posted on Jun, 17 2005 @ 11:06 AM
www.washingtonpost.com...
HANOI, June 16 -- Once enemies in battle, Vietnam and the United States will cooperate in the exchange of intelligence on terrorism and transnational
crime, and Vietnam will send military officers for training in the United States, Prime Minister Phan Van Khai said Thursday on the eve of the first
U.S. trip by a top Vietnamese Communist leader.
The intelligence and military cooperation agreements will be announced when Khai visits next week, marking the highest-level visit to the United
States since the Communists won the war in 1975. He will meet with President Bush and Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld on Tuesday.
The move to forge solid military ties between Vietnam and the United States shows how far the relationship has advanced in the 10 years since
President Bill Clinton established formal diplomatic relations. The trip will be a milestone, analysts said, a signal that a mature relationship based
on mutual interests in security and trade is beginning to take shape.
"During the war, Vietnam and the United States were opponents," Khai said during a 75-minute interview at his office in the capital, which is within
walking distance of the mausoleum holding the embalmed body of Ho Chi Minh, the independence leader and North Vietnamese president during the war.
"Now that 30 years have elapsed since the end of the war, it is our policy to put aside the past and look to the future and a better relationship
between the two countries."
man we make friends with nations we fought with, like Japan, Germany, Great Britain, Mexico, Spain etc. in anicase its great to have an alliance with
a nation like Vietnam which has a very tough population and very nice people. it also helps to have the people from both countries worked together
between the native Vietnamese and the Vietnamese Americans.