Oh yes sportsfans..the country that asked Harry S. Truman to help them defeat the French just loves the hell out of Bill Gates,who visited Vietnam in April of this year. They also welcomed Denny Hastert with open arms...literally..their leader of the Vietnamese National Assembly, Nguyen Van An, gave that Large-Marge, and House Speaker Hastert a hug when they met for dinner in April in Ho Chi Minh City.
The folks who brought us the Vietnam War, My Lai and a generation of soldiers that learned the horrors of PTSD among other war-related illnesses, is wining and dining the leaders of Vietnam. Donald Rumsfeld went over to visit as well. In fact, the NY Times has an article this morning about the "new" Vietnamese relationship being developed with the U.S. This excerpt caught my eye whilst I was perusing the paper this morning:
This month, Mr. Rumsfeld announced small but significant steps to deepen military cooperation between the United States and Vietnam, including the possibility that Vietnam would buy American military spare parts. Two Vietnamese military officers were to enroll at a military language school in San Antonio this month for English classes financed by the Pentagon's International Military Education and Training program that is open to friendly countries.
Its all about that time-honored tradition of kissing ass,cozying up and making new allies. Vietnam wants the U.S. in their corner because they don't trust China as far as they can proverbially toss her.
I just wonder..why does Vietnam think they can trust us?
According to the Times article...they don't. They don't trust us or the chinese..but they are willing to dance with both countries as long as it suits their agenda and needs.
American investment is going big time in Vietnam..Intel is building a $600 Million dollar microchip plant in..yes, you guessed it...Ho Chi Minh City. Harley Davidson is opening showrooms and recently negotiated a drop in tariffs on their products shipped to Vietnam. McDonalds is the model used for a very sucessful noodle soup store that now has 33 outlets and growing by leaps and bounds. The entreprenuer plans to open an additional 100 stores within the next two years.
Its a very good read if your tired of the occupation of Iraq, the corruption in DC and a host of other nightmares that permeate our daily lives.
