We've seen Hamas endorse (and unendorse) Barack Obama. Fidel Castro has weighed in.
Now comes the most intriguing endorsement yet. The BBC reports today that Tran Trong Duyet, who ran the infamous Hoa Lo prison in North Vietnam -- more commonly known as the Hanoi Hilton -- would support John McCain if he were a U.S. voter. He should know; he spent five-and-a-half years with John McCain while the then-Navy pilot was a prisoner at the Hanoi Hilton. McCain had been shot down during a bombing raid over Hanoi, and was barely alive when an mob of angry North Vietnamese pulled him out of a lake.(Is John McCain going to claim the support of the North Vietnamese because of their endorsement, like he claimed Obama must support Hamas because they previously endorsed, then unendorsed, him?)
In Duyet's telling, the Hanoi Hilton was nothing like its fearsome reputation. He claims that although he and McCain had frequent political debates about the validity of the Vietnam War and other topics, neither McCain -- who to this day cannot raise his arms above his shoulders -- nor any other imprisoned GIs were tortured at his prison.
So is Mr Duyet implying that that Senator McCain lied about his treatment at the Hanoi Hilton?
"He did not tell the truth," he says.
"But I can somehow sympathise with him. He lies to American voters in order to get their support for his presidential election."
"McCain is my friend," said 75-year-old Mr Duyet as he feeds the caged birds he now keeps in his garden in this coastal city [Haiphong]. "If I was American, I would vote for him."
Apparently John McCain became "friendly" with the enemy in Vietnam.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/...
http://blog.foreignpolicy.com/...