President Clinton's decision last week to lift the trade embargo against Vietnam may be unpopular, but it is the right move.

Clinton said he is lifting the embargo because of Vietnam's cooperation in searching for the 2,238 Americans still classified as "missing in action" from the Vietnam War. And he hopes the action will encourage the Vietnamese to keep helping the United States.

While Clinton's justifications sound noble, the plain truth is that opening trade with Vietnam opens the doors to a potentially lucrative market. American companies such as General Electric and Boeing all applaud Clinton's decision since the move could help end the economic woes they face at home.

There is money to be made in Vietnam and after 19 years, little reason exists to keep America from benefiting in a new economic market. And considering that Japan is already knocking on Vietnam's door, it doesn't hurt to be first.

But lifting the embargo is also a sound political move. Clinton is expanding his foreign policy goal of opening ties in the "new world order." It would seem only natural that he would want to re-establish some kind of relationship with Vietnam considering the war ended almost two decades ago.

To the critics, it's not as if total political and diplomatic relations with Vietnam are being restored. The Trading with the Enemy Act will still remain in place, and diplomatic relations will not be restored, at least for the time. Gen. William C. Westmoreland, former commander of U.S. forces in Vietnam, supported lifting the embargo as a way "to put this divisive and difficult era behind us." Maybe Westmoreland has a point. It is time to heal the wounds the Vietnam War left in our country.

Nineteen years is a long time to dwell in the past. In a world of rapid changes, the policies of the United States must not be left behind.