by Paul Wylie

Created on: November 10, 2007   Last Updated: June 28, 2008

John McCain-Manchurian Candidate?

Having read John McCain's book on his tribulations as a P.O.W. in Vietnam when I was a teenager, the narrative is as compelling today as it was back then. There's no doubt in my mind that Sen. McCain suffered unspeakable acts of torture at the hands of sadistic animals, who should have been brought before a war crime tribunal after that conflict ended. That being said, and with no one questioning McCain's suffering, nor his service in the era of that past folly war, we must also examine some troubling issues that are still unresolved, before even considering McCain as a viable alternative to anyone for the position of President of the United States.

The issue of Vietnam, and McCain's torture during his five and one half years of captivity, has never been resolved in the minds of many other Vietnam veterans, with some of them actually suggesting that there is far more to this story than what comes out of the Senator himself. Not given any press whatsoever during this run for the Presidency, it is only fair that this issue be revisited, in order to make a more informed judgement.

The can be no 'untouchables' in the political arena, and therefore we must examine closely some very bizarre past behaviour that has all but been forgotten by most, save for those who are truly afraid of a McCain Presidency.

Looking back in time to the days of the 1991 Senate Select Committee Hearings, one has to wonder why Sen. McCain so opposed the entering into the record of any mention of Soviet involvement in the interrogations of U.S. prisoners of war in Vietnam. He absolutely stunned the other Committee members with his outburst, declaring that the Soviets had no part whatsoever in any P.O.W. interrogations. This was during the testimony of Tracy Usry, the former chief investigator of the Minority Staff of the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee, who stated in no uncertain terms that not only were the Soviets involved, but so were the Chinese and the Cubans.

But to go further, on this same day, at this same hearing, Col. Bui Tin, a former Senior Colonel in the North Vietnamese Army, swore that not only did the Soviets interrogate American P.O.W.'s but that they treated them very badly. Further into his testimony, he stated, that as a high ranking official in the Vietnamese Communist Party, he was privy to the files of all high profile detainees,and offered to make those files available to the Committee. It was at this point that a shocked Hearing

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