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Posted By Thomas E. Ricks
Monday, October 11, 2010 - 6:00 AM
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When Defense Secretary Robert Gates spoke in the Vietnamese capital the other day, the first question, ironically enough, was whether the communist government of Vietnam can be confident that the United States government won't just run away with the going gets tough:
Q: Mr. Secretary of Defense, I have -- actually, we are from the Vietnam National University and military universities and colleges in Hanoi. And we'd like to take this opportunity to ask you a few questions.
The first question: ASEAN [Association of Southeast Asian Nations] highly value cooperation with the United States for security, stability and peace in Southeast Asia. But how can we be sure that the United States won't just walk away when their national interests are served in a certain way? The second question --
SEC. GATES: Let me -- as I get older, I can only remember one question at a time. (Laughter.)
First of all, the United States has been active in Asia for more than 150 years. We have never turned our backs on Asia in that long time and with all that history. We are a Pacific nation. We have a presence in Asia. We border the Pacific Ocean. We have long-term interests here and we have friendships that go back many, many decades.
I think all Asia can be confident that the United States intends to remain engaged in Asia…
Not so funny to the Vietnamese, of course. The more assertive China becomes, the more they will be looking to the United States (and to India) to provide some balance in Southeast Asia.
Would it have been impolitic of the questioner to ask what were to happen if Congress were to pull military assistance and funding in the middle of an offensive from the north...? ;-)
Oh pho! Couldn’t we have found a time-line periodic Viet-Nam battlefield photo of Soldiers/Marines instead of a modern one - just asking. : )
Personally, I wouldn't have asked SecDef Gates if the U.S. might bug-out, I would have asked him when the U.S. is going to become involved, considering many in not just Viet-Nam, but other members of ASEAN have been surprised by the U.S.'s passive attitude toward the region.
I suppose the question is moot, since we've regionalized elsewhere due to our preoccupation with the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan.
The reason for a contemporary photo
Because why? Because it is about contemporary issues, not about the Vietnam War.
Thanks,
Tom
Sorry about that. Of course your right; nothing to be learned by a snapshot reminder from the past. I will voluntarily enroll in a reeducation camp post haste, and will depart with honor.
Cheers,
Nguyen van Tyrtaios
HANOI is worried about us bugging out? Unbelievable. Do you think it's because they forgot, or because they remember why Saigon is now called Ho Chi Minh City? In the last 50 years of our foreign policy, when HAVEN'T we bugged out and left whomever was naive enough to trust our guarantees in the lurch? That would be a lot shorter list than the countries we hosed. Why do you think the Afghans are stealing with both hands and sending the cash to Dubai?
In the future, Mr. Sec'ty, can we hope to set conditions for our land wars such that we have direct access from our SLOC's, from ports to the battlefield?
Since Rumsfeld and 1975 irony are both on the menu today, Has the longest serving SecDef ever spoken about his role and experience as WH Chief of Staff, during the final chapter of Kissingers secret plan to get us out of the VN war? Love to see those papers released from the Ford archive. DoD archives may have suffered damage in the laundry.
I do remember Sec'ty Rumsfeld's name figuring prominently in moves to prevent routine de-classification at the 25 year mark.
China has nothing to gain by threatening Vietnam, and an invasion would result in a quagmire. Same with the phony threat to Taiwan.
We still have crazies in the USA who want to bomb and invade Vietnam to look for MIAs.
When I lived in Hong Kong, China and Vietnam actually fought. I think it was 1979.
Best,
Tom
And as I recall the Vietnamese using mostly local militia very roughly handled the Chinese forces. The main part of the Vietnamese Army was in Cambodia suppressing the China’s ally the lunatic Pol Pot. I suspect the Chinese Army has learned a thing or two from those days.
Tom, where haven’t you lived?
JPWREL - The 1979 border conflict and China's poor performance was the catalyst for slimming-down, and modernizing the PLA. Additionally, some would do well by researching the Paracel and Spratly Islands dispute between the two countries and how it also involves U.S. companies and American interests.
Anecdotally, a little known secret is that Hanoi signed an agreement with Moscow to purchase six electric subs last year. Maybe Hanoi can't match the PLAN, but they are upping the ante, and with inexperienced Vietnamese subs roaming around prowling Chinese subs, some see a future naval incident waiting to happen.
Why not step back and say to ourselves...how can we assist China in obtaining allies that will drain them as Austria did to Germany in WWI, Cuba and Afghanistan to the Soviet Union, Iraq and Afghanistan of US? Vietnamese from the North...no..but if we could get a Saigon crew then China could be burdened.
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