Growing up in the 1980s in western Sydney, one cannot help but become familiar with the loud, overpowering rendition of the Cold Chisel song, Khe Sanh. Told from the viewpoint of an Australian Vietnam veteran, the lyrics reference not only the battle itself, but the aimlessness and drifting of the veteran in the post-Khe Sanh world.

After his return to Australia, the veteran recounts his life of post traumatic stress, womanising, working in various jobs, alcoholism, and his trip to Hong Kong for casual sex. As an adolescent listening to this most ‘Aussie’ of songs, its undercurrent of sadness indicates the restlessness of youth. The nightclubs of Sydney would consider their repertoire incomplete without the bellowing sounds of Jimmy Barnes, Cold Chisel’s lead singer, belting out Khe Sanh. Barnes’ own struggles with alcoholism and trauma are a reflection of the artist’s life taking on the dimensions of their lyrical subject – a pathos that only adds to the poignancy of the song.

I have often wondered though – what do the Vietnamese veterans think about Khe Sanh? Surely, if our Australian veterans suffered horrible stresses, is there not a comparable experience on the Vietnamese side? Actually, there is.

Colonel Tran Duc Binh, is a Vietnamese soldier; he is a veteran of the battle of Khe Sanh. On July 9, the Vietnamese government marked the 55th anniversary of that engagement. The North Vietnamese army at the time, supported by the National Liberation Front (popularly known in the West as the Viet Cong) battled American troops in Khe Sanh, starting from January 1968. Colonel Duc Binh returns to Khe Sanh every year to honour his fallen comrades.

Khe Sanh was not just an isolated battle, but a ferocious, bloody engagement. US Defence Secretary Robert McNamara, and General Westmoreland, were committed to a strategy known as the McNamara Line, a barrier protecting the US client state of South Vietnam from infiltration and attacks by the North Vietnamese. The US military deployed its entire arsenal in Khe Sanh, in the northwest region of the Quang Tri province. From January till July 1968, Khe Sanh was the most heavily bombarded place on the planet.

General Westmoreland, frustrated by the persistent resistance of the Vietnamese, considered deploying chemical and nuclear weapons, but was overruled by President Lyndon Johnson. The dense, mountainous terrain, it was argued, would limit the effectiveness of non conventional weapons, and result in unnecessary casualties among American military personnel.

The McNamara Line failed, and Khe Sanh fell to the North Vietnamese. The United States still disputes what happened at Khe Sanh, and insists that its forces withdrew to avoid further casualties. There have been numerous competing re-tellings of Khe Sanh, motivated by a nationalistic desire to preserve pride in the face of a military confrontation.

Khe Sanh, and the wider Quang Tri province, has been rebuilt since the end of the war. The pollution and Agent Orange is cleaned up, and the greenery is returning. Agriculture has returned to the province. There are the graves of the fallen, a solemn reminder of the human cost of Khe Sanh.

Subjects like the battle of Khe Sanh must be remembered, not only out of respect to the Australian veterans. In the context of the current Anglo-American war drive against China, there will be untold numbers of future Khe Sanhs, involving Australian and non-Chinese proxies as cannon fodder for American imperial ambitions.

Self-determination, client states and proxies

Being a supporter of the Palestinians involves two essential tasks; keeping up with the news of the Israeli occupation of Palestinian Territories, and also the contortions of US and British foreign policies regarding national self-determination. It is curiously fascinating to watch how, for instance, the Washington beltway experts loudly and forcefully advocate for Taiwan’s independence from China, and yet stubbornly refuse to acknowledge the legitimate demands of the Palestinians for an independent state.

The enthusiasm for Taiwan separatism can be explained by the growing role of Taiwan as a military armaments depot for the United States. The Biden administration has just approved new shipments of American military technology and hardware to Taiwan.

To be sure, Taiwan’s utility as an American base – an island version of the defunct and artificially-constructed Saigon South Vietnamese state – is diminishing with each passing year. Numerous countries are shifting their recognition to Beijing, and Taipei is losing supporters.

Nevertheless, Taiwan is becoming a proxy force for the US regime change plans, no matter how fanciful the latter may be. The Washington beltway punditocracy are experts in deluding themselves. That is fine, but they do not confine their delusions of grandeur to themselves, but spread them throughout the world, grabbing up proxies in the process.

One of the fanatics caught up in his own delusional fantasy land is former Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott. He traveled to Taiwan in 2021, and dutifully played the role of war making chicken hawk. Goading Beijing, parroting the line of the Washington beltway, this featherweight pugilist allowed his delusions of heavyweight contention to carry him away. His ranting speech, delivered to a forum in October 2021, gave comfort to ultranationalist phantasms of regime change.

What he actually achieved was expose his lack of credibility – a cringeworthy performance of a barking chihuahua with pretensions of being a German shepherd. If Taiwan is used as a proxy force, backed by the political support for its separatism by the Washington beltway class, it was make a war with China catastrophically global. The magnitude of Vietnam war will recede into the rear view mirror. Numerous future Khe Sanhs will consume the youth of today in futile battles. The time to speak out is now.

A good start would be to cancel the current Talisman Sabre war games.