Posted on 05/20/2016 5:10:16 AM PDT by LoneCrusader
CAM RANH BAY, Vietnam — The ghosts of the Vietnam War have finally faded at the strategic port of Cam Ranh Bay. More than 40 years ago, US forces left this massive base where Marines landed, B-52s loaded up for bombing raids, and wounded US soldiers were treated.
Now, some Vietnamese say they are yearning for the US military to return.
"On Facebook, there was a question recently: What do you want from President Obama's visit?" said Vo Van Tao, 63, who fought as a young North Vietnamese infantry soldier against the United States. "Some people said they wanted democracy. I said I wanted the Americans to come back to Cam Ranh Bay. A lot of people agreed with me."
President Barack Obama is scheduled to arrive Sunday in Vietnam, the third visit by a US president since the war ended. The big question he is expected to answer is whether Washington will lift a partial arms embargo and allow Vietnam to buy lethal weapons from the United States. The Communist government has long asked for the ban to be revoked, and US access to Cam Ranh Bay could be part of the payoff.
(Excerpt) Read more at timesofindia.indiatimes.com ...
It’s the perennial need to balance forward basing to protect our own national interests, without letting ambitious politicians waste America lives in some war that we shouldn’t blunder into.
The Bush/neocon democracy project and nation building being the most recent. Obama’s promotion of the Muslim Brotherhood all through the near east is another.
Such a presence facilitates operations by shortening logistical lines, but what operations? I can see why it is in Vietnam's interest to pursue the matter, because any US operations at all will suffice from their point of view. From our point of view, though, cui bono?
Amen!
“This, Vietnam visit, provocations in the Spratleys are all meant to rile up Beijing and get them to stand on their hind legs. Connect the dots -
A Neocon’s wet dream...”
Then, they can distract us from the terrible crimes funded by their Opecker Terrorist Buddies like taking out airplanes and killing innocents in Paris, San Bernardino, and NY City on 9/11!
No way I’d put the US military back in Vietnam. It is thoroughly communist. I was there a few years back on a mission trip. Every guide we had was a party stalwart, and had been trained not answer questions about the party or were fearful of answering questions about the party.
“I can see why it is in Vietnam’s interest to pursue the matter, because any US operations at all will suffice from their point of view. From our point of view, though, cui bono? “
The Spratly Islands, sitting astride the major shipping lanes. China is trying to annex them and claim the shipping lanes as Chinese territorial waters.
Right now China is pouring concrete onto some coral reefs there and transforming them into defacto aircraft carriers. This is eerily reminiscent of Japanese behavior in the 1930s.
War planning is like a chess game. The goal is to head off a war by countering hostile behavior before it becomes something that you can’t stop. While we sleep walk in the civilian world there are events that we need to be aware of before they become something dangerous that we can’t ignore.
SEATO revival? Thanks LoneCrusader.
All that and they dearly miss the free spending US GI's.
IMHO it is far better for our guys to be drunk and disorderly in RVN, than Turkey.
” Ditch the communism, guys, and maybe we can consider it.”
They can basically say the same thing to us. . .with comrade obummer in the White House, doh-cha’know.
“Create a new Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere”
Maybe. . .
“Create a new Greater East Asia Co-dependent Poverty Sphere”
Touche!
I’d put a major US Navy base in Subic Bay
They’ve been courting us to come back too.
No way. The US needs to stay out of Vietnam.
“China is not even close to being our enemy at this time.”
Too many people in the current Chinese government differ with you.
Sad to say if we end up being back there {military wise} it won’t be in our national interest. It will be for corporate interest. Taiwan {at the risk of triggering a heated response from China} or Subic Bay would make more sense for us as far as our interest goes. We used to use Subic Bay rather extensively for many needs and Perth for quick repairs. Subic Bay would be the easiest as we have a considerable number of U.S. military retirees in the PI.
It's ironic that corporations became the hosts where the collective malignancy gestated.
Being the object of their own worship made the ground therein very fertile for Politically Correct Progressivism to take root.
Evidently the Soviets knew what they were doing by making the demoralization of their target cultures a strategic objective.
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