VN War teaches America important lessons

VGP - American people learned “important lessons” from the Viet Nam War, said U.S. Secretary of Defense Ashton Carter during the event at Emancipation Hall, addressing congressional leaders and members from both sides of the House and Senate aisles.

July 10, 2015 3:05 PM GMT+7

U.S. Secretary of Defense Ashton Carter

He said that some of the lessons that the War taught America were “difficult to swallow”.

Mr. Carter said the Department of Defense has over 650 people devoted to accounting for the missing and searching for, recovering and identifying their remains, including the more than 1,627 still missing from the Viet Nam War.

More than 58,000 U.S. troops died in the Viet Nam War. U.S. troop commitments to the conflict increased sharply after 1964, peaking at more than a half million in 1968, according to the Defense Secretary.

Regarding the Joint Statement issued at the historic meeting between Party leader Nguyen Phu Trong and President Barack Obama, the Secretary noted “positive and substantive developments in many areas of cooperation over the past 20 years since the establishment of diplomatic relations.”

The document acknowledges growth in economic and trade efforts; addressing war legacy issues; and cooperation in science and technology, education, healthcare, environment and response to climate change, defense, security, human rights, and increasing regional and international cooperation on issues of mutual concern.

It also touches upon continued rapid growth in bilateral trade and investment, the entry into force of the 123 agreement on cooperation concerning peaceful use of nuclear energy, Viet Nam’s endorsement of the proliferation security initiatives’ statement of interdiction principles, the easing of the U.S. restriction of arms sales, the signing of the joint vision statement on defense relations, and increased cooperation on regional and multilateral issues./.

By Kim Anh