U.S. Seeks Stronger Ties With Vietnam

[Tom Yossarian Joad]

Sunday June 4, 2006 1:01 PM

AP Photo XKC105

By LOLITA C. BALDOR

Associated Press Writer

HANOI, Vietnam (AP) - Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld said Sunday the United States wants to expand its military relationship with Vietnam, but has no plans to seek access to military facilities in this former enemy nation.

Arriving in Hanoi just days after the United States signed a trade agreement with Vietnam, Rumsfeld planned to meet with the U.S. military team involved in finding and identifying the remains of hundreds of U.S. servicemen still missing in action from the Vietnam war.

En route to Hanoi, Rumsfeld talked only generally about his goals for the U.S. military relationship with a country that has come to symbolize one of the military's most divisive and politically explosive wars.

``I don't have a wish list and I don't have a set of things we're trying to achieve,'' he said. ``What we want to see is a relationship between our country and Vietnam evolve in a way that is comfortable to them and comfortable to us. And it has been doing that over recent years and I suspect it will continue on that path.''

More: http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,,-5864387,00.html

[Deja Q]

1. Vietnam - they sit conveniently close to China, don't they?

And it was China who helped the Communist side of Vietnam fight us.

What was the Vietnam war fought for again?

[NNguyenMD]

2. you want to know a really sad tragedy from all of this?

Vietnamese Americans voted for Bush/Cheney in DROVES in 2000 and 2004 thinking that Repubs were still protecting them from Communists. Some of my relatives voted for Bush with this mentality, thinking that chimp boy was going to take a hard line against Vietnam for human rights violations. LOL yeah right.

I don't have a very high opinion of Vietnamese Americans, so please excuse my french when I say that the vast majority of first generation Vietnamese Americans are a load of deranged "f-cktards" stuck in the cold war, and wouldn't know a truthful news report if it crawled up their ass and gave them nasty hemorriods.

Vietnamese Americans voted for Bush, they're responsible for the problems were have today, screw them all, screw them all to hell.

[Judi Lynn]

3. Great post. Thanks for the insight. I hope they snap out of it sometime!

It's really creepy learning _Bush and Rumsfeld are making these overtures. They should leave people alone, as they haven't performed one decent act since _Bush was installed.

[0007]

6. Tungsten

[FloridaPat]

4. Vietnam - sitting on top of a lot of oil.

[Squatch]

5. Why isn't the State Department pushing for stronger ties?

Vietnam is very high on my list of countries to visit. I hear it's beautiful.