President Bush's Visit to Viet Nam
President Bush's visit to Vietnam
According to White House press secretary Tony Snow who speaking about President Bush's trip to Vietnam the "trip would not be a "look back" to the troubled history. "[I]t really is going to be a looking forward to areas of cooperation and shared concern, in terms of working with the Vietnamese."
War legacies issues however, were not ignored completely. In the joint statement of President Bush and President Nguyen Minh Triet "President Triet expressed appreciation for the U.S. Government's increasing development assistance to Vietnam and urged the U.S. side to increase humanitarian assistance including through cooperation on areas such as unexploded ordinance and continued assistance to Vietnamese with disabilities."
Most significantly the joint statement went on to say that "The United States and Vietnam also agreed that further joint efforts to address the environmental contamination near former dioxin storage sites would make a valuable contribution to the continued development of their bilateral relationship."
While this is not the acknowledgement of the damage Agent Orange has had on Vietnam and the Vietnamese people that many people were looking for, the fact that President Bush acknowledged the need to address the issue of dioxin contamination as important for bilateral relations is a significant step forward for US policy on this issue.
The long term health and environmental impacts of the Vietnam war were covered by the press in several articles over the past week.
The Legacy of Agent Orange
by
Weekend Edition Saturday, November 18, 2006 ยท One of the issues discussed when President Bush visited Vietnam this week was the long-term effect of the chemical defoliant Agent Orange. The Vietnamese say there are some 1 million people who have suffered health problems resulting from U.S. use of the chemical during the war.
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=6506882
In Vietnam, Old Foes Take Aim at War's Toxic Legacy
Washington Post Foreign ServiceMonday, November 13, 2006; Page A01
DA NANG, Vietnam -- For a stark reminder of the Vietnam War, people living near the airport in this central industrial city can still stroll along the old stone walls that once surrounded a U.S. military base. But Luu Thi Nguyen, a 31-year-old homemaker, needs only to look into the face of her young daughter. More...
The Washington Post website also two very well done videos about Agent Orange directed by Travis Fox
Inherited Scars of Agent Orange
These two videos are also available as Podcasts using iTunes and can be downloaded on Travis Fox's page on the Post website.
The Legacy of Agent Orange: Children are the new victims of the Vietnam War
Ludwig De Braeckeleer - OhmyNews
November, 18, 2006
Today Vietnam enjoys peace and its economy is booming. The wars, it would seem, belong to history. The foes of yesterday have become its closest economic partners. In Hanoi, you may buy luxury items from Louis Vuitton, and American companies are the top foreign investors. As goes Coca Cola's first advertisement while returning to Vietnam a decade ago, "it's good to be back."
Yet, a wartime issue prevents full reconciliation between Hanoi and Washington: the use of Agent Orange. More...
Comments