since the complete takeover of south vietnam in 1975, the communist government of vietnam has seized many religious institutions and effectively banned their existence. a prime example is the complete property seast seizure of the unified buddhist church of vietnam in 1981 leading to its disillusion. the unified buddhist church of vietnam has been outlawed since and its religious leaders have been constantly what rarsed -- harassed. other religions have suffered similar fates. almost at the rule, all land disputes against the catholic church in vietnam result in violence. a great number of catholic institutions in north vietnam have been seized in the 1950's and in south vietnam since the takeover in 1975. parishesers in hanoi were beaten by police and government thugs while attending a prayer vigil for the return of the church properties. they also proceeded to desecrate or destroy religious symbols and properties. those who were perceived to be leaders of these protests were arrested. this pattern of abuse has been repeated the last few years at parishes including a monday stare in

comments about dick holbrooke and his 50 years, nearly 50 years in diplomacy going way back to the vietnamnd then to the dayton peace accords. a man who is able to sit down and really take it to the person on the other side. in fact, many people have said that richard holbrooke was a man they wouldn't want to have to face in negotiations. he was extremely strong and also very intelligent in the way he approached things. and also, over the past couple of years, when he was asked by president obama and secretary clinton to come back and work here as a special representative on afghanistan and pakistan, something that he really didn't have to do after this distinguished career, that he -- he went out to the field, traveling to afghanistan, traveling to pakistan, over the past couple of years, out in remote areas, literally in his boots, and then in offices, meeting with those officials in other countries and pulling together this strategy, which is really the so-called afpac strategy. he was the architect of that. >> you know, he is a man of over powering intellect who was relentless in every

i mean, like, one of the issues certainly in the vietnam war was meaning. and i talk about meaning in this novel a lot. just picking up on what sebastian said, and i know he was writing about it in the his book. it's like you get a 19-year-old who is everything he does is very, very important. if he doesn't show up when he says he's going to show up, somebody dies. then you send him back to the states and say, well, why don't you flip burgers at mcdonald's? and it's just not going to be too easy for him to come back to a sort of civilian life. it's a difficult transition. most of the guys in vietnam were drafted, and they weren't -- it wasn't the professional military. and even a lot of the marines certainly were there for two or three years, and i think that's a big difference between the two wars is that our war right now in afghanistan is being fought by a professional army. and the vietnam war was fought by primarily by a drafted army. and there's good and bad about that. i mean, in one sense i can always remember the first time i ever ate mexican food w

. >> i was at a desk handling of the vietnam war. it was like the same story every day. in those days, it was men killed. always, "more of the enemy was killed." it was terrible because the initial stories, 400 miles from saigon. in washington, they were winning the war in the suburbs of the saigon. people got tired of it breed there was a steady death rate, and the arguments. until the protests started, the story was boring. then the story became the protests. we ended up walking around the white house with candles. we were making -- we were not making new news, but they did not get that much attention. men running in the jungle, men and jumping out of helicopters and running -- they got to be boring as it was terrible. >> a, a draft that we don't have now. b, -- you are called anti- american if you protest sometimes. the president unveiled a the results that we got, but also, the casualties were much higher. we have had thousands of americans dead, but my generation is not familiar with a headline where hundreds or even thousands of people were killed in one military a

it, 50,000 people die in the vietnam war, whether you think it was right or wrong at the time. julian assange, i don't know what his motivation is. you think it's chaos -- >> i don't think. i know. >> if his motivation is chaos, that's horr end oses because out of chaos comes a hitler, a lenin and a stalin. but if his motivation is to expose the truth, he is to be applauded for that because in a mature democracy, we have a right to know what the government is doing in our name -- whether it is lying, cheating, stealing or killing, we have the right to it know that. >> first of all, that is his goal because he has said it himself. look at the people who he surrounds himself with, marxist and revolutionaries. the media won't print the documents on climate change, where the government was doing exactly the same thing. >> well, one of the things he revealed is that the united states government committed fraud and bribery at the copenhagen conference, in order to get other countries to agree with us. >> you don't hear that, do you? >> i suspect our friends at the new york times and

, soap, presweetened powdered drivens and other commodities, such as black shoe polish. >> the christmas vietnamrogram is to help boost the moral and tell the boys over there we care. >> reporter: there was a time when the holidays weren't complete without a visit to the troops by bob hope. from world war ii to korea to vietnam to the gulf, hope entertained the men and women of the military and some of the fartherrest reaches of the world. during the holidays in 199, he came right here to the bay area for a different cause, earthquake relief. ktvu's gary cow interviewed bob hope. >> we had apearthquake in l.a. in 1971 and i will tell you, it was really something. it was really something. he got up and ran around the house and the house got up and ran around me. >> reporter: hope got an ovation as big as a beatles. now the man responsible for it all, bill graham. >> well, we have a commodity that millions of people go towards, the rock'n'roll artists or the theatrical artist is the cheese to all of those people out there. why not utilize that for positive means? >> reporter: and bob hope in the f

the bond we had. coochie vietnam federer for tain't nineteen sixty six by eighty they call it hell's half acre because of the american boy. that had been still there tano to all and the cong snipers have done most of the damage today was no exception. on the. twenty seventh and for a tree the framed wolfhounds moved out to attack the snipers opened up from such perfectly camouflaged positions the most of the a complicated want the whole day without seeing one of the enemy a sergeant was hit in the shoulder and leg as he rolled over a third shot ripped to his by. a medic broke from cough and rushed to his side as he dropped to his knees to begin given a bullet smashed into the stomach. both the sergeant and the medic. and artillery watch was laid down to screen a squad gone after the wall and especially his fourth wonted in the hip crossed the deadly fifty yards with all the fallen to us he was hit again this was no you were there yes it's hard to bring back to minimum. no no. no no still no christmas certainly we're

you remember the boat people, the great waves of people who came out of vietnam and the rest of southeast asia. it was dick. i was his deputy at the time. he sent me up to the hill. he said neg negroponte you have to get them to admit 140,000 refugees a year, 12,000 a month. we should settle foro less than that. we got it. it was thanks to dick's drive and energy. i think there are people from southeast asia who are livig he was showing me, you know, i didn't have a copy at home but i wanted to hear what he had to say. he said this section on the creation of the national security state after world war ii, that's the part that's most relevant. >> he was sort of an op-ed machine too when he was out of office. and he had incredible curiosity. he went to a lot of places that he had had nothing to do with of before. i recall him taking a trip to afghanistan prior to taking this job at his own expense. and at considerable risk. when i was serving in central america, he came to visit honduras. he had no reason or interest any central america except he wanted to learn what all the fuss was ab

joining the foreign service in 1962. he worked on vietnamr president johnson, east asia for president carter, including china when relations with the u.s. were normalized. and for president clinton, he took on the bosnian war. his biggest diplomatic achievement may have been his most personal. >> i don't think there's ever been a negotiation any more difficult than this one. 48 hours with almost no sleep, people dying, incredible pressure. >> holbrooke, whose grandfather escaped hitler in nazi germany said the conflict brought the world modern day scenes of ethnic cleansing. he reflected on that in a 2008 advise to bosnia. >> i thought, i'm seeing a color remake of the black and white scenes we've seen in world war ii. >> he also served as u.s. ambassador to germany and later the united nations. leaving the spotlight after the clinton administration for a second krooer on wall street. but he returned to washington in 2009 in perhaps his toughest role. president obama's special enjoy for afghanistan and pakistan. >> we concluded quite simply

the bond we had. coochie a vietnam federer for taint one thousand and sixty six by a.p. they call it hell's halfacre because of the american bull. that had been stale there tano do well and viet cong snipers have done most of the damage today was no exception on the second but tagging on the twenty seventh and for a tree that framed wall founds moved out to attack the snipers open out from such perfectly camouflaged positions the most of the a copy what the whole day without seeing one of the enemy a sergeant was hit in the shoulder in the leg as he rolled over a third shot were up to his back. a medic broke from cover and rushed to his side as he dropped to his knees to began given a bullet smashed into the stomach. both the sergeant and the medic guy and a teller about lodge was laid down to screen a squad gone after the wall and it especially his fourth won't it in the help cross the deadly fifty yards with the fallen to us he was hit again this was an old. you were there yes it's hard to bring back to minimum. i don't know first name in the national radio shack when t

the vietnam figures and is one of the major cultures of four. is mentioned in passing and a number of ways. vietnam figures in both of the place where you deliberately targeted noncombatants. vietnam figures and in a different way in the failures of intelligence. and i read about this at some length. the subtitle could only be so low. it wasn't that i was going back to vietnam. but the striking thing in the failure of intelligence was that india we had basically the united states had lost in an insurgent be. and after vietnam, we seized to study counterinsurgency in the u.s. government was dropped from the military academy. so we were going to get involved in a. and there was no preparation for what we encountered in iraq and afghanistan. afghanistan of course and i focused mostly on iraq at a mayor, the failure of intelligence on our part, on the u.s. part was extraordinary. so i was trying to think of this overtime. and one thing if it takes you to think imperatively about the u.s. in ways that are sometimes a bit taboo and a little bit uncomfo

. >> reporter: that was during the vietnam era. when being gay or lesbian would get you kicked out of the service. >> used it to get out. it was a quick path to exit. >> reporter: it's still not legal for them to serve openly in the milliary and it's illegally for the commandrs to act. >> however, the compromise went against military values of honor, integrity and duty by causing people to lie. >> reporter: he is a lawyer who advocates for gay and lesbian solders. he says american culture changed and the military needs to catch up. >> the secretary of defense, chairman of the joints chiefs of staff all say it is time to repeal "don't ask, don't tell." >> vote that would have ended the policy fell three votes short. now with a week left, some are scrambling to bring it to another vote this time all by itself. >> there is a possibility to get 60 votes. there are several that will see it not tied to a tax bill and vote for it. >> the chance for success is slim. every day is slimmer and slimmer. >> reporter: jonathan bloom, kron 4 news.

the most famous was a low of the vietnam era was one of many arrested for civil disappointmeobediencewill not end this war today. only the american people can do that. >> earlier today, he held a news conference defending wikileaks founder julian assange. ellsberg says that julian assange should not be prosecuted but given a medal for exposing war crimes. >>> julian assange has made bail and has been released from prison. >> i hope to continue my work and continue to protest my innocence in this matter. >> julian assange has been jailed for more than a week on charges of sexual assault and sweden. prosecutors claim this is nothing to do with the release of secret documents. his supporters believe otherwise. he will be subjected to electronic monitoring until his next court date. he is moving into a mansion in the english countryside. >>> a new code of conduct could keep advertisers from collecting personal information online. the privacy bill of rights would establish guidelines for companies that track your web browsing habits and use that information to create targeted ads. >>> next

the vietnam figures in as one the major culture of war. it's mentioned in passing in a number of ways, vietnam figures in both as a place where you deliberately target -- targeted noncombatants. vietnam figures in a different way in the failures of intelligence, and i write about this at some length. it's just the subtitle could only be so long. and it wasn't that i was going back to vietnam. but the striking thing in the failure of intelligence was that in vietnam we had basically the united states lost in an insurgency, and after vietnam, we seized to study counterinsurgency in the united states government. it was dropped from the military academies. it was dropped out. we weren't going to get involved in that. and there was no preparation for what we encountered in iraq and in afghanistan. afghanistan figures in, of course, also. but i focus mostly on iraq. and there, the failure of intelligence on our part was extraordinary. why? so i was trying to think of this over time. one thing this does, it takes you to think comparatively about t

he was in saigon during the vietnam war. i believe he was 27 years old when he was involved in peace talks. he offered one volume of the pentagon papers. he helped establish full diplomatic relations with china. he settled the u.s. dues dispute at the united nations. he was trying to settle the u.s. war in afghanistan. and our disastrous relationship with our would-be sort of ally, pakistan up until the day he died. >> if there is something in u.s. foreign policy that happened under a democratic president in the last generation, it's something you heard about, then richard holbrooke was probably right in the middle of it. he was right in the middle of my own attempts -- my show's own attempts to cover our ten-year afghanistan war, which he wouldn't want me to say its in its tenth year, but it is in its tenth year. andrea mitchell joins us now to understand the importance of richard holbrooke. >> rachel, i don't think you can overstate the importance of richard holbrooke. clearly the most gifts, the most brilliant diplomat of

densmore the doors' drummer, denies morrison exposed himself and claims he was a political target in the vietnam era. >> the whole country was polarized, kind of like today. it was for the war or against the war. getting jim would put a dent in that movement, and that's what was going on. >> jim was a nice guy. >> reporter: robert josephberg, one of morrison's attorneys, says there was conflicting accounts and no pictures of the alleged incident. >> if the police had seen him publicly exposing himself there should have been and would have been an arrest and no one arrested him. >> there should be complete freedom for the artist and performer. >> reporter: at trial he was convicted and sentenced to six months in jail, which he never served. a year later, while free on appeal, he died in paris at the age of 27. >> i respectfully ask my colleagues today to pardon jim morrison. >> reporter: today, four decades later, the florida clemency board led by governor charlie crist, pardoned morrison, finally clearing one of the biggest names in rock history. mark potter, nbc news, miami. we learned today jo

the vietnam veteran was discharged from the air force after a fellow airman outed him. >> i am an 11-year veteran, but i can't collect veterans' benefits. i can't got to the veterans' hospital. i am disqualified jie. he would like nothing -- he would like nothing more than to see don't ask, don't tell repealed, but it still has to get through the senate. and he realizes this will be the repeal's last chance for awhile. >> it is the best time because if we wait it is not going to happen unless it happens now. >> what is not clear to me, amy is what is -- is what the impact to gays in the military will be on the national readiness. >> retired brigadier general from alameda says he understands these tense on the part of legislators. he has changed his mind on the issue and he says he has been confused by it. but he trusts the military will handle whatever comes its way. >> the military, i believe, is big enough and the command authority of the country to make this work. if it doesn't and we are wrong in my guess about it, we will have to take -- we will have to go back to "don't ask, don

>> well, you can see in vietnam it was -- they're going back to a civilian world that existed. so many came back. you know, you look at the number, about 11% of americans served in vietnam, now it's only about 1% so when they come back they're largely alone. they don't have any information about how they can get so much help so they end up really temporarily as homeless as opposed to vietnam which is after five to ten years it became permanent because the way they were treated when they came back. they were spat upon and they didn't have any help at all. >> but they're not finding that now, right? they're not finding that they're ostracized? >> they're not ostracized. it's exactly that. once they find out what they can do, that they can did it, that's the one they can say. it's not that they can't get help. it's just they don't know about it. the ones coming out of the war, the numbers of homeless, the va says 107,000 veterans are homeless every day now from all the war, not iraq and afghanistan. >> some 9,000 or so from iraq and afghanistan? >> that's what they say, yep. >> now, another issue that you're obviously intima

the vietnam veteran was discharged from the air force after a fellow airman outed him. >> i'm an 11 year veteran but i can't collect veterans benefits. i can't go to the veterans hospital. i'm disqualified. >> he'd like nothing more than to see "don't ask, don't tell" repealed but don't want to get too excited since it has to get through the senate and he realizes this will be the last chance for a while. >> what is not clear to me, amy, is what is -- what the impact of gays in the military will be on the national readiness. >> retired brigadier general ralph americano trusts the building will handle whatever comes its way. >> the military i believe is big enough and the command authority of the country to make this work. if it doesn't, and we're wrong, i'm wrong in my guess about it, then we'll have to take and go right back to "don't ask, don't tell." >> democrats said they've got enough votes to get this through the senate. the senate has a full agenda to deal with but harry reid has promised to bring this to a vote, threatening to even call senators back after christmas if he has to

started his career as a vietnamese specialist on the delegation at the paris peace talks that ended the vietnamar. but it was his role in ending europe's war in bosnia, at the siege of sarajevo that first made him famous. in the unlikely surroundings of dayton, ohio in the american midwest, he more last force the warring sides to negotiate, never afraid to bulldoze his ways to a solution. he got them all to sign an accord in 1995. >> on paper we have peace. to make it work is our next and greatest challenge. >> it was a challenge. fears of serb ethnic cleansing brought a new crisis in kosovo. he was sent to belgrade to talk to president milosevic. without success. nato responded with a 70-day bombing campaign. richard holbrooke was perhaps almost too confrontational, but his razor sharp analysis of mind and he will also be remembered as a dedicated diplomat said did not dodge difficult challenges. >> an fbi team has arrived in the swedish capital to help investigate the bombing there on saturday. the bomber was killed in the attack. also, two people were injured. police are trying to determine

tavis: on the vietnam question. not expedientght, or popular or plays to one's vanity, but if it is right, you have to do it. maybe someone will say, mr. jones, being president, you have to be pragmatic. pragmatism has some limits. do you know what they are? morality. tavis: i could do this for hours. i still feel like i have not done justice to the article. if you go to "the huffington post," you can read the article that clarence b. jones wrote. found its way from the internet onto the pages of the new york times. people are talking about what will happen with progressives in 2012, given the disappointment that many have, particularly with the president caving in on the bush era tax cuts. >> it is not about anger or punishing. it is about accountability. it was really about when yo ulovu love someone, you speak to them. you hold them accountable. tavis: up next, legendary talk show host dick cavett. stay with us. tavis: welcome dick cavett back to this program. he is a three-time emmy winner. if you read this book

a confrontation we should never forget the gulf of tonkin incident as it was called that led to the vietnam war the united states is no longer in the position it was sixty years ago when it was the great power in the region it is today an empire in serious decline and decay and attempting to do too military many aircraft carriers what it no longer has a productive capacity to do it really is an attempt to get out of the economic crisis globally with more military expenditures and more military confrontations and it's a great danger for the people of the whole globe but especially the people of the region a poll of americans shows that concern for the country's wars in iraq and afghanistan is headed a new low many were stumped when asked basic questions about the conflicts but maybe it's not entirely their fault as artie's lauren lyster explains. the western media is putting celebrity gossip ahead of what's really important. an average day on the streets of the big apple an urban metropolis of lights cameras and action these stars and stripes preside over it all. they're the same one seen he

a confrontation we should never forget the gulf of tonkin incident as it was called that led to the vietnam war the united states is no longer in the position it was sixty years ago when it was the great power in the region it is today an empire in serious decline and decay and attempting to do too military many aircraft carriers what it no longer has a productive capacity to do it really is an attempt to get out of the economic crisis globally with more military expenditures and more military confrontations and it's a great danger for the people of the whole globe but especially the people of the region to militants in the suspect who become players who've been killed by police in russia so the republic of doug a star one policeman was wounded you with a gun fight militants barricaded themselves in a house which was then taken by storm by special forces off negotiations failed authorities say one of those killed was the head of a local tethering it was on the most wanted list these bodies were taken hostage at least one major attack in two thousand and nine before policemen and seven civil

born april 1941 in new york city, graduated for brown, in the foreign service in vietnam. ector in morocco, managing director of foreign policy magazine before becoming assistant secretary of state for east asian and pacific an cares in the carter administration. special representative for afghanistan and pakistan in 2009. today richard holbrooke has died. this at the beginning was thought to be at the very beginning, something routine. late saturday into early sunday it became clear if he did win in fight, it would be the odds. >> that's right. when he was with the secretary of state he became flushed in his face. started having difficulties, was taken to the hospital where they discovered how serious his problems were. as you said, 21 hours of surgery. shep, it is amazing that someone who had gone through that, would then just hours ago, be meeting with his staff, at this critical juncture in the consideration of what happens next in afghanistan. it is a testament to his strength, a man who spent his entire adult life in public service. he was a diplomatic force to be rec

from the 1970s, that is the end of the vietnam war, until 2001 as that military rebuilt itself as an all-volunteer force -- no more draft -- and finally went back to war in the distant lands, the military itself seemed to disappear from everyday life. the world of that time bears no relation visibly to the parades of my childhood or to what you see today. there were no soldiers in sight, nothing we would consider common place now. from uniforms and guns and train stations to military flyovers at football games and the repeated right rites of praise that are now everyday fare in our world where otherwise we ignore american wars. in 1989, for instance, i wrote this of a country that seemed to me to be undergoing further militarization, even if in an especially strange way. and this was a long quote from a piece i wrote that was actually on star wars, ronald reagan's missile defense system. missile and other space defense system that's still with us in one fashion, but i also commented on what i saw at that time as the further militarization of our society. that was '89. ours was, i said

1973 that my family didn't think of the troops and didn't think the 591 pows who were suffering in north vietnam and who my father refused to abandon. i think that you can understand why one of the most moving things that has happened to me since my father left the presidency was to meet a former p.o.w. from san diego with few years ago and he told me that whatever they have their reunion that he and his comrades, quote, we always said a place at the table for your dad. [applause] now the book that we present today, going home to glory, is a five-star general dwight d. eisenhower and this is an individual who knew better than anyone the pain and agony of sending men into battle, and i think one of the most moving stories in the book is how in 1963, ike went back to normandy to meet walter cronkite and to recapture the day 20 years later. and he was getting ready to go out there to the american cemetery overlooking omaha beach. you know the scene, row after row of markers and crosses, and he told a cbs producer fred friendly you know, tomorrow i've got to go out there and speak to these families

the gulf of tonkin incident as it was called that led to the vietnam war instead of the six nation talks which really would be a possibility of peace this is a u.s. meeting with its two clients in the region which it has occupied for sixty five here the united states is no longer in the position it was sixty years ago when it was the great power in the region it is today an empire in serious decline and decay and attempting to do too military many aircraft carriers what it no longer has a productive capacity to do it really is an attempt to get out of the economic crisis globally with more military expenditures and more military confrontations and it's a great danger for the people of the whole globe a recent poll shows many americans have no idea what's happening with the country's wars in iraq and afghanistan with the economic crisis showing no end the thousands of deaths and trillions of dollars spent on the military don't seem to be catching the public's attention and it's all to lower list to reports the us media seems to be largely responsible. an average day on the streets of the

you mentioned that you had to fight down the temptation to share your views on the vietnam war. you bet. i was marching against the war and playing in a wonderful play called, oh, what a lovely war-- very anti-war sentiment-- at arena stage at the time. l.b.j. was pariah to those of us who were against the war, and there i was dancing with him. and i thought, "now's my chance to tell him." and then i thought, "it's not the time." this poor man needs a little relaxation. besides, he fox-trots very well. [laughing] if he'd been a poor dancer, you would have let him know your view? [laughs] you bet. i-i was-- on the other topic of courage, another early example in your career came in a scene from the great white hope, where--by today's standards would not be shocking or offend most people, i think-- but a scene in which you and james earl jones are in a bed together-- interracial couple, fully clothed. and this caused kind of an angry backlash in some quarters. yeah, well, it was the height of the black power movement, 1968, '69. stokely carmichael was "black is beautiful." black po

. >> not to minimize the significance of don't ask/don't tell, but 28 years, the vietnam war was certainly a divisive issue in congress and the country. i can go through the 1970's, the 1980's, and the 1990's. is it that democrats will not compromise? the republicans will not compromise? what is different in the political mood? >> we had 87 filibusters by republicans this year. we have the minority that has a minority probably for a minority in the minority which is used and abused the rules prevent things from coming to the floor. that was not done to such an extreme in prior years as it was done in this congress. we have to find a way to change the rules. hopefully, we can change them on a bipartisan basis to eliminate the abuses. the senate is a pledge were extended debate is supposed to be kind of the hallmark. if we have seen this week where we have one member of the u.s. senate who is on the floor, hour after hour, that is his right and i will protect that right. i wanted. but in terms of proceeding to a motion to debate, where people are preventing debate, not protecting debate, whi