Who Cares About Kerry? It's Bush We Can't Stand, Say Vietnamese

by Didier Lauras
HANOI, Aug 27 (AFP) - The question of whether presidential candidate John Kerry was a coward or a leader during the Vietnam War might be raging in the United States, but on the streets of Hanoi people hope for just one result from the American election -- the exit of George W. Bush.
"I've read a few things in the newspapers about the presidential campaign in the US but I don't care much. Bush is barbarous," a 78-year-old retiree, who did not want to give his name, told AFP.
The mere mention of the former Texas oilman visibly rattles a souvenir saleswoman in central Hanoi but Kerry, who possibly killed Vietnamese nationals during his service in the war, seems not to matter.
"Bush is a crazy man," she said. "We hate him. Believe me, no one in Vietnam likes him.
"I don't know much about the presidential campaign in the US. But I will be very happy if Bush fails."
For several months, the state-run press has devoted numerous reports to the military service of Kerry, who fought in Vietnam, was wounded three times and awarded three Purple Hearts, and Bush, who never served in the South East Asian nation.
However, the stories are taken from news agencies and run without comment.
In a country where the press is muzzled, where the Communist Party brooks no criticism and silences the strongest opposition voices, the collective political conscience is hardly well-developed, analysts say.
Yet while the government has been silent on the US elections, in the pirated-DVD shops of Hanoi the anti-Bush polemic by outspoken filmmaker Michael Moore, "Fahrenheit 9/11", is readily available.
"I think the Vietnamese people are better than Americans in overcoming the wounds of war," said architect Pham Van Thang, 35.
The fact that politicians are arguing over what happened 30 years ago so they can be elected in November only adds to the impression among Vietnamese that they are indulging in scandal-mongering.
"Candidates to the presidential campaign in the US use the Vietnam war as a way to attract the attention of voters. The Vietnam war is treated the way personal lives of movie stars is," said Thang.
In Hanoi, any talk of the Vietnam War evokes the pain of current suffering, most notably due to Agent Orange, the herbicide the Americans used to tame the jungle during the conflict.
For the first time, Vietnamese victims have decided to sue US companies which produced the defoliant, a move which has been welcomed by the public, even though half the population is under 20 and never experienced the war.
"I know Bush, (I) don't know about the presidential campaign in the US. I don't care. I only know about the campaign for Agent Orange victims in Vietnam. I fully support them," said housewife Hoang Cam Tu, 45.
Tran Thanh Hung, 40, a motor-cycle taxi driver, also invoked the use of the defoliant decades ago while talking about Bush.
"If Bush is still the US President, many people in many countries still have to suffer," he says. "He will kill more innocent people. I support the present campaign in Vietnam to sign for victims of Agent Orange."
Surprisingly, few mention the possibility that Kerry might have killed Vietnamese people during his years of service.
Vietnamese people make the comparison between the conflict on their soil and the war in Iraq, which they have condemned from the start.
"Bush only likes to fight," said a souvenir saleswoman. "We should bring him to the hospital for mental treatment. During the war in Iraq, I supported Saddam Hussein as he is a great man for his country."
Agriculture student Le Duc Vuong, 20, said Bush was inextricably linked with Iraq.
"I don't support Bush because of his war in Iraq," he said. "He is strong in fighting terrorists but he brings about deaths, devastation, not peace."
And Kerry? "I don't have much information about the other man."