US embassy cable - 03HANOI261

UNCLAS HANOI 000261 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR EAP/RSP AND EAP/BCLTV 
 
E.O. 12958:  N/A 
TAGS: PREL, IZ, VM 
SUBJECT:  REACTION TO SECRETARY'S UNSC PRESENTATION 
 
REFS:  A) State 33974  B) State 34169 
 
1.  (U) In a meeting with Assistant Foreign Minister Nguyen 
Duc Hung on February 6, Charge delivered a copy of Secretary 
Powell's presentation to the February 5 open meeting of the 
UNSC and reinforced it with the points provided in para 2 of 
ref B.  Hung said that the GVN was "still studying" the 
Secretary's speech and would probably not have any 
 
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substantive reaction until "tomorrow or next week."  He did 
comment, however, that the GVN hoped that the United States 
could avoid going to war against Iraq. 
 
2.  (U) Perhaps due to the late night timing (local) of the 
Secretary's presentation, there has been no official GVN 
 
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comment as of COB February 6.  The MFA canceled its regular 
Thursday press briefing and now plans no further press 
briefings until February 20. 
 
3.  (U) On January 30, MFA spokeswoman Phan Thuy Thanh had 
asserted officially that "all available information 
indicates that Iraq has been and is cooperating with the UN 
according to Resolution 1441" and expressed a wish for the 
Iraq issue to be "resolved peacefully on the basis of 
respect for Iraq's independence, sovereignty and territorial 
integrity in conformity with the UN Charter and 
international laws."  A Vietnam News Service commentary on 
February 1 claimed that "The US' insistent disbelief of 
Iraq's claims can only mean war is near" and that "current 
information proves that Iraq has been co-operating with the 
UN." 
 
4.  (U) Vietnamese television reported on February 5 and 6 
the Secretary's presentation to the UN Security Council, but 
did not carry the presentation in full.  It added that many 
Americans believed that the speech contained no "new 
information" or was "hard to believe."  TV news also carried 
a report of an anti-war demonstration in New York City.  The 
Communist Party's flagstaff "People" (Nhan Dan) daily 
newspaper on February 6 carried a Reuters account of the 
presentation at the end of a longer article under the title 
of "The danger of an attack on Iraq grows nearer."  Leading 
that article were "confirmations" from Saddam Hussein, from 
his British TV interview, that Iraq did not have weapons of 
mass destruction, as well as accusations that the U.S. 
sought to attack Iraq in order to gain control of Middle 
East oil resources.  Coverage in the "People's Army" daily 
was similar, under a sub-title "many countries oppose the US 
plot to attack Iraq." 
 
5.  (U) In Ho Chi Minh City, two newspaper contacts told the 
ConGen that the Secretary's presentation was impressive and 
credited the U.S. for setting out its case relatively 
objectively.  They added that there was no smoking gun, 
which ultimately made it less convincing.  Of four ConGen 
local Vietnamese business contacts, only two were familiar 
with the content of the speech.  They stated that the speech 
was a clear indication the U.S. will go to war, although 
they would prefer a peaceful solution to the problem. 
PORTER