What do we do now that the war is over.

    
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Why would very wealthy and prestigious Vietnamese bring MarK Bolton to Vietnam and treat him as an honoured guest ?   Why would mark Bolton be all across the conflict in Indochina as a matter of History and be able to create a fair Narrative that reconciled the various conflicting ideologies?

A bloke like Mrk Bolton has very passionate views as to why the Dead need to be allowed to Rest in Peace... as Buhdist philosophy ... imagine a young warrior who loses his life in a battle where it is unlikely he understands the philosophy of the contesting world views that lead young men to take up arms in the first place... if they had not had their bones contribute to the Perfume of the Perfume River and the thousands of years of History surrounding Hue ... he is a young man .. a decade or so before he was drinking milk from his mothers tits .. now he is dead. How could he possibly have contributed anything from losing his Life's blood that would contribute any verification of I fought for your freedom or any such bullshit ..

When I was invited to Vietnam as an honoured guest I had all these philosophical Ideas in my mind. But I would not speak unless questioned. I was never question so I did not speak ... One of my hosts was a professor of English Language at Saigon University  .. He would have been the "barefoot teacher" during the war .. and afterwards every single political leader in Vietnam would have been under his tutelage ...  I have photos of his furniture ... Mind blowing ... mother of pearl in mahogany wood.  I felt so out of my depth ... This guy was just so classy.

Do you know how he treated me as an honoured guest?

His workers and their children and dogs go hunting rats in the rice fields. Far more informative and amusing than watching TV ...

And then they cooked a rat for me for breakfast ... It was exquisitely delicious .. served on a bed of rice with slices of mango...

They never asked me my views on politics and I was far more interested in rodent cuisine...

I am unlikely to meet a more powerful political family ... ever.

Nor more graceful hosts and better people to heal the wounds of War ..

M