Why Vietnam Appeals as Possible Host for Trump-Kim Summit

Vietnam is the right place for Trump to meet Kim Jong-un. I hope Vietnam will serve as a reminder that our needless past military battles with Vietnam, Iraq, Afghanistan and Syria , were all mistakes on our part. Any thought of fighting North Korea because it has some nuclear weapons is wrong. They will never use one of their nuclear weapons because they know they will be immediately and completely destroyed if they would ever attempt that. The country that could start a war using nuclear is the United States because we are the only country in the world who actually did that twice before. In addition with war hawks like Bolton and Pompeo on board, there is a much better chance that we will start something before any other country. We just can't stand the fact that we have 5000 of those "things" and they might have as many as 60. THIS is our arrogance of Power. We've had this arrogance for a long time and Trumps choices for "advise" make this situation more dangerous than ever. This whole idea that they give up their 60 "pieces" while we keep our 5000 "pieces" (of which we have already used two) is not fair minded. It will never succeed unless "We attack before they do" If we haven't learned from Vietnam,Laos. Cambodia, Iraq, Afghanistan, and Syria, then we might find ourselves in still another needless war. The audacity and foolishness of POWER--once again.

Vietnam is a terrible choice for a meeting because it has such a sad legacy.It is example 1 in the folly of the U.S. trying to change governments by force.Over 55,000 American soldiers died and over 2 million Vietnamese citizens lost their lives.We have a relation with them now but we cannot forget the terrible trauma caused by that war which we lost.How can we attend a meeting in a country who has suffered so much because of our government policies?

So the draft dodger is going to Vietnam. This reminds me of the heralded Glassboro Summit of 1967. All gas and no substance. All eyes were on this fourth rate college because people hoped the Vietnam War would come to an end, which it did - 8 years later, after another 40,000 kids were killed.

Why Asia, again? Leaving aside the folly of any meeting with Kim Jung-un, holding it in a still-authoritarian Asian country is not diplomatic reciprocity. Nor is it anything but another propaganda win for KJU: “U.S. President flies 8,286 miles to meet with Kim Jong-un in Hanoi.” If they are going to meet, it should be in Canada or Western Europe.

I've been doing business in Vietnam since 1993, married my translator in 1998, and am very close to my Vietnamese in-laws. Vietnam is a totalitarian state in which the big-wigs have found a way to share some of the wealth (without cutting into their weekends in Paris), but make no mistake: it is still the kind of place that if you get out of line (say, distribute anti-one party rule propaganda at HoAn Kiem Lake in the center of Hanoi), within 2 days you can lose your job, possibly your home, and even have your kids taken into so-called "custodial services." Therefore it might be the kind of place the both Kim and Trump are quite comfortable, believing as they do in imperial leadership. It has been fascinating to me to learn how many Vietnamese love Trump, purely because in their eyes he has "stood up to China." So Vietnam might be a perfect meeting place-receptive to Kim, adoring of Trump. All that said, I might not be the only person observing such a meeting to wonder why it is that to the Trump administration and their like-minded legislators Vietnamese one-party rule is cool, but Cuba's is not. Does the ol' real estate adage come to mind: "location, location, location...."

I’m pretty sure Trump agreed so he could say he went to Vietnam.

At least now he'll finally get to go there, like he should have 50 years ago!

Stop calling this meeting a "summit". Nothing of substance came from the last meeting, unless you think calling off the US/SK military exercises was an accomplishment. It was just an exercise in stagecraft, giving Kim more exposure than a murderer deserves, and showing the world what empty statements from our fake president look like. This is just another distraction, another curtain call for Kim, another "look at me" opportunity for the traitor. South Korea, we will still protect you after this fool is a harsh memory.

Well, at least Donald Trump will finally make it to Vietnam.

Would be ironic if President Bonespurs finally makes to Vietnam - 50 or so years late.