THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, May 27, 1995 TAG: 9505260027
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A12 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Editorial
LENGTH: Short : 49 lines
If Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., and Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., can't prevail on the government to normalize relations with Vietnam, it probably can't be done.
The two men fought in Vietnam. Kerry came home to help found Vietnam Veterans Against the War. McCain's homecoming was delayed by six years in a Vietnamese POW camp. They come from opposite ends of he political spectrum, yet they agree that normalization is overdue and in America's best interest. They believe the issue has been a political football for too long.
Both have interested themselves in the question of missing Americans. It's been alleged that some POWs are still held captive 20 years after the war. But the evidence is unpersuasive. In every war, some soldiers are never adequately accounted for. But Kerry and McCain believe Vietnam has made an extraordinary effort in recent years to account for those still missing in Vietnam.
The senators are urging President Clinton to establish full diplomatic relations with our former enemy. They give him needed political cover. His reluctance is understandable. The issue remains touchy. And since Clinton opposed the war and avoided service, everything he does with regard to Vietnam is fraught with political peril.
Sen. Bob Dole who hopes to wrest the presidency from Clinton in 1996 is a wounded World War II vet and is not above exploiting the Vietnam issue for political advantage. He and other lawmakers want to slow the momentum for normalization.
Dole is wrong, McCain and Kerry are right and Clinton should take the risk. At this late date, refusing to normalize is less about substance than symbolism. Having lost in Vietnam, part of us wants to keep teaching Hanoi a lesson.
Ironically, however, we are in danger of giving ourselves yet another self-inflicted Vietnam wound. The communists we fought are dead or dying. Today's Vietnam is trying haltingly to become what we hoped it would 30 years ago. It is turning to a market economy and a more open form of government.
We can help that evolution and help ourselves by establishing closer relations and increasing the commerce that flows between us. Vietnam is a rapidly emerging market and if we don't participate, plenty of other investors will. We don't have to be friends with Vietnam, but it is time to stop the enmity. Closer ties could also help to heal the wounds. by CNB