their affairs. The way we appear to compartmentalize our national
security apparatus, political system and institutions of free market
globalism, such as the world bank. This leads some to perceive we view
these as separate buffet-items at the big table. As a practical matter
I doubt I could easily pull them apart. I expect few could; except
throught the prism of a particular divergence. The more Tran described
all this and we talked about it, the more engaged she got. She's
normally such a calm and collected person, here she seemed quite
impassioned as she went over it all. "No one who has spent two weeks in
Vietnam would account the least respect to the communist government." I
have to admit, I like it when she gets like this.
11:58:07 PM  ;;
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