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John McCain was a war hero, if flawed: just like America
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Why you can trust SCMP
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Yonden Lhatoo in his latest column claims John McCain and America are warmongers, war criminals, child murderers and “evil minds bent on destruction” (“John McCain was a chronic warmonger, not a war hero”, September 1).
But consider: The United States did not want to enter either the first or the second world war. Was this “warmongering”? If so, we’re surely grateful.
The Vietnam war was hugely contentious in the US, not a popular adventure. As an Australian of a certain age, I was in the conscription ballot for Vietnam. I didn’t support the war, but would have gone because I saw it as a duty, as surely did McCain.
Mr Lhatoo fails to mention that McCain refused early release by his Vietcong captors. McCain later publicly admitted to and regretted breaking down under torture, and his Vietnamese jailer paid tribute to the “stubborn” prisoner. After the war, McCain spoke repeatedly against torture, and was instrumental in repairing US-Vietnam relations.
Watch: Vietnam remembers John McCain
How Vietnam fell in love with John McCain
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