U.S. Admiral visits Vietnam as military ties continue inching forward

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Associated Press Worldstream
January 22, 2007 Monday 11:04 AM GMT
SECTION: INTERNATIONAL NEWS
LENGTH: 300 words
HEADLINE: U.S. Admiral visits Vietnam as military ties continue inching forward
DATELINE: HANOI Vietnam

The U.S. and Vietnamese militaries cooperate more on search and rescue missions, storm forecasting and disaster relief, the commander of the U.S. Pacific Fleet said Thursday.
During a two-day visit to Vietnam, Adm. Gary Roughead said the fledgling relationship between the two former foes is moving forward step by step.

"My visit here to Vietnam is to discuss with the Vietnamese Navy ways that we can cooperate and enhance the relationship that we have," Roughead said after meeting with his Vietnamese counterpart, Vice Adm. Nguyen Van Hien, commander of the Vietnamese Navy.

Roughead said the United States had no interest in developing its own presence in Vietnam. "As I make clear everywhere that I go, I have no desire for basing in Southeast Asia," he said.

The U.S. Navy hopes to cooperate with Vietnam on areas of common interest, such as predicting dangerous typhoons that slam the Vietnamese coast each year, Roughead said.

Last year alone, more than 500 people were killed by the series of storms that ravaged Vietnam during typhoon season.

The relationship between the two militaries has been growing closer in recent years. Last year, former Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld visited Hanoi, reciprocating a visit to the U.S. by former Vietnamese defense chief Pham Van Tra.

Several U.S. Navy ships have also made symbolic port calls to Vietnam over the last few years.
Roughead praised Vietnam for its recent decision to allow U.S. Navy ships to help participate in searches for the remains of Americans missing from the Vietnam War.

Of the roughly 1,800 American troops unaccounted for from the war, roughly 450 were lost at sea or over water.

The U.S. military has been conducting extensive searches for the missing for years now, but U.S. Navy ships have yet to participate in those efforts.