In a visit heavy with symbolism, the defense minister of a Vietnam united under Communism came to the Pentagon and State Department on Monday for the first time. Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld greeted his Vietnamese counterpart, Pham Van Tra, on the Pentagon steps, and the two held a working lunch. They discussed “ways to promote security cooperation between the two countries and to build on successes in de-mining, disaster relief, search and rescue and medical assistance,” according to a Pentagon statement. Their session was not the first between American and Vietnamese defense ministers after the war that claimed 58,000 American lives and an estimated three million Vietnamese ended in 1975. Former Defense Secretary William S. Cohen went to Vietnam in March 2000 for a three-day visit to develop economic, political and even military ties. Full Story
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