US news website names Hanoi among 13 best places to visit in March

Vietnam plus ^ | VNA Wednesday, March 14, 2018 - 8:14:00

[cba123]

As winter's cold grip loosens on Hanoi, the city has been named one of the ideal travel destinations for March by American-based Business Insider.

(please see the link, for the full article)

[ThanhPhero]

Vợ của bạn từ miên nào qua Mỹ?

[airdalechief]

MyTho

[kearnyirish2]

I wouldn’t visit one of your clichéd South American dictatorships - for the same reason. Something about the lack of due process is very disconcerting to me.

[kearnyirish2]

In 1919 I doubt Ho was a communist at all, but he was given the cold shoulder at Versailles because “freedom” was for white people - colonies remained colonies (and Germany’s were distributed among the victorious allies). At that point someone like Ho had to work outside the system.

I don’t see why Vietnam today is treated any differently than Cuba; both governments repress their people, and neither has any use for us outside of money. We are ENABLING them.

[ThanhPhero]

The "repression" In Việt Nam is a hell of a lot less than in Cuba. It is not as if the Communists were Communist in anything but name and organization. They much more resemble in Việt Nam a less than heavy handed Latino rule by Junta. They also respond to American pressure to ease the repression that there is. The current problem is that Obama hates Việt Nam and Vietnamese and prefers the country to be more traditionally Communist. Clinton and Bush achieved much in the way of easing the weight on the Viets with constant pressure. Hà Nội backslid a bit in the Obama years. Trump has not yet turned his attention to that situation but he will. The Carrier is a bright portent.

[ThanhPhero]

If you are a foreigner from an important country you don’t have much to worry about re arbitrary arrest and justice unless you actively try to “help” the natives try to change things. But foreign places are weird, I guess, and some people just get nervous or sniffy contemplating differences.

[ThanhPhero]

Những núi ở Binh Định rất hay. Bãi bể cũng đẹp.

[kearnyirish2]

Maybe; I won’t even pretend to be open-minded, but several stories arise here on FR where FReepers wonder what ever led someone to travel to totalitarian states with no individual rights.

[kearnyirish2]

The only way to read this change is to admit we were wrong to fight the war in the first place - and I don’t agree with that.

[ThanhPhero]

I have been going back and forth to Việt Nam since 2003. In that year I faced an attempted extortion by local authorities in HCM. It cost me 40 USD. I left the area, got out of Sài Gòn. Now I stay out of the major cities and everything is cool. I have had interactions with police and local authorities but they end end with the official asking me to pose with him and maybe his wife for a photograph so he can prove he "has an American friend." These people are Vietnamese, not Chinese, not Latino. They are much more individualistic in culture than those cultures surrounding them and they are very practical.

[ThanhPhero]

Our error in fighting the war in Việt Nam iwas in standing down when we had won the war thus giving the Communists room and time to regroup and haul in more equipment and. technicians and pilots from the USSR. Twice. 1968 after the VC and a large piece of the NVA immolated themselves in a futile sacrifice and the air assault devastated the North's manufactury and military base. Both times the Northerners were ready to sue for terms and were getting ready to endure an occupation. But we stood down. In 68 the bureaucrats and the the President got cold feet. In 72 the Congress followed up a massive victory with a capitulation.

[ThanhPhero]

I don’t see why Vietnam today is treated any differently from Cuba

We need to treat Việt Nam very differently because VIệt Nam responds to American pressure for reforms. Cuba does not. Việt Nam wishes to be an American ally in the Eastern Sea. Cuba allies with the Venezuelan hồ tĩ to thwart and frustrate America in the Caribbean Sea.

[kearnyirish2]

I was very young when the war ended, and while I think it was a worthy cause I don’t see any permanent solution open to us at the time. South Vietnam had to defend itself, and simply wasn’t able to do so; Tet was won by US troops, and US airpower beat back the Easter Offensive in ‘72. There was no way the US, which couldn’t successfully control South Vietnam, was ever going to occupy the North (and endure the losses that would entail). While there have been countless comparisons to Korea, the South Koreans were much more determined to keep their freedom from the North - and many people fled south when the chance presented itself (both before and during the war) because of the brutality of the North’s government.

[kearnyirish2]

Vietnam is a communist state; they are simply looking for protection from the US in exchange for trade. They are not “reformed”.

[ThanhPhero]

You spent any time there in the last 20 years? I have. a lot.
They are looking for protection from China.They are not terribly worried about trade. They do that very well. Tee, it is not your own back yard, but it is a very pleasant place to visit.

[dfwgator]

The Vietnamese “Communists” realized that Communism was a mistake back in 1986, but they just wanted to keep their power.

[redcatcherb412]

Send McStain, one-way.

[ThanhPhero]

The "losses" would have been minimal. The North was ready to give it up. An initial landing would have been opposed and then the North was ready to quit. Read Giáp's memoirs. Russia was on the edge of withdrawing support, they said so, but the Americans stood down. The only hope Hà Nội had was the American Congress and the Congress came through for them.

[kearnyirish2]

I’m glad you enjoyed it; you may not have any interest in the places I’d like to visit, and in this country we allow those differences of opinion. FRegards!

[kearnyirish2]

They still maintain a totalitarian state; visit at your own risk.