Trade Talks Bring Vietnam to America ; Vietnamese Prime Minister Phan Van Khai Was Welcomed at the White House Tuesday, in the First Visit of Its Kind since 1957

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On his US tour this week, Vietnamese Prime Minister Phan Van Khai has presided over the purchase of four Boeing jetliners. He's shaken the hand of Microsoft chief Bill Gates and conferred with Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld. Tuesday was the visit's topper: He was ushered into the Oval Office for a meeting with President Bush himself.

So, what was the outcome of that war, again?

Thirty years after the end of American involvement in Vietnam, that long-ago conflict remains a divisive factor in US politics.

Vietnam itself isn't Switzerland: It allows little free speech, and religious expression has been severely curtailed. Some Vietnamese refugees in the …