Sent in by Rich
This just came in from the White House...This is the Answer to All Our Hard Work and Emails sent to the White House. Thank you all!
From: MS LYNN M O'SHEA
Clinton to prod Moscow on POWs
Russia May Have Held Americans
Washington Times (WT) - Saturday, January 2, 1999
By: Bill Gertz - THE WASHINGTON TIMES
President Clinton has promised to find out if Moscow carried out a KGB plan to bring captured Americans and possibly soldiers from Vietnam to the Soviet Union three decades ago.
"I have been very concerned about a possible KGB plan `to transport knowledgeable Americans' to the U.S.S.R. in the 1960s for intelligence purposes," Mr. Clinton wrote in a letter to a prisoner-of-war (POW) activist. "I agree we must do everything possible to get to the bottom of these reports, given that American personnel were held as POWs in Southeast Asia during this same period."
The letter from Mr. Clinton was sent Dec. 18 to Delores Apodaca Alfond, chairman of the National Alliance of Families, a group that has pressed for a full accounting of missing Americans from the Vietnam War and other conflicts. Mr. Clinton said in his letter that Vice President Al Gore pressed Russian Prime Minister Yevgeny Primakov during a Nov. 17 meeting in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, "for help to determine whether this plan existed or was acted upon."
"Primakov offered to look into these reports and to update us on his efforts," Mr. Clinton said. "We have also asked for information on the authors of the plan, the names of any Americans who were transferred, and information on their fate."
Mr. Clinton said that "if the plan was not carried out, we have requested documentation that convincingly proves this point."
"My administration will continue to pursue the POW/MIA issue aggressively with the Russian leadership," Mr. Clinton said.
The president's interest in the matter appears in sharp contrast to his initial response to a report last month about the KGB plan disclosed by The Washington Times.
The Times disclosed in November that a retired Russian general working on a U.S.-Russian joint commission on missing prisoners had uncovered a historical document from the Soviet intelligence archives he described in his personal papers as "sensational."
Gen. Dmitri Volkoganov wrote that several years ago he asked Mr. Primakov, who was then chief of Russian intelligence, to release the document but the request was rejected. The plan called for "delivering informed Americans to the U.S.S.R. for intelligence- gathering purposes," Gen. Volkoganov, who died in 1995, wrote in a recently published memoir.
Asked in November if Mr. Clinton would raise the issue with Mr. Primakov about the KGB plan during a meeting planned in Malaysia, White House Press Secretary Joe Lockhart said the president was "not expected" to broach the subject.
THEN WE SENT E-MAILS TO PRESIDENT !!!
A day later the White House said Mr. Clinton would become personally involved in finding out about the Volkoganov document, but only after U .S. and Russian officials discussed the matter during a Moscow POW commission meeting in late November.
During the meeting, Russian officials gave conflicting answers about the KGB plan. One Russian intelligence official said there was no plan to take Americans to the Soviet Union, and a second official said a document about the plan exists but would not be released because it is classified.
Since Mr. Primakov became prime minister, Moscow has taken a distinctly anti-U.S. positions on many issues, including nuclear and missile technology transfers to Iran, and the recent air strikes on Iraq ..
A State Department spokesman said the agenda for Secretary of State Madeleine K. Albright's meetings in Moscow later this month has not been set but she hopes to hear soon on the results of a Russian investigation into the matter.
Pentagon officials were particularly upset that Mrs. Albright waited more than eight months before asking the Russian government about the secret KGB plan because she did not want to pressure Moscow during its recent political and economic crisis.
The KGB plan was uncovered in January among papers donated to the Library of Congress, but Mrs. Albright waited until Oct. 29 to contact Russia's foreign minister, Igor Ivanov, by letter.
A letter from Mrs. Albright to Mr. Primakov was drafted but never sent because it might upset Moscow during its political and economic crisis that began in August, officials said.
State Department official Lonnie Spiegal, who handles Russia policy , told Pentagon officials in September that the secretary had more urgent matters to discuss with Moscow than the KGB document.
KEEP UP THE PRESSURE !!
Let's insure that President Clinton is not confused by a last minute wind shift.
Call, Fax or email the White House now and let the President know you want him to advise Russian Prime Minister Yevgeni Primakov that:
"Release of all KGB documents mentioning a plan to use captured Americans for intelligence or other purposes, and all documents referencing American POWs from the SE Asian Wars being taken to the Soviet Union or other Communist Bloc countries for any reason, is critical to insuring the confidence of the American people in the good faith of the Russian people and the Russian government."
You might also mention briefly that the President's commitment to making that statement and asking the hard questions, is equally critical to strengthening your confidence in the administration...but please use your own words on this last item.
Here is the contact information I have for the White House:
President Bill Clinton
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Telephone: 202-456-1111
Fax: 202-456-2461
Washington, DC 20500
E-mail: president@whitehouse.gov
If you do call, keep your comments short and polite. That will insure they are remembered and it will also insure that more people will get through. If you Fax, put it all on the cover sheet. Anything over a single sheet gets lost. Give your name, town, state and phone# if they ask. That will add credibility. Don't make political statements. The goal is to get the message across. After you call or Fax, email a copy of your statement to your congressperson.
Most of you who write me, regularly say: "What else can I do to help the issue?" Well folks, this is it. This might be the most important thing you ever do to get the answers we seek.
" Walk in Peace"
Rich & Gunny
