Many people have expressed surprise at the appointment of US Senator Bob Kerrey to chair the much heralded US-funded Fulbright University due to his notorious role during the war in Vietnam.


 

US Senator Bob Kerrey


Kerrey was involved in the massacre of civilians in Thanh Phong Commune, Ben Tre Province in 1969.

National Assembly deputy and historian Duong Trung Quoc however approved of the appointment and said people should be forgiving.

"We can't forget the wars we experienced because they are our history but we should from the perspective of the development. There's a saying 'more friends and less enemies'" he said.

"If we think about it then the US veterans including people like Bob Kerrey have made significant contributions into normalising US-Vietnam relations."

According to Duong Trung Quoc, Secretary of State John Kerrey, who was injured in Vietnam, and Senator John McCain who was captured played a diplomatic role.

"We should be forgiving because they realised the mistakes and want to fix it. It's better than those who we thought were friends stabbing us in the back.

National interests must be foremost priority. Vietnam wants peace and good relations with everyone," he said. "If we can't make peace with Bob Kerrey then how can we make peace with other Vietnamese who were on the other side."

He went on to say that if Bob Kerrey was already selected by the US then Vietnam should look forward to the future. Boosting the country's development does not mean forgetting the past, he said.

Professor Do Thanh Binh from Hanoi National University of Education also agreed that Vietnam did not forget its history and the past but it needed to look forward to the future.

He said, "In his interviews, Bob Kerrey expressed regrets over his mistakes and apologised. He also said he wanted to make more contributions to strengthen US-Vietnam relations.

He had to enlist at that time because it is war. It's government's fault. We shouldn't scrutinise his background."

Do Thanh Binh also said that Kerrey should take part of the blame too but he realised his faults and tried to right it with both words and actions.

"He is calling for education funding in Vietnam in similar way the US government is redeeming its faults by cleaning up the aftermath of Agent Orange," he said.

The university will cost USD70m, but only 28.5 percent will be funded by the US government.

Fulbright University Vietnam's funding will come from annual financial support from the US government and sponsored by individual and organisations in both US and Vietnam.

The university will be managed by a board of trustees and the profits will be used to upgrade and maintain operation.

The earliest recruitment is expected to be started by the end of 2016.

Training courses and research activities will include management and public policies, medical, science, technology, engineering, mathematics, social sciences and humanities.

Mr. Kerrey and his team in the Mekong Delta murdered women and children in 1969.

His team received military honours after lying that they had engaged Vietnamese forces. In 2001, he admitted the truth after an investigation by New York Times and CBS News.

Kerrey said he was sorry but an apology was not good enough so he had tried to help Vietnam as much as he could.

Kerrey said he was not surprised that the decision to make him chairman of Fulbright University caused debates.

He said even if he was appointed for smaller position, there would still be controversy and he was willing to step down if it put the project at risk.


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