Vietnamese Leader Criticized During U.S. Visit

During Vietnamese President Nguyen Minh Triet's visit to Washington, he came under criticism by lawmakers and Vietnamese immigrant protesters, while being pressured on "human rights and freedom and democracy" by President Bush. The issue of "Agent Orange" defoliant sprayed during the Vietnam War also came up during his visit, and was mentioned by Russian President Vladimir Putin as well, perhaps not coincidentally.

According to CBS News, Republican representative Ed Royce stated that there must be a "stop" to Vietnam's "conduct" regarding human rights before relations between the U.S. and Vietnam can be improved. Another Republican, Roy Blunt, claimed to have "pressed hard" for additional details from the Vietnamese leader. The CBS News report also indicated that for his part, Vietnam's President said he was "determined" that the issue would not harm relations between the two countries in general.

CBS News also reported that Bush told Minh Triet that society is "enriched" by political and religious freedom, while congressmen took the Vietnamese leader "to task" regarding alleged human rights violations. Bush also spoke of how it is "important" for allies of the U.S. to be committed to freedom, human rights, and democracy. Additionally, it indicated that Vietnamese immigrant protesters outside the White House waved old South Vietnamese flags and banners referring to the Vietnamese leader as a "criminal."

Meanwhile, an Associated Press news story carried by WRAL reported that Russian President Vladimir Putin referred to the war in Vietnam was being worse than purges ordered by former Russian leader Joseph Stalin. He pointed out that thousands of kilometers of Vietnam were sprayed with chemicals (like "Agent Orange") and seven times more bombs were dropped there than were dropped in World War II.

The Reuters news agency reported that the subject of "Agent Orange" chemical spraying also came up in talks between the Vietnamese leader and U.S. congressmen, indicating that the government of Vietnam is concerned about effects the chemical continues to have. It pointed out that the defoliant contained dioxin, which is among the most toxic compounds.

According to Wikipedia, the defoliant was sprayed for ten years during the Vietnam War, and led to lawsuits against its manufacturers. Many U.S. veterans affected by it received a settlement of $1200 from this, but accuse the government of doing little to help them. However, it indicates that no Vietnamese people have received any compensation for its effects.

Sources:

1. CBS News,
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/06/22/politics/main2967996.shtml
2. WRAL, http://www.wral.com/news/national_world/world/story/1522372/
3. Reuters,
http://today.reuters.com/news/articleinvesting.aspx?type=bondsNews&storyID=2007-06-22T181954Z_01_N22464745_RTRIDST_0_USA-VIETNAM-UPDATE-2.XML&pageNumber=1&imageid=&cap=&sz=13&WTModLoc=InvArt-C1-ArticlePage1
4. Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agent_Orange