Graham obit should include push to expand Vietnam War

It's hard to grasp the extraordinary life of 'America's preacher' Billy Graham who died yesterday at 99. Blessed with intelligence, charisma, overpowering physicality and a golden tongue, Graham's worldwide crusade alone preached to over 200 million souls in 185 countries. He was the unofficial Chaplin of the White House, ministering to 11 presidents. Graham accomplished this for seven decades without of whiff of personal scandal that has dethroned too many religious titans to mention.

But alas, Graham's obit failed to mention his fervent support of our senseless Vietnam War which sent several million of the folks Graham's life mission was to save, to an early death instead. It wasn't just support; it was a plea encouraging mass murder. Graham injected himself into the war by visiting with Vietnam missionaries in Bangkok in April, 1969. He then sent a secret letter to best buddy Nixon, on behalf of him and his religious colleagues, urging Nixon to bomb the Vietnamese dykes if peace talks failed. That would, according to Graham, "overnight destroy the Vietnam economy". Even the mendacious Nixon demurred, commenting that such an attack would also kill a million Vietnamese. Graham was unaware of or ignored the fact that Arthur Seyss-Inquart, the German high commissioner in occupied Holland, was sentenced to death at Nuremberg, in part, for breaching dikes in Holland during WWII.

We in the peace movement salute Graham's lifelong mission to save souls. We lament his fervor in promoting massive death to win a senseless, murderous, unwinnable war.