AN 'ALL-PURPOSE ATTACK' ON POW ACTIVISTS

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP90-00965R000100290008-5
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: December 20, 2011
• Sequence Number: 8
• Publication Date: January 18, 1986
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2011/12/20: CIA-RDP90-00965R000100290008-5 STAT
AEI
WASHINGTON
18 January
POST
1986
An `All-Purpose Attack' on POW Activists
One can only wonder what impelled The Post to publish
"MIA Hunts by Citizens Annoy U.S." [Jan. 71, an all-pur-
pose attack by government officials on five POW activists
that did not include any effort at balance or determining
opposing viewpoints.
Unnamed "interest groups " are accused of spreading
"nusinformation" that there are live FOWs in Indochina.
Lt. Gen. u ene ighe stated on the Dec. 15 edition of
'60 Minutes that "Usable roo a rigorous goverriment
definition) existed during his 1 7 -81 tenure as director of
the Defense Intelligence Agency that five prisoners o war
were being held in Indochina., Now, with the cite gene
data base having more than doubled since then, U.S. offi-
cials say the proof isn't there. This is the si icant pro-
Tess" that the administration claims?
With the administration having backed off the conclusion
that had been reached by 1981, it is a wonder that it can
claim to be in "the best position we've ever been in to re-
solve the issue." It is evident from the article (with its ex-
clusive focus on crash-site excavations, site surveys, etc.)
that the only thing our negotiators are resolving is the re-
turn of remains, not resolution of the live POW question.
Private groups of Americans are blamed for "trash-
ing" crash sites; the fact is that this practice has long
been carried out by Indochinese citizens, without the
benefit of American encouragement. It is responsibly
estimated, for example, that as many as 70 percent of all
remains not in Vietnamese government warehouses
may have been secreted away by villagers hoping for
favorable immigration status.
The bulk of the article is devoted to an attack on Mark
Smith and Melvin McIntire, two highly decorated Green
Berets who have instituted a lawsuit alleging the existence
of perhaps 200 live POWs. The Post uncritically quotes
extensively from an anonymous two-page "fact sheet" that
various U.S. officials have been circulating.
The "fact sheet" contends that the intelligence de-
veloped by Smith and McIntire is hearsay. "60 Minutes"
rioted that two Thai officers slipped into a POW compound
in Laos and hotographe ive encan POWs. An 2 ida-
vjt was given in the lawsuit by another-
not er gw o as
adopted an alias to protect his i entity. usmessman who
has traveled widely in Laos has seen, photographed and or
s ken with rhaps 100 American MIAs. Some hearsay!
Smith and McIntire state that they have more than 40
names of five POWs. The "fact sheet" counters that per-
haps as many as four names don't correlate. Smith swore
he had about 50 agents in place; the "fact sheet" argues
that three of them have given unreliable information.
The U.S. officials complain that refugees, allegedly
motivated by promises of rewards, have identified as a
captive "Morgan J. Donahue, an Air Force crewman
who was involved in a mid-air plane collsion.... U.S. au-
thorities say that Donahue was almost certainly killed."
What's the basis of this certainty? He wasn't killed in the
collision. He is classified as a Category 2 MIA, "Sus-
pect-Enemy Knowledge," not as a Category 4 or 5,
which would be appropriate for a collision casualty.
Donahue's father, who has a graduate degree in crimi-
nology and a substantial background in security, was
able to interview his son's pilot a week after the inci-
dent. He learned that the pilot, upon regaining con-
sciousness after the nighttime collision, ascertained that
no one else was still on board the aircraft. He ejected
and saw other descending parachutes below him.
Another major attack was launched on Col. Jack Bai-
ley, president of Operation Rescue (the name refers to
the boat people, not to POWs). It commences with the
demonstrably untrue insinuation that this highly deco-
rated veteran is engaged in a "rip-off." In fact, Bailey
has longstanding ties with Indochinese resistance
groups, who have on occasion smuggled out hard evi-
dence of live POWs, most recently a photogrpah taken
in 1985 and positively identified by a family member.
The officials assert that Bailey turned over remains.,
which an "official analysis . . . revealed ... were a mixes
ture of human and pig bone fragments." The "official
analysis" came from the Central Identification Laboratory:
which is presently under investigation for unsound forensic
techniques and for suspected manipulation of evidence. -
Operation Rescue insists it turned over both a complete
skull and a partially complete skeleton. Additionally, this
coalition identified a host of discrepancies in both the re=
port and the follow-up correspondence with the Pentagon.
The Pentagon refused to answer to these comments, ex,
cept to refuse our demand for an independent examinatiort'.
of the remains. Instead, it orchestrated a campaign of innu?:
endo in veterans' media and other constituencies where
Operation Rescue might be expected to find support.
The officials omit to mention that, of the four sets of
identified remains from Laos tendered before 1985, three
were turned in by Operation Rescue in conjunction with
Lao resistance forces. On June 8, 1985, five complete.
skeletons were turned over in Hawaii, but CIL refuses t-
confirm or deny identifications.
Overall, the article seems timed to blunt the impact of`
the filing of 13 new affidavits in the Smith and McIntire
case. The new allegations include:
^ In 1981, a rescue mission was considered in the-
Oval Office.
^ Of a National Security Agency listing of 300 POWs,
assembled from intercepted Vietnamese communica
tions, only 5 percent of them were returned in 1973.
^ DIA disregarded a considerable body of intelligence
yolunteere from Hmong refugees.
Wouldn't this material have made a better front-page
story than the petulance of U.S. officials?
-William T. Bennett,
The writer is secretary of the National Vietnam Veterans
Coalition.
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2011/12/20: CIA-RDP90-00965R000100290008-5