MEETING BETWEEN U.S. ARMY CHIEF OF STAFF AND

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 HANOI 001420 SIPDIS SENSITIVE SIPDIS STATE FOR EAP/MLS AND EAP/RSP, SECDEF FOR ISA/SHUBERT AND STERN, JCS FOR J5/CDR CHASE, PACOM FOR J5/MAJ MA, PACFLT FOR N5/YAMAMOTO E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: MARR PGOV PTER VM SUBJECT: MEETING BETWEEN U.S. ARMY CHIEF OF STAFF AND PEOPLE'S ARMY OF VIETNAM DEPUTY CHIEF OF THE GENERAL STAFF (U) ¶1. (SBU) Summary: On August 8 during the Pacific Armies Commanders' Conference (PACC) in Sydney, Australia General George Casey Jr., Chief of Staff, United States Army and Lieutenant General John Brown III, Commander, U.S. Army of the Pacific met with Lieutenant General Nguyen Huu Kham, Deputy Chief of the General Staff for the Peoples' Army of Vietnam (PAVN). The meeting was a cordial, professional exchange that covered a range of topics including: COUNTER terrorism, regional relations, bilateral military relations and security cooperation, fullest possible accounting, consequences of war and high level visits. Lt Gen Kham also invited the Chief of Staff to visit Vietnam sometime during 2008. End Summary. ¶2. (SBU) On August 8, during the Pacific Armies Commanders' Conference (PACC) in Sydney, Australia, General George Casey Jr., Chief of Staff, United States Army and Lieutenant General John Brown III, Commander, U.S. Army of the Pacific, met with Lieutenant General Nguyen Huu Kham, Deputy Chief of the General Staff for the Peoples' Army of Vietnam. It was a cordial, professional meeting that covered a variety of topics. General Casey thanked Lt Gen Kham for attending PACC and noted that participation by Vietnam enhanced the overall value of PACC and sent a positive signal to the entire region. Lt Gen Kham thanked General Casey and Australia's Lt Gen Leahy for hosting PACC, for inviting Lt Gen Kham to the conference, and for the opportunity to interact with the other regional Army Chiefs. General Casey and Lt Gen Kham then reviewed several issues concerning the bilateral military relationship. ================= Counter TERRORISM ================= ¶3. (SBU) General Casey noted there had been discussions about TERRORISM during PACC and asked about TERRORISM and the counter-terrorism (CT) situation in Vietnam. Lt Gen Kham responded that the Government of Vietnam is against terrorism in any form. He noted that Vietnam currently does not face an active terrorist threat, but he also said that Vietnam's leaders must anticipate potential future threats, be able to prevent terrorists from entering the country, and also be able to respond when necessary. ======================= Regional Relations & CT ======================= ¶4. (SBU) General Casey then asked about Vietnam's relations with its neighbors and about cooperative CT efforts. Lt Gen Kham replied that Vietnam's relations with its neighbors are good, as are its relations with all ASEAN states. He said that ASEAN holds conferences to facilitate the sharing of intelligence on possible terrorist threats. He also said that Vietnam has several bilateral agreements to share CT information as well. ¶5. (SBU) LTG Brown then mentioned that Vietnam continues to take an active role in regional issues. He cited Vietnam's hosting of the Asia-Pacific Military Medicine Conference (APMMC) in May 2005 as an example of this effort. That APPMC meeting addressed various pandemic threats, such as Avian Influenza (AI). He noted that PAVN participants at the APMMC made many presentations on this topic. He concluded by saying that since that time PAVN representatives have participated in almost all AI regional conferences. ============================ Bilateral Military Relations ============================ HANOI 00001420 002 OF 003 ¶6. (SBU) General Casey then asked Lt Gen Kham for his thoughts on the pace of United States-Vietnam bilateral military relations. Lt Gen Kham observed that he has seen many new developments in mil-mil relations in recent years. This has resulted in greater mutual understanding in many fields. He opined that this is a good sign for the overall defense relationship, and especially of that with the U.S. Pacific Command. General Casey agreed and noted that both sides could go as fast or as slow as Vietnam can manage comfortably. General Casey also noted that it is important to put the past behind us. While agreeing with General Casey's comments, Lt Gen Kham said that when the two countries' Presidents met (in November 2006 and again in June 2007),they also agreed to focus on the future. ¶7. (SBU) Lt Gen Kham then commented on bilateral military exchanges and requested that General Casey consider increasing the number of military exchanges with Vietnam, including with the Army. Lt Gen Kham said that he was especially appreciative of the International Military Education and Training (IMET) program and the military medical cooperation thus far. He suggested that both sides increase cooperation for limited-scale exercises in hydrometeorology and for search and rescue. =========================== Fullest Possible Accounting =========================== ¶8. (SBU) General Casey thanked Lt Gen Kham for his recommendations and also for Vietnam's ongoing support for the fullest possible accounting mission. He noted how important this mission is to the people of the United States. Lt Gen Kham echoed the importance of this mission and said that Vietnam considers the fullest possible accounting a humanitarian issue. He said that Vietnam is working hard to facilitate the quickest possible resolution of this issue. He noted that the sooner these cases can be resolved, the less suffering there would be for families of the missing. Lt Gen Kham also mentioned his appreciation for the efforts the United States has made to help resolve Vietnam's own MIA cases. =================== Consequences of War =================== ¶9. (SBU) Lt Gen Kham then turned to the issue of dioxin/Agent Orange (AO). He noted recent developments by the United States for supporting the remediation of dioxin/AO contaminated sites. He said that there were many contaminated sites in Vietnam, which will require much work. He was grateful for the United States' effort thus far and requested that General Casey ask the U.S. Government to increase the budget to facilitate resolution of this issue. ¶10. (SBU) Lt Gen Kham also noted the positive cooperation by the U.S. Government on unexploded ordinance (UXO) and de-mining. He welcomed this but stated that more assistance would speed the resolution of this problem. ===================== Invitation to Vietnam ===================== ¶11. (SBU) Lt Gen Kham then concluded by inviting General Casey to visit Vietnam any time next year. General Casey replied that he had not made next year's schedule yet, but would look into making a visit. ¶12. (SBU) Comment: This meeting of senior military leaders reaffirmed the positive evolution of bilateral military relations and the shared goal of promoting closer military HANOI 00001420 003 OF 003 relations in the future. There were no contentious issues identified in this discussion, but many areas of potential cooperation were not addressed (including peace operations/ PKO, and security assistance sales and training). Vietnam's Deputy Chief of the General Staff was optimistic, but careful in exploring areas for cooperation and future initiatives between both forces. MARINE