Was the S. Vietnamese General who shot the VC guy in the head a war criminal?

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Drummie123

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1st February 1968: Viet Cong Captain Bảy Lốp executed by General Loan




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The photograph’s publication in the New York Times rallied US citizens to the anti-war movement and earned Adams a Pulitzer Prize for Spot News Photography in 1969.

The Tet Offensive had begun on the 30th January, and saw over 80,000 communist troops carry out a series of surprise attacks against South Vietnamese forces and their allies. It’s reported that, two days later, in the early morning of the 1st February Lém led a troop that attacked a South Vietnamese base and killed South Vietnamese National Police officers and their families. He was later captured near a mass grave containing 34 civilian bodies, and soon brought before General Loan in Saigon. While still handcuffed, Loan shot Lém with his Smith & Wesson revolver in front of photographer Eddie Adams and an NBC News television cameraman.

The photograph was printed in the New York Times, and appeared alongside a now-forgotten image of a child killed by the Viet Cong in an attempt to achieve balance. However, the immediacy of the image made an enormous impact in America where it became strongly associated with the anti-war movement. Adams later spoke out many times in defence of General Loan, declaring that the photograph does not present the whole story. He later visited Loan many times, and apologised in person for the effect the photo had on his life. On hearing of Loan’s death in 1998, Adams called him “a hero”.
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Ted Kord
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Q: What is the most deceiving picture of all time?
A: The Saigon Execution photo, but not for the reason most people think.


“Two people died in that photograph. The recipient of the bullet and General Nguyen Ngoc Loan. The general killed the Viet Cong; I killed the general with my camera.” - Photographer Eddie Adams

This picture is both moving and tear jerking for me because I know the back story. Most people look at the picture and think the South Vietnamese general as some kind of monster. When the general lost a leg in combat and received medical treatment in the U.S., many were outraged. Then-Sen. Stephen M. Young (D-Ohio) called Loan a “brutal murderer” and said his treatment in the United States was “a disgraceful end to a … disgraceful episode.”

What most people don’t know is that the real monster was not the South Vietnamese general, but the Vietcong terrorist. Viet Cong officer* Nguyen Van Lem was the leader of a hit team that infiltrated into Saigon to execute political opponents and members of the police force. Just that morning, he had murdered 34 people. 7 of the dead had been General Loan’s own men. 2 or 3 had been Americans. The rest were wives and children of South Vietnamese police officers. All had been bound at the wrist, forced to kneel near a pit, and executed. The prisoner and all of his hit squad were terrorists who dressed as civilians to attack civilians.

Loan, fresh from intense combat with Viet Cong, literally caught Van Lem red handed. The most recent victims were one of Loan’s men, the policeman’s wife, and his 6 children. The general had literally caught the terrorist standing over the bodies of his own God children.

Combat was ongoing. Loan had to rush back into battle. He didn’t have time to read a Viet Cong terrorist his rights. He put a bullet in the brain of a terrorist who had killed dozens of women and children. But for decades, the picture was reprinted over and over, with no context. The ignorant believed General Loan to be a villain, rather than a hero taking a monster off the streets of Saigon.

Now the picture itself was not deceitful, nor was the photographer. But the picture was stripped of context and used to deceive the reader of American newspapers.
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https://www.quora.com/
 
Drummie123 said:
1st February 1968: Viet Cong Captain Bảy Lốp executed by General Loan


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Well it was a war and in war shit gets broken and people get killed. I don't suppose either one of them had entirely clean hands. It's a good picture for why war should be avoided but sometimes a bully only understand a punch in the mouth.
 
Nordberg said:
I missed his trial. Executing him without a trial and proof is wrong.
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Loan, fresh from intense combat with Viet Cong, literally caught Van Lem red handed. The most recent victims were one of Loan’s men, the policeman’s wife, and his 6 children. The general had literally caught the terrorist standing over the bodies of his own God children.

Combat was ongoing. Loan had to rush back into battle. He didn’t have time to read a Viet Cong terrorist his rights. He put a bullet in the brain of a terrorist who had killed dozens of women and children. But for decades, the picture was reprinted over and over, with no context. The ignorant believed General Loan to be a villain, rather than a hero taking a monster off the streets of Saigon.

Now the picture itself was not deceitful, nor was the photographer. But the picture was stripped of context and used to deceive the reader of American newspapers.
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From post #2.
 
Yakuda said:
Well it was a war and in war shit gets broken and people get killed. I don't suppose either one of them had entirely clean hands. It's a good picture for why war should be avoided but sometimes a bully only understand a punch in the mouth.
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Loan, fresh from intense combat with Viet Cong, literally caught Van Lem red handed. The most recent victims were one of Loan’s men, the policeman’s wife, and his 6 children. The general had literally caught the terrorist standing over the bodies of his own God children.

Combat was ongoing. Loan had to rush back into battle. He didn’t have time to read a Viet Cong terrorist his rights. He put a bullet in the brain of a terrorist who had killed dozens of women and children. But for decades, the picture was reprinted over and over, with no context. The ignorant believed General Loan to be a villain, rather than a hero taking a monster off the streets of Saigon.
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From #2 above.
 
Vietnamese love America today.

They're having problems with China.

China is fishing their fish and things.

Really don't want to get into that, it's nasty.

China is bullying Vietnam.

Really in my world, Vietnam is what one of my friend's mom's friend uses to describe this Viet asshole that scammed her for home repairs.

"That dam Vietnam" LOL

Omg you should see this sink hookup. He should be drawn and quartered, this motherfucker that did this.
She's a bit older than my friend's mom. She's..something. A real character. I remember when I was younger I used to deliver plants to her.

That Vietnam dude pissed her off but good.

I can just see that weasel motherfucker scamming her.
 
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Drummie123 said:
1st February 1968: Viet Cong Captain Bảy Lốp executed by General Loan
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In a technical sense, Lem(the man being executed) was a combatant out of uniform, and could be executed on the spot. It would have been more civilized to have a more formal trial, but sometimes in war things are not that civilized (which is why the alt right wants war in America).

Interestingly enough, when General Loan(the man executing Lem) was injured and dying in the field, a reporter carried him to safety at much risk to his own life. Later, when Loan needed to get out of Siagon, again reporters helped him. Loan may have complaints about the press taking pictures of him, but he allowed them to do so, and they saved his life(repeatedly).
 
Walt said:
In a technical sense, Lem(the man being executed) was a combatant out of uniform, and could be executed on the spot. It would have been more civilized to have a more formal trial, but sometimes in war things are not that civilized (which is why the alt right wants war in America).

Interestingly enough, when General Loan(the man executing Lem) was injured and dying in the field, a reporter carried him to safety at much risk to his own life. Later, when Loan needed to get out of Siagon, again reporters helped him. Loan may have complaints about the press taking pictures of him, but he allowed them to do so, and they saved his life(repeatedly).
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Links or it's a lie.
 
Walt said:
I am getting tired of the cult of trump making up insane lies, refusing to prove anything, and then questioning established history.

Thank you for proving established history is real. I made a very reasonable post, but the Neo-Nazis hate reasonableness.
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That did it.

Bye.
 
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