News

September 13, 2001

U.S. Foreign Policy to Blame for Tragedy, Says Vietnam Media

Hanoi (Deutsche Presse-Agentur) - Vietnam's official media pointed a finger at the United States Thursday, saying Washington's isolationism and hegemonic policies helped bring down the World Trade Center towers.

Two days after the horrific terrorist attacks in the United States, the People's Army Daily here said "it's obvious that through this incident, Americans should take another look at themselves.

"If Americans had not pursued isolationism and chauvenism, and if they had not insisted on imposing their values on others in their own subjective manner, then perhaps the twin towers would still be standing together in the singing waves and breeze of the Atlantic."

Thousands of people were feared dead from the worst terrorist strikes in U.S. history as President George W. Bush called the attacks in New York and Washington's Pentagon an "act of war."

President Tran Duc Luong sent Vietnam's condolences to the U.S. But in what could be considered dubious diplomatic tact, newspapers ran Luong's brief statement next to blaring charges of "brazen interference" by Washington on Hanoi's rights record.

Communist Party mouthpiece Nhan Dan published a statement by the Fatherland Front, the party's mass mobilisation arm, which "resolutely rejects the wrongful act of the U.S. House of Representatives in passing the so-called Vietnam Human Rights Act."

The bill, which passed the House with a 410-1 vote, sent a signal from Washington that despite a move to normalize trade ties, the U.S. is keeping an eye on Hanoi's poor human rights record.

Such a move "offends the nationalism of the Vietnamese people," the paper reported.

Hanoi's official anti-Americanism runs high during international crises such as NATO's involvement in the Balkans, violence in the Middle East, or bombing missions over Iraq.
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