Vietnam War Crimes

School Library Journal

Gr 9 Up-The book's introduction opens with an account of the 2001 revelation that former U.S. Senator Bob Kerrey may have committed war crimes during his service in Vietnam, describing how the controversy ended his presidential hopes and explaining that the episode illustrates the "difficulty that Americans have in facing and answering questions about war crimes and atrocities in Vietnam." The 13 essays that follow are divided into three chapters that cover American policies and practices in Vietnam, the My Lai Massacre, and Vietnamese war crimes. The readings are a mixture of excerpts from books, articles, and public statements, and they include segments from 2004 presidential candidate John Kerry's now-famous 1971 testimony before the U.S. Senate and statements that Jane Fonda made about American POWs during her 1972 visit to North Vietnam. There are also statements from North and South Vietnamese soldiers and officials, and some period analysis from scholars and historians. Although this book is generally evenhanded in its selection of readings, the readings themselves reflect the intensity and partisanship that continues to characterize the debate over Vietnam. It will give readers a sense of the contemporaneous debate over the conduct of the war, but it offers little recent scholarship or historical analysis to help them understand how the events in Vietnam have affected our country's attitudes and policies and continue to influence the public debate over the war on terror. General researchers will do better with William Dudley's The Vietnam War: Opposing Viewpoints (Gale, 1997; o.p.).-Mary Mueller, Rolla Junior High School, MO Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information.