It might sound crazy to think that Washington’s political establishment would once again authorize the US military to invade Vietnam, but to Vietnamese officials in Hanoi, it’s not.

According to theAssociated Press(AP),

“A year after Vietnam elevated its relations with Washington to the highest diplomatic level, an internal document shows its military was taking steps to prepare for a possible American “war of aggression” and considered the United States a“belligerent” power.”

So does Vietnam trust Washington? The simple answer is not, not at all and rightly so. Hanoi’s fear of a color revolution“like the 2004Orange Revolution in Ukraine, or the 1986 Yellow Revolution in the Philippines”is real.

Project 88, an organization focused on human rights in Vietnam are skeptical on what US motives in Vietnam are. They recently published an article on what Vietnamese officials are planning,‘Hanoi is planning for a 2nd American invasion: US policy heightening tensions and fueling repression.’They confirmed that

“There’s a consensus here across the government and across different ministries,” said Ben Swanton, co-director of The 88 Project and the report’s author. “This isn’t just some kind of a fringe element or paranoid element within the party or within the government.”

Who could blame Vietnam for preparing for another war scenario with the US especially since Washington is trying to isolate China which is something Hanoi is not interested in doing to one of their close neighbors:

The original Vietnamese document titled “The 2nd U.S. Invasion Plan” was completed by the Ministry of Defense in August 2024. It suggests that in seeking “itsobjective of strengthening deterrence against China, the U.S. and its allies are ready to apply unconventional forms of warfare and military intervention and even conduct large-scale invasions against countries and territories that ‘deviate from its orbit’”

While noting that “currently there is little risk of a war against Vietnam,” Vietnamese officials said that “due to the U.S. belligerent nature we need to be vigilant to prevent the U.S. and its allies from ‘creating a pretext’ to launch an invasion of our country.”

They see Washington especially under the current Trump Regime as threat given the fact that previous US regimes have been increasing tensions with Beijing asPresident Xi Jinping’shas promised to reunify China with Taiwan since they consider it a breakaway province. The US also imposed numerous sanctions and tariffs on China and has threatened its close allies with war as in the case with Iran:

Source: Global Research