US citizens face Vietnam charges

[SunWuKong]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/6108802.stm

US citizens face Vietnam charges
By Bill Hayton
BBC News, Hanoi

Vietnam prosecutors say they intend to charge three US citizens and four others with terrorism, accusing them of trying to overthrow the government.

At least two have been detained for over a year, including Nguyen Thuong Cuc from the state of Florida.

A Florida senator has threatened to block a law normalising trade ties with Vietnam until the case is resolved.

The issue may complicate a visit by US President Bush to Vietnam set for two weeks time.

The US embassy in Hanoi has confirmed that the three US citizens - Nguyen Thuong Cuc, alias Cuc Foshee; Huynh Bich Lien, alias Linda Linh; and Le Van Binh - may be facing terrorism charges.

It is checking the identity of a fourth person, Cao Tri.

Local media reports that all of them are Vietnamese Americans, residents of the states of California and Florida.

'Inciting an uprising'

It is believed they may be involved with a group called the Government of Free Vietnam, which the communist authorities consider a terrorist organisation.

As a result of the case, a Florida senator has threatened to block the bill normalising trade relations between the US and Vietnam, which the Bush administration wants passed before the president visits Hanoi in two weeks time.

The bill's failure would be embarrassing for both governments, which have heralded it as symbolising their new partnership.

The Vietnamese authorities say they have also arrested three other people in connection with the case - all of them Vietnamese citizens from the southern province of An Giang.

Prosecutors say all seven were plotting to take over radio stations and incite an uprising against the Communist Party.

They said the leader of the alleged plot was Nguyen Huu Chanh, who they recently tried and failed to have extradited from South Korea.

The Government of Free Vietnam advocates the use of armed force and is said to have a military base somewhere on the Vietnam-Cambodia border.

However there is little evidence that it has any significant support inside Vietnam.

[Martino]

So this Florida senator supports overseas terrorist groups?

Seems Asian countries just cannot win. Thailand has a peaceful coup with widespread support of the people and monarch, and the US imposes sanctions. (American) members of a small (actually unknown) revolutionary group that advocates armed overthrow of a government are arrested in Vietnam, and members of the US senate protest against the Vietnamese government?!?

So which is it, USA - are you for or against terrorism and revolution?

[LaiSteve66]

The U.S. should really keep its nose out of this. Supporting this insignificant group or the accused isn't worth straining relations with Vietnam.

[SunWuKong]

So this Florida senator supports overseas terrorist groups?

Seems Asian countries just cannot win. Thailand has a peaceful coup with widespread support of the people and monarch, and the US imposes sanctions. (American) members of a small (actually unknown) revolutionary group that advocates armed overthrow of a government are arrested in Vietnam, and members of the US senate protest against the Vietnamese government?!?

So which is it, USA - are you for or against terrorism and revolution?

one senator from Florida isn't exactly representative of the whole of the US government. hell, plenty of people within the US government disagrees with the president himself. i'm guessing it was the executive branch that decided to impose sanctions on Thailand (correct me if i'm wrong).

as for the people who were arrested, the US government would do well to be careful in throwing its support for them, because i think Government of Free Vietnam has been in trouble with the law right here in the US.

[Arex]

What the hell. Another instance of the U.S. (or at least one Senator) applying double standards and meddling in another sovereign country's affairs.

Until recently, our own government thought it had the right to detain suspected terrorists indefinitely, without charges (including a U.S. Citizen). And any time anyone called us on it, we told them to fuck off. Based on the precedent we set over the last couple of years, I don't think we're in a very good position to complain.

[Player 0]

What the hell. Another instance of the U.S. (or at least one Senator) applying double standards and meddling in another sovereign country's affairs.

Until recently, our own government thought it had the right to detain suspected terrorists indefinitely, without charges (including a U.S. Citizen). And any time anyone called us on it, we told them to fuck off. Based on the precedent we set over the last couple of years, I don't think we're in a very good position to complain.

And yet odds are they probably will.

Personally i think the Florida senator is just doing this to get votes for the upcoming election, with Florida having a large conservative constituancy and all, who are most likely anti-communist.

However if the US government does choose to support these individuals it'll be a very stupid thing to do.

[LaiSteve66]

Personally i think the Florida senator is just doing this to get votes for the upcoming election, with Florida having a large conservative constituancy and all, who are most likely anti-communist.


Almost no one outside the Vietnamese diaspora gives a shit about Communism in Vietnam and Florida doesn't have a large Vietnamese population so he's probably not doing it for votes.

[bluemonq]

So for what reason *is* the Floridian Senator doing this for?

[friedfishribs]

He's doing it because what's at stake here is the US superiority complex. If other nations can prosecute US citizens, it implies that they can also hold America, as a nation, accountable for its actions. I don't think the general public is ready to accept that other nations have the same implicit rights as the US, and that when we abuse them, then flout the moral implications, we're just acting like a bully.

If we allow other nations to have equal moral footing as the US, then then entire American charade falls apart. Then we're no longer conducting "humanitarian interventions" to "defend our national security." And we're no longer "reconstructing and investing in our foreign allies." We're preemptively waging war on nations in order to economically strip them of their resources.

[Player 0]

Almost no one outside the Vietnamese diaspora gives a shit about Communism in Vietnam and Florida doesn't have a large Vietnamese population so he's probably not doing it for votes.

Floridan voters are known for conservative and general right wing opinions, how do you know they just don't feel anti-communist in general irrelevant of which country its from.

[LaiSteve66]

Floridan voters are known for conservative and general right wing opinions, how do you know they just don't feel anti-communist in general irrelevant of which country its from.

Anti-Communism died with the end of the Cold War. No one gives a shit about Communism any more. Texas voters are more conservative than Florida voters but you don't see people around here bitching about Communism and how often do you hear about Communism in the media? Conservative voters are too busy getting worked up over abortion and gay marriage to be worried about a system that died 15 years ago. Communism is a non-issue today.

I case you haven't been keeping up, terrorism is the new enemy these days.

[SunWuKong]

Almost no one outside the Vietnamese diaspora gives a shit about Communism in Vietnam and Florida doesn't have a large Vietnamese population so he's probably not doing it for votes.

it doesn't compared to California or Texas by any means, but Florida as a state has one of the larger Vietnamese populations. i heard that the government moved a lot of refugees there when they were arriving to the US after the war.

[Craig]

it doesn't compared to California or Texas by any means, but Florida as a state has one of the larger Vietnamese populations. i heard that the government moved a lot of refugees there when they were arriving to the US after the war.I lived in Florida (Ft. Walton Beach) when I was a little kid (late 70s, early 80s). The government was moving many Southeast Asian refugees to Florida back then; I remember because my mom was working as an English teacher for classes full of elementary school age children from SE Asia.

[LaiSteve66]

it doesn't compared to California or Texas by any means, but Florida as a state has one of the larger Vietnamese populations. i heard that the government moved a lot of refugees there when they were arriving to the US after the war.

Florida ranks six in Vietnamese population size at about 33,000.

http://www.navasa.org/html_stats/Ranking_State_50.htm

So yeah you're right, it does have one of the larger Vietnamese communities but 33,000 out a population of over 15 million is still insignificant in my book. Not even one half of one percent.