`Tangible progress' made in Vietnam MIA<\/p>\n
WASHINGTON (AFP): Vietnam has made \"tangible progress\" to
\ndetermine the fate of missing U.S. soldiers and prisoners of war
\nin recent months, President Bill Clinton said in a letter to
\ncongress Wednesday.<\/p>\n
Among the advances Clinton cited in a report to Congress, he
\nsaid Vietnam had taken action to reduce the number of U.S.
\nindividuals involved in the \"last known alive discrepancy cases\"
\nin Vietnam from 73 to 55.<\/p>\n
Vietnam has opened access to sensitive military areas in Cam
\nRanh Bay and Haiphong Harbor.<\/p>\n
Vietnam has also stepped up efforts to seek out more
\ninformation on documents scattered among various Vietnamese
\ngovernment agencies.<\/p>\n
And Vietnam has opened an office in Ho Chi Minh City dedicated
\nto recovering the remains of U.S. personnel who died in the south
\nand encourage private citizens to turn over remains.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, the House of Representatives passed a non-binding
\nvoice vote calling on the administration to keep the focus of the
\nU.S. liaison office opened earlier this year in Vietnam on the
\nmissing U.S. personnel question.<\/p>\n
The representatives said the main function of the office
\nshould be to work toward learning the fate of the personnel.<\/p>\n
When Clinton made his Feb. 3 decision to lift the 19-year
\nembargo against the Vietnamese, he said it was in part based on
\nevidence the Vietnamese were moving to resolve the fate of 2,238
\nU.S. personnel listed as missing in action.<\/p>\n
But he said continued progress in normalizing relations was
\npredicated on continued efforts to settle the POW-MIA question.
\nAt the time, the move drew the scorn of many veterans' groups and
\nmissing soldiers' families that wanted to keep the embargo in
\nplace to pressure Vietnam for more cooperation.<\/p>\n
Clinton said in his letter that \"despite this tangible
\nprogress, I believe there are additional steps Vietnam could take
\nto help achieve the fullest possible accounting...\"<\/p>\n
Among those categories, Clinton said the Vietnamese should
\nprovide a comprehensive report on the 84 special remains cases
\npending and providing additional documents.<\/p>\n
Clinton's list also included Vietnam's giving the government
\nof neighboring Laos advance notification of Vietnamese witnesses
\nwho would be asked to travel to Laos for U.S.-Vietnamese-Laotian
\ntrilateral investigations.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/tangible-progress-made-in-vietnam-mia-1447893297",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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