US embassy cable - 04HANOI405

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 HANOI 000405 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
STATE FOR EAP/BCLTV, EAP/RSP, INL/AAE, PM/WRA 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREL, MARR, MASS, PTER, SNAR, KHDP, KPOW, KWMN, KCRM, VM, CNARC, CTERR 
SUBJECT: ADMIRAL FARGO DISCUSSES AREAS OF FURTHER 
COOPERATION WITH GVN 
 
 
1. (SBU) Summary: In separate meetings with Deputy Prime 
Minister Nguyen Tan Dung and Deputy Foreign Minister Le Van 
Bang on February 9, Admiral Thomas Fargo, Commander of the 
U.S. Pacific Command, highlighted the recent improvement of 
bilateral relations, and discussed establishment of an IMET 
program, POW/MIA issues, demining, and cooperation on 
transnational issues such as counterterrorism and 
counternarcotics.  DPM Dung expressed particular interest in 
counternarcotics cooperation and English language training 
for Vietnamese military officers.  He also made a request 
for continuing demining/UXO assistance to help reduce the 
"weekly" casualties relating to UXO.  Bang stressed 
Vietnam's efforts on counterterrorism, highlighting 
Vietnam's participation in the ASEAN Bali CT conference, 
recent information sharing efforts with regional partners as 
well as the U.S., and participation in regional CT working 
groups.  Both Dung and Bang spoke approvingly about the 
recent visit of the U.S.S. Vandergrift to Ho Chi Minh City 
and a planned second visit of another U.S. Navy vessel in 
April to the northern port of Haiphong.  Dung said the GVN 
would welcome "even more frequent" ship visits.  End 
summary. 
 
DPM Dung 
-------- 
 
2. (U) Ship visits:  In addition to a presentation at 
Vietnam's National Defense University, meetings with senior 
MOD officials and a call on retired hero General Vo Nguyen 
Giap in Hanoi, and visits to Danang and Ho Chi Minh City 
during his February 8 to 11 visit to Vietnam (septels), 
Admiral Fargo called on senior GVN officials in Hanoi, 
accompanied by Ambassador.  Communist Party of Vietnam 
Politburo member and Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung 
and Admiral Fargo reiterated satisfaction at the pace of 
development of bilateral relations in 2003.  DPM Dung called 
both Minister of Defense Pham Van Tra's visit to Washington 
and the U.S.S. Vandergrift visit to Ho Chi Minh City 
"milestones."  He said that he "welcomed" the upcoming April 
ship visit to Haiphong, and hoped that U.S. warships could 
visit Vietnam "even more frequently." 
 
3. (SBU) Transnational issues:  Admiral Fargo noted that 
within the Southeast Asian region there are many 
transnational issues of concern shared by both Vietnam and 
the U.S., particularly counterterrorism, trafficking in 
persons, counternarcotics, and piracy.  These issues require 
multinational solutions.  Admiral Fargo identified 
counternarcotics, counterterrorism, and English training for 
Vietnamese military officers as the areas with the greatest 
potential for common action.  DPM Dung expressed agreement 
with the Admiral's assessment, adding that security 
cooperation should be at the top of the list.   In the 
matter of U.S.-Vietnam cooperation on terrorism, DPM Dung 
suggested starting with an exchange of information.  The 
same mechanism for sharing terrorism-related information 
could be used to share narcotics information, he added. 
Admiral Fargo noted that, while counternarcotics is a large 
issue of concern for Vietnam, Southeast Asia, and the United 
States, it is not in general a military issue.  However, he 
added, the military has some capability to support other 
agencies in this kind of activity, such as PACOM's own JIATF- 
West, which has worked to train other militaries and 
agencies in the region.  He noted that in Thailand, JIATF- 
West had created an intelligence fusion center, which is a 
good model to deal with regional CN issues. 
 
4. (U) POW/MIA:  DPM Dung said he would also like to promote 
greater cooperation on MIA issues, including Vietnamese 
KIAs.  He pointed with pride to the efforts the Vietnamese 
had put into this issue, but noted that the remaining U.S. 
cases are located in remote areas, or are underwater, and 
therefore would require further coordination in order to 
resolve.  He requested that the U.S. provide more 
information about Vietnamese KIA cases.  Admiral Fargo 
thanked DPM Dung for Vietnam's help and support in the MIA 
effort, and noted that Vietnam's assistance has been 
essential to the progress made to date.  He added that the 
USG has provided information relating to Vietnamese KIAs in 
the past, and would continue to provide information in the 
future.  He agreed with DPM Dung about the difficulty of 
continuing in remote or underwater sites, and said this was 
the reason why the USG wanted to expand cooperation to cover 
underwater operations.  Admiral Fargo proposed coordinating 
U.S. and Vietnamese experts to discuss diving and salvage 
possibilities and urged the use of U.S. salvage ships for 
underwater recoveries. 
 
5. (U) Demining:  DPM Dung urged Admiral Fargo to encourage 
the USG, in particular the Department of Defense, to push 
forward with cooperation with the Vietnamese armed forces to 
help reduce UXO casualties, which remained a "weekly" 
occurrence in Vietnam, especially near former U.S. military 
bases in the center of the country.  He asked the U.S. to 
provide "better and more practical demining assistance."  He 
expressed Vietnam's appreciation for assistance the U.S. has 
provided to date, but said that "even more would be greatly 
appreciated, both equipment and training."  Admiral Fargo 
noted that UXO/demining is a global problem and promised to 
"see what was possible" to help Vietnam.  He added that 
Vietnam's expertise in this area is well known might 
represent an opportunity for Vietnam to contribute 
internationally. 
 
6. (U) IMET:  Concerning English training, Admiral Fargo 
noted that there were some things that we would be possible 
immediately, and the USG was happy to pursue those things. 
He encouraged the GVN to consider signing an IMET agreement 
with the U.S.  DPM Dung said that "IMET interests us very 
much" and that Vietnam would prefer to start cooperation in 
the program with the English training for officers. 
 
7. (U) Exchanges:  Admiral Fargo cited multinational fora as 
a way to discuss many issues, highlighting the annual Chiefs 
of Defense conference and U.S.-Vietnam medicine and military 
law exchanges.  He encouraged Vietnam to participate as much 
as possible in the "full range of events."  DPM Dung thanked 
him for the offer, and invited him to return to Vietnam 
soon. 
 
Foreign Ministry 
---------------- 
 
8.  (U) Mil/Mil:  In the absence of Foreign Minister Nien 
(traveling in the region), Admiral Fargo met Deputy Foreign 
Minister (and former Ambassador to Washington) Le Van Bang, 
who described U.S.-Vietnam relations as "booming" in both 
trade and humanitarian areas.  He added that improved 
military-to-military relations were the "core" of bilateral 
government interaction.  He spoke positively of the recent 
U.S. Navy ship visit in Ho Chi Minh City, noting especially 
that he was impressed by the humanitarian volunteer 
activities undertaken by the sailors during their visit to 
Vietnam.  Admiral Fargo noted that another ship visit was 
scheduled for Haiphong, and expressed a hope that ship 
visits would become a part of regular interaction rather 
than special events. 
 
9.  (SBU) CT:  DFM Bang pointed specifically to preventing 
terrorism as an area in which the GVN was taking number of 
new steps, including sharing information with partners in 
the region and with Washington, and noted that he himself 
had attended a recent ASEAN counterterrorism conference in 
Bali.  He said that the GVN was working with a regional 
center for counterterrorism in Indonesia, as well as 
participating in regional counterterrorism and law 
enforcement working groups.  DFM Bang characterized the 
threat posed by groups such as Jemaah Islamiah as 
considerable.  "We must have good coordination to follow 
such organizations," Bang declared. 
 
10. (U) More CT:  Admiral Fargo agreed that counterterrorism 
would be a productive area for interaction, and suggested 
that Vietnam would have an excellent opportunity to discuss 
this at the Regional Chiefs of Defense discussions that the 
U.S. hosted every year.  Admiral Fargo noted that the USG 
frequently sees links between terrorist groups and other 
types of transnational crime, especially drug smuggling.  He 
remarked on the recently signed Counter-Narcotics Letter of 
Agreement between the USG and the GVN, and suggested that 
the GVN might cooperate with JIATF-West. 
 
11. (U) Admiral Fargo urged establishing an IMET training 
program with the GVN.  Bang admitted that English ability is 
a major deficiency in the GVN armed forces.  Admiral Fargo 
suggested that IMET funds could be used to establish in- 
country language training for Vietnamese officers as a first 
step, before expanding into other opportunities for training 
in the United States. 
 
12. (U) Iraq:  Admiral Fargo expressed his appreciation for 
GVN contributions to Afghanistan and Iraq.  Bang noted 
Vietnam had already donated $700,000 to Iraq and Afghanistan 
(in the form of rice and school supplies), and promised that 
"we'll try our best" to secure further donations for Iraq. 
Admiral Fargo urged Vietnam's participation in future 
peacekeeping missions.  Bang opined that Vietnamese officers 
would have to improve their English abilities first. 
 
13.  (U) Misc:  Admiral Fargo reiterated his appreciation 
for GVN assistance on the search for MIAs, and offered USG 
cooperation wherever possible in the search for Vietnamese 
KIAs.  Bang also cited demining as an area in which the GVN 
would appreciate further USG assistance. 
 
14. (SBU) Comment: Admiral Fargo's visit was a welcome 
opportunity to maintain momentum in mil/mil ties and in 
moving forward in bilateral ties in general.  We are 
especially encouraged by the DPM's emphasis on information 
sharing in the CT and counternarcotics arenas, but expect 
that this will move forward by cautious steps, not leaps and 
bounds. 
BURGHARDT