In his native Russian, General Volkogonov wrote of his efforts to help resolve the fate of American POWs. "I am not certain that we have fully clarified everything. I know that quite a few documents were destroyed. However, one document, probably sensational, is still in storage. I have a copy of it. It's content is as follows: at the end of the 1960s the KGB (external foreign intelligence) was given the task of "delivering informed Americans to the USSR for intelligence gathering purposes." When I found this sensational paper in a "special pouch," I immediately went to Y. M. Primakov (Director of Foreign Intelligence). He called in his people. They brought in a copy of this project signed; it seems to me, by Semichastny (I will explain). For a long time, there was a search underway to find traces of this task. These, the traces, as I had expected "were not found." They said that the task had not been accomplished. So how did this happen in fact? The regime was such that one could speculate on the wildest of variants. This remained a secret, which I could not penetrate. I also did not report this to my much-esteemed Ambassador, M. Toon. I am speaking about this now in the hope that these notes will make it into my book Reflections. (Note: in the text the word Reflections is underlined.)"
General Volkogonov's notes continued: "History, especially Soviet history, is full of secrets, and very often evil. With the exception of this incident, I can say that I have done something in order to raise the mysterious curtain from them...."
On November 9th, 1998, in an article by Bill Gertz, the Washington Times broke the story of the document's existence. According to the article, "Moscow is refusing to turn over a secret KGB document suggesting captured Americans were taken to the Soviet Union in the late 1960s for "intelligence-gathering purposes..."
The article continued, "The Russian government has told U.S. officials the plan was never carried out, and Moscow recently turned down U.S. government requests to study the intelligence document, saying it is classified and will not be released, the officials said...."
Confusion - In the days that followed the Washington Times Nov. 9th article, some confusion arose. The Russians first claimed that the document did not exist, then stated the document would not be released because it is classified. Further reporting indicated that Russian officials admitted the existence of the plan to transfer American POWs to the former Soviet Union but insisted the plan was never carried out."
"Never Carried Out" - Helloooooooo - During the Vietnam War, the Soviets provided North Vietnam with advisors, troops, supplies, munitions, and aircraft. U.S. airmen were routinely dodging SAM missiles and destroying their launch sites. These were the same SAM missile sites defending the former Soviet Union. Who doesn't think the Soviets had a passing interest in the technology that could easily destroy their defenses and the men who operated that technology? Were the Soviets pouring millions of rubles into the North Vietnamese war effort with no expectation for a return on their investment? Hardly!
Currently, the United States government (translation - the taxpayer) is providing billions of dollars of aide to the Russian government. It is the opinion of the National Alliance of Families that all such aide be stopped until the Russian government provides this and all other documentation relating to American POWs from the Korean War, Cold War and War in Indochina. It is time we get some return on our dollars.
What The Russians Are Saying - The following is excerpted from a Russian News Itar-Tass article dated November 18th. "..."The U.S. is especially interested in a specific document in the archives of the former KGB, which is allegedly connected with the use by the Soviet foreign intelligence late in the 1960s of Americans, taken prisoner in Vietnam..."
"...The Washington Times newspaper reported on Tuesday that last October U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright raised the question of a possibility of familiarizing American experts with this document in a letter to Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov."
"However, the Russian side replied in the negative, referring to its secret nature. The U.S. delegation which participated in a regular meeting of the bilateral commission in Moscow last week received approximately the same reply...."
National Intelligence Estimate - released July 1998 discussed the possibility of transfer of Vietnam era POWs to the Soviet Union. According to the report, "a few reports of transfers of U.S. POWs to Russia and other countries are unexplained and the books remain open."
Everything Old Is New Again - Between 1992 and 1996, both former NSA intelligence analysts Jerry Mooney and former Czech General Jan Senja testified that American POWs from Vietnam were transferred to the Soviet Union, during the Vietnam War.
General Senja testified he handled the transfer of over 200 American POWs, to the Soviet Union. Mr. Mooney testified that based on intercepted intelligence, American airmen were indeed transferred to the Soviet Union. Additionally, he provided the Senate Select Committee on POW/MIA Affairs a list of men he believed, based on intelligence available, were "Moscow Bound."
The information provided by both men were summarily debunked by either committee members or those within the Defense Department, charged with investigating the POW/MIA issue.
Mindset to Debunk - The following is excerpted from a 1990 letter, written by an employee of the Defense Intelligence Agency to the one POW/MIA family member. "...The assertions Mr. Mooney makes in his affidavit are absurd... he could not have accumulated a private list of PWs, much less the more detailed notes which he now claims. I also find it difficult to believe that more than 20 years later he could recreate from memory, some 400 pages from these alleged files...."
"...You should also be aware that there is not now nor has there ever been, a list of Americans designated as "MB" or Moscow Bound." Further, there is no intelligence whatsoever to indicate that any U.S. PWs were ever moved form Indochina to the Soviet Union."
Maybe this DIA employee wasn't really looking for the information or listening when it was handed to him. We think it is time for another look at the information provided by General Senja and Jerry Mooney.
Let's Not Forget - In June of 1992, Russian President Boris Yeltsin arrived in the U.S. making a stunning claim about American POWs transferred to the Soviet Union. During an interview with NBC's Dateline, Yeltsin stated - "Our archives have shown this to be true. Some of them were transferred to the territory of the former U.S.S.R. and were kept in labor camps. We don't have complete data and can only surmise that some of them may still be alive."
With this statement, the Bush White House panicked. First they claimed that Dateline had translated the Russian Presidents remarks incorrectly. NBC verified the translation. Then, the famous unnamed source surfaced inferring that perhaps the Russian President had too much Vodka on the trip over and mispoke.
Finally, in his memoirs former Secretary of State James Baker stated he advised Yeltsin to speak about POWs before Congress, as it would make a favorable impression. It would also increase chances of a favorable vote on the issue of aide to the struggling Russian Republic.
Yeltsin made the mistake of thinking the U.S. government was really interested in POWs and spoke to the media prior to his appearance before Congress. We believe Yeltsin spoke the truth during his Dateline interview. With the subsequent debunking of his statement by unnamed White House sources, Yeltsin got the message -- Just because we ask about POWs doesn't mean we want the answers.
From United Press International - Nov. 10 - "The Pentagon now says the Vietnam War began in 1955, not in 1961 as the military has long claimed. The official change was made at the request of the family of a Massachusetts Air Force sergeant, who was killed in Saigon in the 1950s, to have his name inscribed on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial. Under the new rule, the earliest qualifying date for names to be added to the black granite monument in Washington, D.C., will be Nov. 1, 1955."
"An emotional ceremony, attended by Defense Undersecretary Rudy DeLeon, was held Monday in Stoneham, Mass., in honor of Technical Sgt. Richard Fitzgibbon Jr., who was shot to death by a deranged Air Force crewman in June 1956. Fitzgibbon was a military adviser to South Vietnam's government at the time..."
"Fitzgibbon's son, Marine Lance Cpl. Richard Fitzgibbon III, died in Vietnam in 1965, and the Pentagon's decision to add the father's name will make the pair the only father-son honorees on the monument...."
This Should Give You Nightmares - A recent wire service story stated the Senator John Kerry was considering a Presidential run in 2000. Picture this, Election Day 2000 you enter the voting booth and your choices are John Kerry for the Democrats or John McCain for the Republicans. Scary thought!
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