The Mostly Unnoticed Death of Richard Secord

https://www.yahoo.com/news/richard-secord-retired-air-force-155848925.html

For those of us who remember the Iran-Contra Scandal and followed and studied the story of American clandestine operations during Vietnam and after - the name Richard Secord is well known. He was the consummate spook, an intelligence operative that was involved in some pretty amazing if sordid stuff.

Vietnam and Ukraine

You can't make this stuff up. This has happened multiple times and in connection with different media and news outlets. Today while driving home NPR reported that Biden was giving Medals of Honor to Vietnam veterans – men that for whatever reason had been neglected for the past fifty years. Now they're getting their recognition for their bravery and service – or at least that's the official narrative.

Laos, OBOR and Media Bias

https://journal-neo.org/2020/01/06/laos-wests-war-on-asian-development/

There's little doubt that Beijing has shifted gears and utilising projects like OBOR, it seeks to undermine Western (and particularly American) power in Eurasia. It's imperialism to be sure but in many ways it's a mimicking of the Western model of control through debt, trade and economic influence. The soft-cultural influence is sure to follow and eventually will entail a military presence, the forts and outposts established to protect its interests. It's a well known and established pattern.

Fifty Years After the Tet Offensive

https://www.npr.org/sections/parallels/2018/03/05/590803578/a-u-s-aircraft-carrier-is-docking-in-vietnam-for-the-first-time-since-the-war

Fifty years after the 1968 Tet Offensive, a remarkable event has taken place. An American aircraft carrier has docked in Vietnam. Even forty-three years after the fall of the US sponsored regime in Saigon, it seems strange that the US and the Socialist Republic of Vietnam have not only buried the hatchet but are now allies.

OBOR in Laos... and Thailand

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2018/02/china-rail-project-link-landlocked-laos-asia-180203125337792.html

The One Belt One Road (OBOR) or New Silk Road initiative has been in the news a lot as of late. This brief piece cites yet another instance of OBOR's expansion. The fact that Beijing would collaborate with Laos is hardly a surprise but Thailand's inclusion points once again to the weakened hand of the United States. The US withdrawal from the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) has reduced its standing in the region. While Thailand was not one of the original members of the TPP, the longtime US ally had aspirations to join the framework. Where the TPP stands now is still up in the air but without the US, it won't in any way represent what it once did.

Peering into the Labyrinth: Frontline's Guns, Drugs and the CIA (1988)

I recently found this little gem, an old Frontline documentary from an era on PBS that's hard to imagine in our day. There's no way they would produce or condone a film like this anymore.

Ken Burns and Vietnam Revisionism

https://bracingviews.com/2017/09/20/the-vietnam-war-a-tragic-mistake/

I haven't watched the Ken Burns series on Vietnam and there's a good chance I won't bother with it. Why not? Because despite all the hype and praises heaped upon it I expected it to be more or less as the author of this link has described it.

Burns is only going to go so far in criticising the United States. Tied to the Establishment he's not going to risk burning his bridges with PBS, the educational mandarins and the host of foundations and corporations that promote and fund works such as his.

Pivot Collapse: Thailand's Junta Moves Toward Moscow and Beijing

There are so many aspects of the US election that have been covered and yet American mainstream media has largely failed to report on the international effects.

The collapse of TPP and the movement of the EU toward autonomy in light of Brexit are perhaps somewhat known but there have also been some interesting developments in Asia. While the Philippine's Duterte has made the news for cursing Obama and cozying up to Beijing there are other stories that point to the American 'Pivot' being in jeopardy.

The Laos Rapprochement and Conscience Regarding Indochina

The Right will attack Obama over his aid package to Laos, but you can be certain they will misinterpret his actions and their context.

First, he's not apologising for the absolute destruction of Laos and the horrific legacy of the CIA's Secret War which continues to kill and maim people even to this day. The country is to be pitied. Laos has the dubious distinction of being the most bombed nation in history. His offer of clean-up money is not an apology. Actually it's rather insulting and does nothing in the way of taking responsibility for the atrocity. It's a manipulative pittance, and little more.

NBC: A Mouthpiece of Establishment Propaganda

http://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/what-s-behind-russian-support-world-s-separatist-movements-n614196

This article provides absolutely zero context for what is happening geopolitically. It is patently a hack piece driven by an agenda and doesn't even attempt to cover the story objectively. NBC gets a journalistic 'F'.

On the Death of Sydney Schanberg

Known for his reporting on the Bangladesh Genocide and War of Independence, but most famous for his reporting on Cambodia's Killing Fields, Schanberg was haunted by firsthand experience of the evils of human nature and the fallout of imperialist policy and wars.

Vietnam and the Pivot

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-36360005

Vietnam wants to purchase and utilise US weapons but the United States wants Vietnam to have them even more.

Asian Alliances and Cold Wars: Past and Present Provocations

The United States continues to push into East Asia and is moving ever closer to the formation of a new Asian version of NATO. It must be remembered that though the USSR certainly occupied Eastern Europe and had attempted and eventually succeeded to establish new regimes in those countries, it was sabre rattlers like Churchill and the United States in forming NATO that really got the Cold War underway. While that narrative is unacceptable to Western convention it needs to be revisited.

Decadence Comes to Cuba

I was watching a recent report about some American DJ's setting up a concert in Cuba. I don't know who they are but their music was that kind of grinding discotheque style... the very sort of thing that repressive governments would like to ban. I hate to agree with such governments but the music is culturally subversive and promotes individual gratification, hedonism and decadence. The concert looked like a pretty wicked scene.

Epilogue to Indochina

I heartily recommend the recent Frontline programme: Terror in Little Saigon. It was an interesting and refreshing look into the Vietnamese-American community and their activities during the 1980's and beyond. It reveals a little known epilogue to the war in Indochina. The repercussions of that war and its aftermath live on to this very day.