President Obama Lifts U.S. Arms Embargo on Vietnam

Less than half a century ago, Americans were fighting and dying in Vietnam. Then, there was a ban on selling arms to Vietnam. Now, President Obama is making his first visit to the communist country, and that has all changed.

FOX’s Jon Decker has more from the White House:

The President during a news conference in Hanoi said the decision to lift the arms embargo on Vietnam was not made in response to China’s territorial moves in the South China Sea.

Instead, he said, it was based on the Administration’s desire to complete the process of moving toward normalization with Vietnam.

The President said that while the arms embargo will be lifted, the sale of different types of arms will be dependent on the progress Vietnam makes on human rights.

The arms ban was originally imposed on Vietnam during the Vietnam War. U.S. lawmakers and human rights activists had urged the President to press for greater human rights freedoms before lifting the arms embargo.

At the White House, Jon Decker, FOX News.