By John E. Carey Peace and Freedom November 12, 2006
We are now told by multiple sources inside Vietnam that Mrs. Cuc Foshee will be granted clemency by the Government of Vietnam and will be headed for her home in Orlando, Florida, in the United States today.
Mrs. Thuong Nguyen "Cuc" Foshee was arrested and sent to jail without charges in Vietnam on September 8, 2005. An American citizen, Mrs. Foshee married a U.S. soldier and came to the United States in 1973.
Just in the last two weeks she was charged and went to trial. She was convicted of crimes against the government of Vietnam and sentenced to 15 months confinement. She has already been in jail 14 months.
Mrs. Foshee is a landscaper. The Vietnamese government said she and others were attempting to destroy the communist government in Vietnam and install a new democratic government.
When Mrs. Foshee spoke to her brother in law Robert Ende she said, "My favorite brother-in-law! God Bless America. I want a cheeseburger!"
Mrs. Foshee's case complicated the impending Asia Pacific Economic Conference (APEC) which President Bush is to attend in Hanoi, Vietnam starting on November 17, 2006. Mrs. Foshee's case also caused concern for those seeking Permanent Normal Trade Relations (PNTR) for Vietnam.
Senator Mel Martinez of Florida put a "hold" on the PNTR legislation, pending the release of Mrs. Foshee.
Everyone in Mrs. Foshee's family has great admiration and respect for Senator Martinez "because he is a stand up guy who gets it," said Robert Ende.
http://peace-and-freedom.blogspot.com/
John E. Carey is the former president of International Defense Consultants, Inc.
The views expressed in this article are the sole responsibility of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of this website or its editors.
Of course, it is a good thing that a person arrested without any reason is released and is coming home. Still some questions are in order:
1. Clemency? Only for her? How about 'those others'? Is the case closed or Mrs. Foshee, a US citizen is kinda separated from those others? And who are those others? What about them?
2. Mrs Foshee was not a US citizen when in 1973 she married a US soldier. She was a Vietnamese citizen and if Vietnam has no relationships with the US, that first one still applies on their territory.
3.A funny one: will Mrs Foshee be granted an entrance back to the US? She is a criminal (wanted to overthrowa government!) who received a clemency in another country, thus definitely has to be put on a no- fly list.
4. So now we have a precedent that the fate of one political prisoner can stop a big international agreement. I sincerely hope that Mr. Carey and sen. Martinez will extend their efforts with the same efficiency to the prisoners in:
Gitmo
Israel
Iraq
Saudi Arabia
Guatemala
Argentina
Cuba (of course!)
Turkey
England (most of the so-called terrorist happen to have nothing to do with it)
USA ( many people detained after 9/11 are still there... lingering with no charge)
China
Indonesia
Pakistan
India
When Mrs Foshee eats her cheeseburger( a very bad food, harmful to your health) she should ask the same questions, I hope.
by
Mark Sashine (72 articles, 19 quicklinks, 269 diaries, 4101 comments [131 recommended, 0 rejected]) on Sunday, Nov 12, 2006 at 3:22:16 PM
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