Vietnam’s Overdue Alliance With America

New York Times ^ | July 11, 2014 | By TUONG LAI

[Brad from Tennessee]

HO CHI MINH CITY, Vietnam — OURS is a small country. We Vietnamese cannot and must not entrust our future to anyone, but we urgently need strategic allies at a moment in history when our priority is to defeat our present-day enemy: China.

China’s move in May, to place an offshore oil rig on the Vietnamese continental shelf, and its arrogant statements in June, at an Asian security summit meeting known as the Shangri-La Dialogue, exposed China’s sea piracy to the world. These developments should alarm anyone in Vietnam who still clings to the myth of brotherly love between our nation and China.

We cannot fight Chinese encroachment alone. Political isolation in a globalized world is tantamount to committing political suicide for Vietnam. And the key ally for Vietnam today is the United States — an alliance that the Vietnamese liberation hero Ho Chi Minh ironically always wanted. . .

[oh8eleven]

The ARVN fought back two invasions by North Vietnam.
They lost the second fight ... and the country. The first invasion (I assume) you're referring to was the Easter Offensive of '72.
They would have lost that one too had it not been for US Marine Captain John W. Ripley, who single-handedly stopped the NVA invasion by blowing the Dong Ha bridge.
Semper Fi ...

[Carry_Okie]

Ben Gurion was a borderline communist.

[Defiant]

Ted would never slouch like that. But I like the thought.

[skeeter]

The first thing they can do is change Ho Chi Min City back to Saigon.

The next thing they can do is apologize to the US for violating the '73 cease fire and institute full and fair elections. Then we can talk.

[B4Ranch]

Fifty years from now all of Asia will be under China’s flag.