Timothy Lieser, senior advisor at the US Senate Appropriations Committee (Photo: VNA)Washington (VNA) – Although Vietnam and the UShave seen encouraging outcomes of cooperation in dealing with war aftermath,there are much for them to do in the field, said Timothy Lieser, senior advisorat the US Senate Appropriations Committee.
In an interview with Vietnam News Agency’s correspondents inthe US, Lieser, who is also foreign policy assistant at Senator Patrick Leahy’sOffice, said he understood the war pain through what he witnessed during hisvisits to Vietnam.
Like some US Senators such as Patrick Leahy and late SenatorJohn McCain, he saw the need to work to support both sides in overcomingconsequences of the war and help Vietnamese people who still are suffering fromthe war pain.
Lieser shared difficulties in the beginning as not everyAmerican understands the huge damage that the war left in Vietnam as well asthe significance of reconciliation.
Furthermore, some members of the US administration even opposedthe implementation of the work, and argued that it was necessary to focus on USmatters and the demands of US war veterans rather than that of other country.
However, that was the right time to help the community andUS people to get better understanding in historical matters between the twocountries as well as the need to put aside the past to build trust andbilateral cooperation, he stated.
According to Lieser, in early 1980s, there were prospectsand opportunities to collaborate with Vietnam in the field as bilateral trustwas improved and projects to support Vietnam were launched.
US Senator Patrick Leahy paid great attention to the workand ensured that there was always budget for programmes in Vietnam.
Through years, more and more people have come to know the post-warcatastrophe that both nations have been suffering, and supported the work that thoselike Senator Leahy have been doing over the past 30 years.
According to Lieser, over the past years, the US and Vietnamhas reached encouraging results in a number of issues such as searching for USand Vietnamese soldiers missing in action.
The US side has supported the Vietnamese Government inimproving technique to search for remains of Vietnamese soldiers, dealing withunexploded ordnances and assisting the disabled people in areas contaminated withAgent Orange/dioxin and those who get injured by leftover bombs and mines.
However, there are still much to do and the two sides shouldcontinue cooperate with each other to further promote assistance programmes in Vietnam,including the decontamination of dioxin a Bien Hoa airport.
Lierser said that the US considers dealing with waraftermath as a priority in the relations with Vietnam along with otherpriorities in trade, security cooperation, environment, and climate change, asstated by US leaders during their visits to Vietnam.
The US will continue implementing its commitments to assisting Vietnam inovercoming war consequences, he added.-VNA
VNA
