McCain touches a raw nerve

By P. S. Suryanarayana

SINGAPORE, APRIL 28. The high-profile U.S. Senator, Mr. John McCain, today touched a raw nerve among the Vietnamese authorities, now in a celebratory mood, by asserting that ``the wrong guys won the war'' between Washington and Hanoi 25 years ago.

The Senator, a Vietnam War veteran who had served in Hanoi's prison, made the remark in Ho Chi Minh City after holding meetings with his communist hosts in the Vietnamese capital, Hanoi.

Mr. McCain said his prime objective was to ``heal the wounds'' of the War. But he said it was ``apparently'' the ``decision'' of ``some in the Vietnamese Government'' to refrain from working for a positive relationship between the two countries.

The Vietnamese authorities were not said to have been amused at his earlier accounts of how he had been treated as a prisoner of war. In his latest comments, he said the Vietnamese lost ``millions'' of their best and brightest people through ``execution'' and ``re-education camps.'' Many had also left by boat, he said.

While these comments could be unwelcome to the Vietnamese, even as they celebrate the silver jubilee of their victory over the U.S., the earlier official accounts of his talks with the leaders in Hanoi spoke of the messages conveyed to him and the U.S.

The U.S. should help Vietnam address the consequences of the war, especially in regard to the use of Agent Orange by the American forces at that time, Mr. McCain's interlocutors told him.

According to the Vietnamese version, Mr. McCain's hosts, told him that Washington should bear the responsibility for the consequences of the war.

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Section  : International
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