Veterans Groups Fight a Final Vietnam Battle--the Trade Embargo

Veterans organizations and families of missing Vietnam War-era servicemen mounted a last-ditch effort Wednesday to dissuade President Clinton from lifting the trade embargo against Vietnam--even as Clinton confirmed that his decision is imminent.

In brief remarks at the White House before meeting with congressional leaders, Clinton insisted that he has still not decided whether to lift the 2-decade-old embargo but will do so within “the next couple of days.”

Administration officials and congressional sources have been saying for some time that he will end the trade ban.

Only the timing of the move has remained in doubt as the President’s political advisers have tried to assess the level of opposition to the move.

Veterans organizations and family members, who want a fuller accounting of the missing servicemen before the embargo is lifted, have been very vocal in their disapproval.

But their opposition has failed to produce the groundswell of criticism from other quarters that some White House advisers had been anticipating--and to which Clinton is vulnerable politically, since he avoided military service during the war.

“A lot of people just seem to be getting tired of the issue,” said a congressional source, adding that his office has been surprised by the muted reaction last week when the Senate recommended in a non-binding resolution that Clinton lift the embargo.

The source said his Senate office received the expected protests from the leaders of POW-MIA family groups but only six calls from constituents expressing an opinion about the 62-38 vote.

Another source close to the issue said senators favoring an end to the embargo were urging Clinton to act swiftly after the Senate vote to take advantage of the “political cover” that it was meant to afford him.

“It will never be an easy decision. But on the other hand, it will never be easier than it is now,” the source added.

That impression was reinforced by the congressional leaders who met with Clinton at the White House and said afterward that they urged him to act quickly so that U.S. companies eager to trade with Vietnam are not preempted by European and Japanese competitors.

Companies have been pressuring the Administration to lift the embargo, which outlawed all American trade with the Southeast Asian nation after the war.

Hanoi too has eagerly sought renewed relations to help boost its economy.

“We ought to look . . . at the potential market. To delay and delay and delay, we’re simply going to be preempted by others,” House Minority Leader Robert H. Michel (R-Ill.) said.

“We need to put the war behind us,” added Sen. Thad Cochran (R-Miss.), expressing what appeared to be the bipartisan consensus of the lawmakers who conferred with Clinton. “I hope he will go forward. I hope the decision will be favorable.”

While acknowledging privately that they may have been slow in organizing their opposition, family groups and veterans organizations said they will redouble their efforts over the next few days to persuade Clinton that the embargo should not be lifted until Hanoi does more to account for the 2,200 servicemen officially listed as missing in Southeast Asia.

A spokesman for the American Legion said his organization is reassessing its strategy after the Senate vote and is urging its 3.1 million members to call or send telegrams to the White House protesting the apparent decision.

The National League of Families of American Prisoners and Missing in Southeast Asia, the nation’s largest POW-MIA family group, also appealed to Clinton to withhold his decision until the group can visit Hanoi to determine whether Vietnam is cooperating “as fully as possible” in the effort to account for missing Americans.

“The Administration has repeatedly urged us to go to Vietnam and see for ourselves” if the Vietnamese are being fully cooperative, League Executive Director Ann Mills Griffiths said. “Now we are asking the Vietnamese if we can do just that and . . . we hope that (Clinton) will not undercut our trip” by lifting the embargo before the mission has returned.

In making its case for lifting the embargo, the Administration has contended that, although 2,200 servicemen are still officially listed as missing, only a dozen or so cases actually remain unresolved.