October 25, 2006
THEY WON A BATTLE, WE WON THE WAR:
Vietnam’s Roaring Economy Is Set for World Stage (KEITH BRADSHER, 10/25/06, NY TIMES)
Nearly four decades ago, South Vietnamese leaders mapped out their battle plans inside the presidential palace here. When they lost the war, the palace became the base for the Ho Chi Minh City People’s Committee, which worked to impose tight Communist control.But in September it was the scene of a very different gathering: a board meeting of the Hongkong and Shanghai Bank.
In the three decades since Vietnam has gone from communism to a form of capitalism, it has begun surpassing many neighbors. It has Asia’s second-fastest-growing economy, with 8.4 percent growth last year, trailing only China’s, and the pace of exports to the United States is rising faster than even China’s.
American companies like Intel and Nike, and investors across the region, are pouring billions of dollars into the country; overseas Vietnamese are returning to run the ventures.
Even Ted Kennedy couldn't prevent the End of History from reaching Vietnam. Posted by Orrin Judd at October 25, 2006 9:45 AM
Yes, but about 30 years too late. Wonder (not really) if the Democrats and MSM will take any lessons from this regarding Iraq.
Posted by: Rick T at October 25, 2006 9:55 AMIt's never too late to realize that We Won This War. And no, don't expect that same Baghdad hotel-bound MSM to learn that same lesson.
Posted by: Brad S at October 25, 2006 10:07 AMThe Vietnamese got tired of living in the war, poverty and despair of communism, so they took a lesson from the U.S. economy and are now enjoying the peace and prosperity that Capitalism brings. Prosperous happy people want to manage their own lives, so real democracy can't be too far behind.
Some GOP ads about this amazing development would certainly wake up the American public. About now would be good.
Is there some way to hire a Foreign Legion from Vietnam and use it in Iraq?
Posted by: Joseph Hertzlinger at October 25, 2006 4:09 PMThere are parallels to Iraq, but not the ones the MSM is found of (quagmire, US-is-evil, etc). The real parallel is the knee-jerk opposition to foreign occupation regardless of the benign intent of the occupiers, even if it is against the own self interest of the locals in the long run.
Sometimes an ideological -ism has to burn itself out from within before it is willingly dropped.
Posted by: Gideon at October 25, 2006 5:47 PMerp, I see it like you do. The country is surely changing much for the better. Overseas Vietnamese are returning to manage the ventures. They have a wealth of natural gas that is being developed to bring in big money, plus fuel for industry, power generation, etc.
Posted by: Tom Wall at October 25, 2006 6:13 PMGideon has provided us with a valuable insight. Boxerism is psychopathology, but that does not make it nonexistent. Mental illness is very real and has real consequences.
The Franz Fanon book, Wretched of the Earth, treated with this: the wretched, like all the mentally ill, is unhinged---his illness takes priority over all other considerations.
Posted by: Lou Gots at October 25, 2006 7:27 PM