Long Tan, John Howard and Vietnam Veterans

Australia has been run by the Liberal-National Party Coalition under Prime Minister John Howard for the past decade. Despite it's name and its marketing, the Liberal Party in Australia has become anything but liberal. In recent years, it has alarmed decent citizens by trampling over our centuries-old traditional rights, protections, responsibilities and liberties - all on the flimsy pretexts of fighting evil and the enemies (both real and imagined) of Mr G.W.Bush.

Anyone opposing what the Howard government has done to Australia is condemned as a "Howard Hater". Gerard Henderson's Weekly Column of 7th March 2006 gives a polite description of "Howard Haters"


******************************************************************
During his recent trip to Viet-Nam for the APEC meeting, John Howard visited Long Tan, near Vung-Tau, where there was a battle between Australian and Viet-Cong forces way back in 1966; he also visited a Vietnamese war cemetery.

Nothing wrong with that. 40 years on, it is appropriate for an Australian Prime Minister, wishing to cement good relations with a rising economic power in South East Asia, to visit both sites.

However, what disgusted me was the crocodile tear John Howard shed over the shameful way Australia's Viet-Nam War veterans have been treated in their own country.

What!!! Him???

A politician bunging on a mournful face during a photo-opportunity at an old battleground is one thing ..... but trying to spin-doctor him into someone concerned about Australian Viet-Nam War veterans goes way beyond the bounds of tolerance and credibility.

Wasn't John Howard the former Young Liberals boss who sailed into Parliament on a tsunami of fear that Australia was in grave danger of being taken over by The Communist Menace?

Wasn't John Howard the federal Treasurer during the Fraser government, where he had the power and the opportunity every day to remove all the financial penalties against war veterans trying to re-establish themselves in civilian life ..... and yet chose not to do so?

For instance, why hasn't John Howard come clean about what happened to resettlement loans for war veterans to start their own small businesses?

John Howard was a member of Fraser's Cabinet; he could have taken decisive action to stamp out the virulent anti-veteran discrimination in employment and in education .... so why didn't he?

In the decade since John Howard became Prime Minister, he has been portrayed as the great patriot wrapped in the national flag and passed off as the nicest pal of war veterans ...... and thanks to the image manipulating expertise of spin-doctors, I wonder how many gullible members of the public have the impression that Howard himself had military service (he did not!) ....... whereas he and his cronies have an ongoing disgraceful track record of failing Australia's war veterans and their families.

Visiting an old battlefield was fine .... Using that visit to deceive the public was not so fine.

No, I'm not a "Howard Hater" ...... it's just that I have much more respect for Nigel Nog and Charley Cong ..... they only tried to drive us out of their country, that's all ....