Disingenuous Spin Surrounding Biden, 9/11, and Vietnam

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-66748670

Biden left the G-20 summit in New Delhi which ended on 10 September and headed for Vietnam. For years the US has been trying to coax Hanoi into a military alliance – to win Vietnam away from China and over into the US camp.

The scenario was seriously considered under Obama in light of China's rise and the US Pivot to Asia – but ultimately Obama's efforts failed. Vietnam and China are historical enemies and yet Vietnam knows how to live with China and it has to count the costs when considering an alliance with a world power that is also antagonistic to China. It turns Vietnam into a potential front-line state.

And Vietnam pulled further away (as did many nations) under the Trump administration. The US looked unstable and reckless. Trump's tearing up of the TPP didn't help either. A lot of countries had already started to plan and invest and were left high and dry.

But now under Biden, the goal has been reached and Vietnam and the US are now Comprehensive Strategic Partners. This is a major development in the relationship, basically stating they are now allies seeking the same goals and interests. Vietnam is emerging as the new Silicon Valley of Southeast Asia and the US is very interested in helping Hanoi foster a semiconductor industry. Again, all of this is about countering China and shutting it out of markets. Vietnam also has disputes with Beijing in the South China Sea which the US is keen to use as leverage.

Commentators have noted that Vietnam will probably hold back a little taking a 'wait and see' attitude toward the US – after all no one knows what 2024 will bring. The commitment has been made but time will tell as to how zealously it is pursued.

China is clearly not pleased and international commentators and historians are marking this as a historic development – all the more poignant as 2023 marks fifty years since the US withdrew its troops from Vietnam. For Biden, this marks a major diplomatic victory, a real feather in his cap.

But listening to Christian and Right-wing radio and news outlets you wouldn't know any of this. They neglected to mention it.

Biden who would have been on his way back to the US, stopped in Alaska and held a 9/11 commemoration at the joint base outside of Anchorage. He's an old man and I'm sure the heavy travel and diplomatic load left him exhausted. And in terms of the timetable I'm not sure he could have made it back to the East Coast in time for the ceremonies anyway.

Right-wing media tore into him about how he's downplaying 9/11 and people will forget that day and its meaning if the president doesn't play an active role in promoting it and so forth. The narrative was one of neglect and disrespect.

VP Harris was at Ground Zero in Manhattan. Jill Biden went to the Pentagon and Harris' husband went to Shanksville. The ceremonies were all covered by VIP's connected to the White House – but that was insufficient.

Biden was out getting things done – not necessarily things I care about or celebrate but I'm certain there are many powerful and influential people in Washington that are celebrating his latest diplomatic achievement in Vietnam.

But the Right decided to ignore this and attack him over 9/11. Some did mention Vietnam but instead chose to put a shady spin on it – Biden (who they constantly accuse of being a communist) cut a deal with communist Vietnam and ignored the victims of 9/11.

Of course Biden is not a communist – but a close friend to the banking industry and like China, Vietnam abandoned communism a generation ago. The country is covered with Western franchises and the state has sold out its citizenry to work in Western capitalist sweatshops. It is an authoritarian state but it is far more capitalist than communist.

So in every way the Right's spin is disingenuous and smacks of gutter tabloid-style journalism. They are not patriots, for if they were they would celebrate Biden's achievements all the more as they represent ideals the Right would celebrate. But they won't grant him one iota of credit or respect and so everything he does must be trashed and destroyed.

Again, I reject it all and I don't celebrate America's imperialist militarism in East Asia – nor do I support China. And I certainly don't wish to sacralize 9/11 or whitewash the context that produced it. I have no interest in these debates but I took great umbrage at the Christian news station which purports to cover the news from a Christian worldview. One would think that would include truthfulness but such virtues have no place in the Dominionist framework.