| I accompanied the first wave of Vietnamese troops to invade Cambodia at the end of 1978, and I believe that our action was justified as a riposte to Khmer Rouge incursions into our territory from Cambodia. But after driving the Khmer Rouge out of Phnom Penh and effectively dispersing their force, we should have offered to withdraw from Cambodia and turn the problem over to an international body. I was rejected when I proposed this approach to our leaders. They further asserted that Cambodia belonged to an Indochina community, presumably under Hanoi's auspices. The result of their strategy was to isolate Vietnam further from the rest of the world - in particular, to set back hopes for a rapprochement with the United States. These rebuffs notwithstanding, I stayed with the party. I was persuaded that I could work privately and quietly from the inside, along with others who shared my concerns, to convince our leaders of the need for sweeping reforms. I was mistaken. The Communist party, obsessed with defending itself, refuses to respect differences, and its apparatus will exterminate anyone and extinguish any voice that challenges its purpose. With the party making the rules, there can be no competition between policy choices that enable the people to decide on the best course. Only genuine democracy promises that approach. Ultimately I realized that it was futile for me to attempt to publicize my views to the Vietnamese people from Hanoi, and I conceived the idea of broadcasting my opinions back to Vietnam from abroad. My chance came late last year when I was sent on an official mission to Paris. I obtained permission to prolong my visit there, ostensibly for medical treatment. From there I made a series of weekly broadcasts to Vietnam over the Vietnamese-language services of the British Broadcasting Corp. and other foreign media. Calling my commentaries the "proposals of a citizen," I studiously avoided criticizing the Vietnamese leaders by name. Instead I appealed for political pluralism and a rational economic agenda based on Ho Chi Minh's policy of national unity and conciliation. The possibility of a relationship between the United States and Vietnam promises hope, since U.S. aid, trade, culture, science and technology can play a decisive role in support of the Vietnamese liberals who strive through democracy to lift their nation out of poverty and repression caused by Communist rule. Hence my message to Americans, whether they were past hawks or doves: Do not forget Vietnam, where a population of 70 million puts its faith in you, now more than ever. Sixteen years ago you lost the war. Today you have an opportunity to help win the peace and gain the friendship and gratitiude of the entire Vietnamese people, who desperately seek to rejoin the world. hide... |
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