10th ANNIVERSARY OF NORMALIZATION

Viet Nam, US effectively co-operate in POW/MIA issue
06/10/2005 -- 11:13(GMT+7)

Ha Noi (VNA) - Lieutenant Lenfort Mitchell, Commander of the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command, Detachment Two in Viet Nam, has praised Viet Nam's commitments on this issue as well as its efforts to help the US account for Americans missing in action (MIA) after the war and has said he hopes that the Vietnamese Government and people will press ahead with their support for the mission.

He made these remarks in an interview with Viet Nam News Agency on the celebration of 10 years of diplomatic relations between the two countries.

Asked about co-operation between the two countries in the POW/MIA issue, he said that Viet Nam and the US are celebrating the 10th anniversary of diplomatic relations, but the US MIA Office's relationship with Viet Nam started well before then. "We were here before we had any sort of unilateral or bilateral agreement or had any diplomatic relations established. That says a lot about the commitment of both sides and both governments," he stressed.

Asked to comment on the Vietnamese Government’s move to allow the US side to meet with high ranking officials or access POW/MIA-related documents, he said it is in progress and the mission gets some access. "The Vietnamese government as a whole and the US Government treat this issue as a humanitarian issue so the two sides do get high level co-operation, and the Vietnamese people do go out of their way to support the mission."

Regarding the POW/MIA issue in bilateral relations, LTC Mitchell said that the issue has been the leverage behind establishing diplomatic relations. Establishment of any type of bilateral agreement was all built on this humanitarian issue. Because of the importance of this issue, it brought both sides to the table. However, the two sides have now moved well beyond that point. There are other issues now. It's been ten years since the US and Viet Nam normalized relations and the two countries now have a bilateral trade agreement. There are other doors that are opening up, that are starting to bring the two countries closer together.

When talking about the prospects for co-operation between the two countries in this area, he said "the co-operation will be status quo. I think we have at least 7 to 10 years worth of work to do in Viet Nam, and I think the Vietnamese government will support us staying here until the work is completed. I think both sides are committed to that regardless of any other issues."

Referring to Viet Nam-US co-operation in search for the remains of Vietnamese soldiers who are still regarded as unaccounted for, he said "We have been working on this issue here in Viet Nam for more that 13 years and in 13 years we've been able to share technology and information. We have different veterans groups that come here and exchange information, and that dialogue continues two or three times a year. From a scientific standpoint we have a combined, both US and Vietnamese, joint forensic review. After we find remains we turn them over to this board and scientists on both sides verify or re-verify the remains associated with the case we've been working on. We share a lot of DNA and odontological technology giving the Vietnamese scientists forensic knowledge that we have."

On his impression of the country during his stay in Viet Nam, he said what has impressed him the most is the steadfastness and the mindset of the local people. "I get to travel from province to province. I get to meet people of different walks of life. We do have our differences in cultures, sometimes we do have our differences in values, but when we sit down and talk, and communicate, we find out that we have a lot in common," he concluded.