~ Le Viêt Nam, aujourd'hui. ~
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Defense Chief Cohen To Tour Vietnam

WASHINGTON - Almost 27 years after the last American troops left South Vietnam, Defense Secretary William Cohen is preparing to visit unified communist Vietnam next week to discuss closer military relations. Cohen, who did not serve in the military, will be the first American defense chief to visit Vietnam since the war, which cost the lives of more than 58,000 U.S. servicemen and killed an estimated 3 million Vietnamese.

In announcing the trip Monday, the Pentagon released no details. Cohen is expected go to Hanoi, the capital, and Ho Chi Minh City, known as Saigon before it fell to the North Vietnamese in April 1975. Although the United States and Vietnam normalized relations in June 1995, there has been almost no military-to-military relationship other than cooperation in recovering remains of American servicemen. About 1,500 U.S. servicemen are unaccounted for in Vietnam, another 500 in Laos and Cambodia.

During his two-day stay, Cohen is expected to visit a site in northern Vietnam where U.S. and Vietnamese forensics specialists are attempting to recover remains. The U.S. portion of the recovery operation is run by Joint Task Force-Full Accounting, an arm of the U.S. Pacific Command based in Hawaii. U.S. veterans groups have generally been supportive of the Pentagon's efforts to maintain Vietnamese cooperation on the recovery of war remains and to work with Hanoi on other war-related issues.

``We think this is just great,'' Scott Campbell, spokesman for Vietnam Veterans of America, said when told of Cohen's planned visit. Ann Mills Griffiths, executive director of the National League of POW/MIA Families, called it a ``positive step'' that can serve to reinforce the seriousness of resolving the remaining cases of missing servicemen. The last visit by an American defense secretary was in the early 1970s by Melvin Laird, who was in Saigon before the last American troops were withdrawn and U.S. prisoners of war released in 1973. Military-to-military cooperation between communist Vietnam and the United States began in 1988 when the first joint field investigations on American MIAs were held. In 1991 the United States opened a military compound in Hanoi, known as ``The Ranch,'' to house U.S. officials involved in remains recovery efforts. Cohen's visit will coincide with a period of national celebrations marking the 25th anniversary of the communist victory over the U.S.-backed South Vietnam.

``Our goals for this trip are to try to make our military-to-military relations with Vietnam more regular and routine,'' a senior official said Monday. He discussed the trip on condition that he not be identified. Vietnam has been pushing for the United States to help resolve the legacy of Agent Orange, the herbicide sprayed by U.S. Air Force planes in a defoliation operation from 1962 to 1970. Vice President Nguyen Thi Binh said last week an estimated 1 million Vietnamese suffer effects of Agent Orange's highly toxic component dioxin.

During his talks in Vietnam, Cohen is expected to say the Clinton administration is prepared to conduct joint research on Agent Orange, the U.S. official said. Cohen is to visit Hong Kong this weekend before flying to Vietnam. He also will visit Tokyo and Seoul.

Associated Press - March 7, 2000.