In 1968 I began my life in diplomacy as an aide to Averell Harriman and Cyrus Vance, who were heading peace talks with the North Vietnamese in Paris. Thirty-four years later, I ended that career as the George W. Bush administration’s first special envoy to Afghanistan, appointed weeks after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. Like Richard Holbrooke , my contemporary on the Paris delegation and my eventual successor as envoy to Afghanistan, I have been struck by parallels between the two wars and the two peace processes, the first of which ultimately ended in failure and the second of which is only now taking shape, the fruit of much effort by Holbrooke and his successor, Ambassador Marc Grossman . Read full article > >

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Negotiating peace in Afghanistan without repeating Vietnam

Vietnamese man Nguyen Duy Hai is in a stable condition after a 12-hour operation to remove a huge 90kg tumour.

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Vietnam man’s huge tumour removed

Vietnamese man Nguyen Duy Hai is in a stable condition after a 12-hour operation to remove a huge 90kg tumour.

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Vietnam man’s huge tumour removed

The American war in Iraq is over. The last U.S. soldier will be home by Christmas, and for the first time in a decade, no American service member is preparing for deployment in Mesopotamia. As America leaves the Iraq war, what has the war left America? There are the images. Where Vietnam gave us the Huey helicopter landing among rotor-washed palms, Iraq’s icon is the Humvee rumbling through a dun-colored landscape of desert. The arc of the American experience in Iraq can be told through the collage from hope to barbarity, from swaggering invasion to quiet departure. Read full article > >

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Arc of Iraq war told in images

It’s not easy to program Veterans Day to wide approval. Some TV viewers want the manly Military Channel specials about strategy and warfare. Some want pure history and grainy footage. Some want yellow ribbons and emotions. Some can wade into the moral vagaries or go deep into the trauma of postwar mental illness and injury. Some just can’t go there at all. Read full article > >

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War, up close and personal: ‘Vietnam in HD’ and ‘Where Soldiers Come From’

In 1986, Bob Wieland, who lost his legs in Vietnam, completed the race in about 98 hours on his hands.

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Bob Wieland’s Athletic Accomplishments Continue to Inspire

MANILA, Philippines — The second typhoon in a week battered the rain-soaked northern Philippines on Saturday, adding misery to thousands of people, some of whom still perched on rooftops while several other Asian nations also reeled from flooding. Typhoon Nalgae slammed ashore midmorning Saturday south of northeastern Palanan Bay in Isabela province with winds of 100 miles (160 kilometers) per hour and dangerous gusts of 121 mph (195 kph). Read full article > >

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Asia reels under floods as 2nd typhoon this week hits rain-soaked Philippines

Many in Northern Virginia’s sizable Vietnamese community were shocked last month when the popular Eden Center shopping mall in Falls Church was swarmed by the regional gang task force and 19 people were arrested on misdemeanor charges, mostly illegal gambling. But it got more tense the next day, when the task force held a news conference to declare that Eden Center was paralyzed by gang activity, particularly by the “Dragon Family,” and that shootings, stabbings and extortion were prevalent. At least one television report led with an image of the South Vietnamese flag above the headline “Criminal Gang Activity,” which outraged those who see the flag as a sacred symbol of their lost homeland. Read full article > >

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Tensions rise in Falls Church after gang task force raids Eden Center

Many in Northern Virginia’s sizable Vietnamese community were shocked last month when the popular Eden Center shopping mall in Falls Church was swarmed by the regional gang task force and 19 people were arrested on misdemeanor charges, mostly illegal gambling. But it got more tense the next day, when the task force held a news conference to declare that Eden Center was paralyzed by gang activity, particularly by the “Dragon Family,” and that shootings, stabbings and extortion were prevalent. At least one television report led with an image of the South Vietnamese flag above the headline “Criminal Gang Activity,” which outraged those who see the flag as a sacred symbol of their lost homeland. Read full article > >

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Tensions rise in Falls Church after gang task force raids Eden Center

The disclosure of the Pentagon Papers four decades ago stands as one of the most significant leaks of classified material in American history. Ever since, in the eyes of the government, the voluminous record of U.S. involvement in Vietnam has remained something else: classified. In the Byzantine realm of government record-keeping, publication of a document in the country’s biggest newspapers, including this one, does not mean declassification. Despite the release of multiple versions of the Pentagon Papers, no complete, fully unredacted text has ever been publicly disclosed. Read full article > >

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Pentagon Papers to be declassified at last

Hundreds of Vietnamese turn out in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City to protest against Chinese naval operations in the disputed South China Sea.

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Vietnam protests over S China Sea

Members of the Boozefighters Motorcycle Club are among scores of volunteers who spend time making sure the Vietnam Veterans Memorial looks its best. Read full article > >

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Washing the Wall

Members of the Boozefighters Motorcycle Club are among scores of volunteers who spend time making sure the Vietnam Veterans Memorial looks its best. Read full article > >

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Washing the Wall

The local chapter of the Boozefighters Motorcycle club, which counts many veterans among its members, cleans the Vietnam and Korean War Memorials twice a year as part of a tribute to their fallen brethren. They are among many veterans groups that volunteer their time to clean the memorials. Read full article > >

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Respecting the fallen by cleaning the Vietnam War Memorial

The local chapter of the Boozefighters Motorcycle club, which counts many veterans among its members, cleans the Vietnam and Korean War Memorials twice a year as part of a tribute to their fallen brethren. They are among many veterans groups that volunteer their time to clean the memorials. Read full article > >

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Respecting the fallen by cleaning the Vietnam War Memorial