but, I suspect the answer will be no.

I'm sure Russia is offering them something for the rights.

- Have you noticed how the U.S. is being KARMAed almost daily now? And this is just the beginning.....

K&R

For any number of historical and geographical reasons that one need not go into here. It was not that long ago.

http://www.rollcall.com/news/after_20_years_of_trade_relations_vietnam_and_us_look_forward_commentary-230861-1.html

Before his recent visit, Secretary of State Kerry said that he used to dream of the day when, “Someone would say the word Vietnam, and we would think of the country, not the war.” Now, Americans and Vietnamese speak more about expanding trade, building businesses, creating jobs, exchanging students, trading products and services, and catering to tourists. Every year, 1,800 containers loaded with U.S.-grown apples, pears, oranges, grapes, cherries and other produce travel to Vietnam. Together with pork, beef, soy, poultry and dairy products, these American exports are helping to stock the shelves of supermarkets in Vietnam.

America’s manufacturing products are also ubiquitous in Vietnam. In 2013 alone, Vietnamese companies signed contracts totaling $2.6 billion to buy American-made airplane engines and wind turbines, helping to support tens of thousands of U.S. manufacturing jobs.
Vietnam is currently the United States’ 29th largest trading partner. U.S. exports to Vietnam have doubled in just five years, amounting to $5.2 billion in 2013. Bilateral trade between the two nations now totals $30 billion a year — a 134-fold increase from 1994.

With direct investment amounting to $10.6 billion in December, the United States ranks seventh among foreign investors in Vietnam.
American companies are gaining new customers and contracts while contributing to Vietnam’s development.

Russia and Vietnam, being both residents of China's perpiphery, if they wish to pursue an independent course, are natural allies, as they were with us during the Vietnam War. The fact that they enjoy commercial ties with us now will not lead them to overlook the past, or the geography of their position. One of the biggest failings of our foreign policy is that assumption that it's all about the money.

And it would look better if we did not ask like this. This public whining is very unseemly.

If you think the countries around Russia look on them as a natural ally after the Russian invasion of Ukraine, a country which has long been in the Russian sphere, you are mistaken.

Whether it is by the US, Russia, or China, no one likes being bullied or invaded. And despite what some Putin worshippers have deluded themselves into believing, virtually the entire international community views Russia's actions in Ukraine as an unprovoked war of aggression and this particularly has small countries in its periphery, like Vietnam, concerned.

Who would ever expect a nation-state to act for "selfish reasons"?

Good thing the US doesn't act for "selfish reasons." Ours are always noble, right?

The Vietnamese are smart enough to know that the Soviets helped them because the Soviets had their own agenda against the US, not because they loved Vietnam.

The right action for Vietnam here is to not anger anyone. And the best way to do that is to quietly tell the Russians, we have no problems with the Russian Air Force using our airfields for refueling routine flights, but we're not going to be party to you sticking your finger in the eye of the US or Japan or Canada or anyone else.

awesome post

...and found T-shirts made in Vietnam and Cambodia.

I thought, "Weren't we bombing these countries a few years ago?"*

________
*[font size="1"]"Few years ago" was my immediate reaction. I realize it was more like a "few decades ago."[font size="2"]

I would not be surprised to see the Vietnamese quietly tell the Russians that if they want to antagonize us, the airfields will not be open to their use.

We also backed the Vietnamese in their oil rights dispute with China.