Is anyone else just a mite uncomfortable with the nostalgia surrounding the Vietnam War that's sweeping the country at the moment? We've even had Howard say sorry to Australia's Vietnam veterans on behalf of the country (something he's said he won't do for the Stolen Generation, because it would allegedly open up issues of financial liability, among a myriad of other reasons).
I can appreciate the fact that many of the young men who fought in Vietnam were traumatised by the experience, and were reviled when they came home to a country that had become radicalised in opposition to a war of American interests; especially in the case of conscripts.
That said, conscripted men could have done what Simon Townsend did and become conscientious objectors; and regardless of whether the soldiers concerned wanted to fight in Vietnam or not, the point remains that they did so as part of the military apparatus of the state, in a proxy war that the Australian government of the day was fighting at the behest of the anti-Communist USA.
On one level, Australia's involvement in Vietnam was very much about the domino theory of politics, and the ruling government's paranoia of the day that held that, as one country fell to communism, those around it would soon follow.
Opposition to conscription, the belief that US intervention in the country was immoral and guided by its own political interests, the rising death toll, and several other factors including military atrocities, fuelled a growing public opposition to Australia's involvement in the Vietnam War. The huge moritorium marches around Australia from 1970 onwards were one example of the public's opposition to the conflict.
And now, is it just me, or do others also feel that Howard's on-going culture wars have resulted in a situation where it feels like the anti-Vietnam War protests of the late 1960's and early 70's never happened?
It's especially ironic given the Vietnam-like possibilities in Iraq and other sites around the world, don't you think?
And on a closing note, does anyone know what little Johnny Howard was doing in the 1960's? I bet he somehow managed to avoid serving in Vietnam...
4 comments:
I wonder how long it will take before he apoligises about Iraq?
god forbid howard might actually apologise for something he was actually responsible for... like his slanderous remarks made about those lawful asylum seekers aboard that SIEV 4 in 2001. No retraction and no apology.
Even if his number came up, John Howard wouldn't have served in Vietnam because of a hearing problem. He's made no secret of this. In a 2000 interview with John Laws he said, "I had a pretty significant hearing problem by the time I was at school which probably affected me a bit".
Oh, is that why he never listens?
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