WikiLeaks cables bare secrets of U.S.-Laotian relations
http://www.miamiherald.com/2011/04/22/2181099/wikileaks-cables-bare-secrets.html

WASHINGTON — The 2007 U.S. arrest of the late Hmong leader Vang Pao hurt him, but it did wonders for U.S.-Lao relations, classified State Department cables show.

Vang Pao's arrest prompted widespread dismay among Hmong-Americans; at one point, an estimated 3,000 demonstrated outside a federal courthouse in Sacramento, Calif.

Lao officials were "pleased and surprised" by the arrest of the man who'd long denounced their regime, a U.S. diplomat reported. Suddenly, Lao military officers began talking. Bureaucratic barriers shrank. Cross-cultural exchanges became feasible.

"Since the arrests, we have made a surprising amount of progress in areas of our relationship with the Lao government where we had previously experienced difficulty," Mary Grace McGeehan, who was then the U.S. charge d'affaires in Laos, wrote in a June 22, 2007, memo.

The turnaround was such that some Western expatriates in the Laotian capital of Vientiane "speculated to us that the arrests were a positive gesture toward the Lao government by the U.S.," McGeehan reported.

PEACE wrote on 25^th Apr, 2011 at 2:43am:


He and his group had been acquiring weapons and explosives with the intention of planting bombs at government buildings in Vientiane.

The U.S. arrested him because it is illegal to plot terrorist activities against a country (like Laos) with whom the U.S. has friendly relations.

I'd hope none of you here would support such terrorist activities.  It would just make things worse - not better.

Old Man

Larb Dip wrote on 25^th Apr, 2011 at 6:47am:


Yes.

But that war is long over.

It's time to move on.

Something he never got.


Old Man

I aslo supported Lao government social economic development, peace and stability. No need for war and conflict. Now Vietnam, Laos, U.S government has closer ties and cooperation.


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For those of you thinking The American administrator have done goodies to us....this will make you think again...

http://axisoflogic.com/artman/publish/Article_62409.shtml

I like everything else about America. In every country there's pro and con. What I don't like is their foreign policy, war and conflict. But we not in a position of power. We are just civilians.


Tee wrote on 26^th Apr, 2011 at 2:34am:

I don't know what General Vang Pao was thinking. Even if he succeed he still got Vietnam to worry about. Its just a suicide mission. He'll not accomplish anything except creating instability and loss of life. Good thing the U.S government arrested him before he can do anything.


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