Sen. Carper reacts to his visit to Vietnam
Just this past week President Obama visited Vietnam and Senator Tom Carper accompanied him. But this was not Carper’s first time in the Southeast Asian country. Senator Carper is not only a Vietnam War Veteran, but as a U.S. legislator, he also made a number of trips to the country over the past 25 years. Which is why the President invited him on the trip this time around.
47 ABC spoke with Senator Carper about the reason for the trip and his personal experience and he says, “They like us more than we like us, you could feel it everywhere we went, just warmly welcomed, they found out we were Americans they loved us.”
Senator Carper says it was an eye opening trip especially since he has history with the country. Carper tells 47 ABC, “I told the Vietnamese people we’ve traveled together a long ways – and it’s been a hard trip it’s been a very difficult trip but it’s been worth it and how we have a biding future with us and I think we do too.”
During the Vietnam War, then Captain Carper, was a navel mission commander who had 3 tours in Southeast Asia. In 1991, he was Congressman Carper and he flew to Vietnam in a different capacity. The effort was to find several missing American soldiers still missing from the Vietnam conflict.
Senator Carper tells 47 ABC, “I had a number of veteran organizations come up to me when I was a congressman in 91, why don’t you do something about this you’re a vet, a Vietnam veteran, look at all these pictures and everything, do something.”
In the early 90’s the way Carper remembers it, the United States had no relations with the country. Under the administration of President George Bush Sr., Carper presented himself to Vietnam’s leaders as a representative looking to normalize relations. That was the first of many visits.
Senator Carper tells 47 ABC, “each year we move a little further down that road map. We had a wonderful visit, at the end of the visit a fellow came up to me an older man and he said to me, you probably don’t remember me but in August of 1991 I was with our new chairman, and I was with you in that room where you presented the road maps to normalizing relation and he said we’ve come a long way haven’t we and I said indeed we have.”
Now Senator Carper says the next step is up to Vietnam. Carper tells 47 ABC, “In order to join this trading group they’ve got to get rid of the trade barriers and have to phase them out over a period of years.”
Senator Carper tells 47 ABC that the president announced during their trip, that he was lifting the arms embargo as well as our seals embargo, meaning we can now sell them weapons. Senator Carper also says the Vietnamese don’t want to be dependent on Russia, they don’t want to be just dependent on China, he said frankly, Vietnam wants to be allied with the U.S.
