Menelik said:
I see nothing good coming from criticizing how well he held up while a POW. Especially from people who never served or went through what he did.
I don't know whether this post is directed at me, at others, or at the critics who are in the links provided by Colonel and Nevada, but I did not *criticize* "how well he held up", I simply said that it did not rise to a heroic level--though I guess that is "criticism" in the broad sense.
Here's another issue though--*if* he did do a lot of unpatriotic things (make pro-north vietnamese broadcasts, provide military info), and *if* he did receive special privileges while held captive, --isn't he *subject to blackmail by foreign powers for his less than heroic performance?*
For instance there are at least four governments which know the truth of what went on in Hanoi.
1) The Vietnamese Government (i.e. the old NV govt which now governs the whole of Vietnam)
2) The Russian Government (because these interrogation sessions involved Soviet intelligence--and these files are now owned by the Russian government).
3) The Cuban government (because there were also Cuban intelligence agent at these interrogations).
4) The US government (which has all the original broadcasts, and which probably de-briefed McCain upon his return).
And if these 4 know, can the Israelis not know of this? This seems unlikely. So we have to add a 5th government: the Israeli government.
Will any of these governments (our own included) use this leverage to get McCain to do their bidding?
Just a concern. Hope everyone is well.