Raging Against the Machine
'On June 16, 1963, Buddhist monk Thich Quang Duc immolated himself in downtown Saigon. Quang Duc was actually protesting religious persecution under the Diem regime, not the war. However, the case could be made that Diem would not have been in power had it not been for U.S. intervention in Vietnam'. Respect.
posted by Snowball @ 11:57 am
3 Comments:
"However, the case could be made that Diem would not have been in power had it not been for U.S. intervention in Vietnam"
And, I guess, the case could be made that he might have been irrespesctive of US intervention. So what's the point?
The point is that such acts were an inspiration for what became a wider movement against the Vietnam War and US imperialism. After another act of self-immolation, 'on May 31 [1966], a group of students and Buddhist youths burned down the U.S. consulate in Hue.' One suspects they would not have done this had the US military not been bombing their country.
Ah yes, Vietnam, the great U.S. embarrassment.
Ah yes, the mess in the middle east. History repeats!
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