Having lived on the Indochinese Peninsula for several years off the grid during the Vietnamese Misunderstanding, I can safely say the following article link represents subtle bargaining at a high level. I had much occasion to barter on the local economy for foodstuffs and other “essentials” and was quite adept at it by the time I left. Milo Minderbinder had nothing on me. Who do you know who could convert a $12 bottle of Johnnie Walker Black into $52 in the blink of an eye? Or a whole case for that matter.  One thing I took away from this was the innate love of the orientals to haggle for the mere sake of haggling. The price was immaterial. Both sides knew that going in. For argument’s sake, the object had a street value that was non negotiable. For a roundeye like myself, it was axiomatic that I hold my own in one of these arguments or lose massive face if I paid the initial asking price. 

Similarly, the eight man delegation headed up by Senior Lieutenant General Nguyen Chi Vinh, set the price of four new excavations for our soldiers’ remains as their opening gambit. We, in turn, are expected to bid two no trump and so on around the table. The Democratic Republic of Vietnam ( DRV or formerly Hanoi Jane’s playground) is feeling a little troubled by all the neighbors looking for what Hitler referred to in WW II as lebensraum   . China and others in their neck of the woods are all expanding their economic horizons and find themselves cramped for room. Our former enemies now view us as their possible allies if a territorial squabble busts loose.

We are already spending vast quantities of bucks excavating and cleaning up our former bases and their associated POL dumps. POL stands for Petroleum, Oil and Lubricants-i.e. anything of or having to do with oil. It tends to really screw up shallow water tables as they are coming to find out back at Camp Pour Le Jeune Garçons Et Filles in North Carolina.

In addition, just having a Naval ship or two sitting at at anchor in the harbor at Cam Ranh Bay can express a thousand words to casual observers. And as assuredly as word travels at the speed of light, that information is telegraphed to the four corners of the East China Sea.

To the uninitiated, this may seem like a warm, fuzzy get together with noble aspirations down at Fort Fumble but it is nothing more than Asian posturing and bartering for an upper hand. I do hope Messieurs Kerry and Hagel are smart enough to recognize the signs and signals. I’d sure hate to see Americans refurbishing  and refortifying CRB and Vung Tau in a few years.