Pentagon woos Vietnam (Asia Times)

[papau]

http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Southeast_Asia/EG19Ae01.html

Southeast Asia

Pentagon woos Vietnam
By Jim Lobe

WASHINGTON - In a reminder of the strategic importance the Bush administration attaches to Southeast Asia, Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld has extended a formal invitation to his Vietnamese counterpart, Pham Van Tra, to visit in the near future, according to knowledgeable sources. It is the latest step in a lengthy courtship that Washington hopes will draw Vietnam into US strategic designs in the region, focused principally on keeping China contained and preventing the South China Sea from becoming a "Chinese Lake", according to analysts here.

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[papau]

1. Cam Ranh Bay developement - good to see our billion invested not

going to waste.

[Terran]

2. papau

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Dirk - DU Moderator

[acerbic]

3. When I saw the headline, my first thought was

"Are they going to ask for Vietnamese troops to help occupying Iraq?" but after reading the article I see: no, not that; the totally outer limits of surreal have not yet been quite reached...