VZCZCXRO5386
RR RUEHHM
DE RUEHHI #1420/01 2211102
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 091102Z AUG 07
FM AMEMBASSY HANOI
TO RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHINGTON DC//ISA/DPMO//
INFO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 6045
RUEHHM/AMCONSUL HO CHI MINH 3508
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHINGTON DC
RHMFISS/CJCS WASHINGTON DC//J2/J3/J5//
RHEFDIA/DIA WASHINGTON DC//DHO-3//
RHMFIUU/CDR USPACOM HONOLULU HI//J00/J2/J3/J5//
RHHMHAA/COMPACFLT PEARL HARBOR HI
RHMFIUU/CDR JPAC HICKAM AFB HI
RHMFIUU/CDRUSARPAC FT SHAFTER HI
RHEFDIA/DIA WASHINGTON DC//SAFE//
RHMFIUU/NGA FT BELVOIR VA
RHMFIUU/NGA HQ BETHESDA MD

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