Former foes must not spark regional tinderbox
The ongoing visit by US President Barack Obama to Vietnam, the third by a US leader since diplomatic relations were restored in 1995, may serve as a footnote to the adage that there are no eternal allies or perpetual enemies, only eternal and perpetual interests.
More than four decades after the end of the Vietnam War, which killed millions of Vietnamese and 58,000 US troops, the former bitter foes have turned into friends and are seeking to boost their commercial, military and political relations.
The three-day visit - whose duration underscores the importance Washington now attaches to Hanoi - has already born fruit, with Vietnam signing a deal to buy 100 Boeing planes worth billions of US dollars, and the US announcing that it will fully lift the arms embargo it imposed on Vietnam decades ago.
