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US Must Pay Vietnam Reparation

By VVAW

Official negotiations between the US government and the Socialist Republic of Vietnam have opened up. After waging a terrorist war for ten years and trying to isolate Vietnam for the last two, Carter has finally stated that he will not veto their admission to the UN. At the same time the US government is trying to break a promise the Nixon administration was forced to make by the Vietnamese for reparations. Kissinger and Vance are now trying to say that there never really were any promises. Well you don't have to go back to the Indian land treaties to know the validity of US agreements. Broken promises and lies are part and parcel of this system. Broken promises and lies are part and parcel of this system. But their just isn't any way we are going to fall for them. As veterans of the Vietnam war, the ground pounders, tankers, artillerymen, RTOs, clerks, medics, etc, we can't forget, nor want to, what really happened in Vietnam.

Trying to rewrite history, the US government is now accusing the Vietnamese of atrocities committed by US forces. But we'll be glad to remind the rich of this country what we saw.

Operation Phoenix was a CIA assassination program that killed between 100,000 and 250,000 suspected enemy ranging from village chiefs to teachers. Chemical defoliants were used that were banned in the US. It is estimated that birth defects resulting from this use will be 6 times greater than suffered after Hiroshima. Forced relocation of farmers and peasants was the aim of the "new life hamlet" program. Carried out by the Saigon and American troops, Vietnamese were moved from ancestral homes to government controlled areas along the coast. This was all part of a ten year war waged by the rich here to subdue and exploit the peoples and resources of Vietnam. And the cannon fodder--55,000 dead American servicemen sacrificed on the altar of almighty profit for the likes of Bank of American, Texaco, Michelin Rubber and more.

Billions upon billions were spent to destroy Vietnam for the rich and now the rulers of this country had better damn well live up to their agreement and pay reparations out of their own pockets.

At the same time it is necessary for the government of Vietnam to be recognized by the UN and by the US as the legitimate representative of the Vietnamese people. There is no excuse for this not to happen. The rich rulers of the US can't even come up with a puppet on some offshore island pretending to be the real government of Vietnam. Unfortunately for the ruling class, ex-President Thieu skipped off to Europe with the gold from the Saigon treasury (unfortunately for the people, too, because they didn't get their hand of that traitor or the gold).

Carter likes to do a lot of talking about "binding up the wounds." But that is all it is--talk. Carter and the rest could care less about the lives of the Vietnamese, the GIs or the American people when compared to their profit margin. As for binding up the wounds and bringing us together, we won't ever forgive those bloodsuckers who sent us around the world.

Recognize Vietnam Now!