26 Years After Saigon, War Heroics or War Crimes?

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Twenty-six years after the fall of Saigon, a former senator's long-held secret has focused attention on the legacy of Vietnam and the nature of war itself. For 32 years, Bob Kerrey has been haunted by the memory of civilian casualties his unit inflicted on women and children as they returned fire in a darkened village. If, as Kerrey said, "the greatest danger of war is not losing your life but the taking of others," what can be said of the "heroics" of war? Two Vietnam veterans, a Vietnamese, and historians Stanley Karnow and Paul Fussell share their thought about why we remember Vietnam so differently from World War II.
  • Newsmaker: Palestinians and Israelis Plot Cease-Fire as Violence Continues - Joel Greenberg, of The New York Times, elaborates on Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres' trip to New York to win US and UN support for a new cease-fire agreement to help get Middle East peace negotiations back on track. He also addresses Chairman Arafat's ability to control the violence that hampers the negotiations for peace.
  • Reporter's Noteboook: International Consensus on George W. Bush's First 100 Days - Polls show that, except for concerns about the environment, Americans are bullish on President Bush after his first 100 days in office. June Thomas, of Slate.com , gives us the assessment of "the other side of the pond." No longer fearful of Bush's ignorance of foreign affairs, the foreign press is most troubled by his arrogance and unilateralism.

Doing Battle: The Making of a Skeptic

The New York Times

RAND Corporation

The Sacred Willow

Slate.com

Vietnam: A History

Vietnam Veterans Against the War

Vietnam Veterans of America

Credits

Host:

Warren Olney