They belong Walking On or Planted In
American Soil--nothing less!!
Albright Satisfied With
Vietnam's Cooperation
by S. Golding,
Staff Writer PoW/MIA Forum ®
It is no secret that both Secretary of State Madeline Albright and former Secretary of Defense Robert Mc Namara, a chief architect of the Vietnam War and now the official apologist for that war, were both in Vietnam recently.
This was, to the best of our knowledge, Secretary Albright's first visit to communist Vietnam as the chief policy maker of the free world. The visit coincided with the announcement that Vietnam's top leadership was about to step down to make way for younger leadership.
With the tumultuous events that are happening in the region, China regaining control of Hong Kong and indicating that their first actions would be to clamp down on some of the freedoms enjoyed by that citizenry, with China's aggressive war games/military maneuvers off the coast of Taiwan, Madam Secretary had a real opportunity to send a message to China while demanding that the Hanoi government step up its efforts in resolving the American PoW/MIA issue.
She could have indicated that the United States would like to see the outgoing Kiet brought before a War Crimes Tribunal. She could have demanded to know about the warehosuing of US remains. She could have demanded that US investigators be permitted to go through military security zones suspected of being areas wher live American's are held. She should have demanded US access to Hanoi's wartime archives, something that was promised and never deliverd on. She could of demanded to speak with so called deserters to ascertain for herself whether they were deserters or forced "guests" of Vietnam.
Instead, Madam Secretary informed the Vietnamese that she, and the United States, were satisfied with the level of cooperation on the PoW/MIA issue, according to a June 28 1997 AP story:
"While in Hanoi, she received a briefing on a POW-MIA accounting and said that, overall, she was
satisfied with Vietnamese cooperation. Officials said 1,584 Americans remain unaccounted for from
the war.
U.S. Ambassador Pete Peterson, a former prisoner of war, presented her a plaque attached to a
brick from the building where many American POWs were held until their release in 1973.
'It's a symbol of what we've been through and, more importantly, where we are going,' Albright
said. "
She should take that brick and add it to the wall that is being built around any possibility that we will ever get an alive American prisoner out of captivity simply because he answered his countries call to duty and fought for democracy. Democracy that is lacking in Communist Vietnam but which is now embraced by Albright and this administration.
While Madam Secretary may be satsified, overall, we at the PoW/MIA Forum are not. There is hard evidence that we abandoned Americans after ceasation of US involvement in the Vietnam War. There is ample evidence that some may have survived up until the mid 90's. We need the answers and we need them now.
By not holding Vietnam accountable, Albright signalled China that we may talk the talk, but should they invade Tiawan or clamp down even tighter on Hong Kong, we will not walk the walk.
Missed opportunities. All the way around.
us here!