Operation Just Cause ...for as long as it takes
by Marilyn Grote
There comes a time when push comes to shove and in talking with Roger for this article I came to realize that time is now if we want the answers the Government has kept hidden from the citizens of the USA concerning the POW/MIA(s). Legal things are not easy to read and not easy to understand. This month's column is the most complicated and hardest to read that we have ever published but it also is one of the most important.
Now is the time for the people involved with the POW/MIA issue, the people who want to “bring them all back home” to get involved –now is the time to get serious and back Roger Hall and help financially to get the information we should have had over 25 years ago. We all sit and wonder how the Government has gotten away with everything they have over the years. The reason is that no one fights them to force them to different. It is an outrage that citizens of this country has to sue to get information that we need but that is the place this country is in right now. Roger has stepped up to do this and we can do nothing else but support him if we support the return of all POW/MIA(s).
Grab a cup of coffee or tea and read –in the end you will agree that we have to have this court suit, we have to support it because we have POW/MIA(s) that we have to bring home and there is no other choice.
In 1993 Mr. Roger Hall was doing research for his graduate studies by investigating the Senate Select reports. He came upon never seen information available through the Freedom of Information Act that convinced him that the US Government has not be forthcoming with information about the POW/MIA(s) left behind in Vietnam. Thus began his involvement in the POW/MIA issue.
In a recent e-mail, Roger advised:
"On May 28, 1998 a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) case was filed in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, 3rd St. and Constitution Ave., N.W. This litigation against the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) is for the release of POW/MIA information that has been wrongfully withheld by this agency in violation of two Executive Orders and the FOIA. The case is being heard before Judge Friedman.
"The CIA has acknowledged: Over 500 documents have been withheld for national security reasons; 40,000 pages released by the Senate Select Committee POW/MIA Affairs in 1993 are still classified by the CIA. The CIA has even withheld the identification of the above documents by name, number, or description. This is part of what we seek.
"The CIA still withholds additional POW/MIA documents not yet admitted to. We have the evidence. We also have witnesses and will now ask the U.S. District Court to allow us to take discovery to identify the POW/MIA information and require the CIA to expand its document search.
The reply to the court on the CIA case is being filed on Monday, November 30th. We are requesting the court to allow discovery. We are requesting to take depositions. This takes money. There has been a small response from the Veterans and activist community on backing the financial needs to make the case successful. A small number of individuals have given to help the case progress to this point. But this case needs funding now.
With all the help I have received getting the word out either most are not interested enough to put their money on the line on the POW disaster. It is just popular with some people to identify with the POW problem, others do not realize that lawyers take money and their help is needed. For years the activists and Veteran's had said they should be taken to court, now that that has happened it is observed but not supported.
Please Send Contributions to:
Through the years, Roger has been a help to the families of missing servicemen in that when he would find something in the National Archives he would hand it over to the family in question.
Now get comfortable, folks, because the following is rather involved. During the Senate Select Committee Hearings on POW/MIA Affairs, the Central Intelligence Agency provided some documentation to back-up some of the open -and closed- testimony.
Despite two presidents and four presidential executive orders, the CIA refuses to declassify POW/MIA documentation. Roger has identified approximately 40,000 documents that the CIA has yet to release to the Library of Congress. Roger has filed a FOIA [Freedom of Information Act] suit against the Central Intelligence Agency.
No one has successfully sued the CIA before.
Now, there may be those who think that there is a hidden agenda here, or that Hall is using the money collected for other things. But Roger has been forthcoming about what he has collected as well as the expenditures that he has incurred thus far.
In order to understand the expense involved, one must understand the procedures involved.
In civil litigation, even at the federal level, a suit is filed and the Court examines whether there is enough evidence for the suit to proceed. In a criminal trial, this would be similar to a grand jury investigation, but not quite. The plaintiff, or in this case Hall, shows the Court some of his evidence. The respondent, or in this case the Central Intelligence Agency, can contest that evidence--which makes this unique to a grand jury proceeding. (In grand jury proceedings, only the prosecution presents enough evidence to show that there is reasonable cause to proceed against a defendant.) The judge in the civil trial then decides if there is reasonable cause for the civil suit to proceed.
Usually, each side is allowed three uncontested adjournments. That is, they are allowed to request that the particular hearing on that given day be postponed until such and such a date. Usually it is due to a conflict in lawyer scheduling.
Not only are the CIA attorneys defending this action, but so, too, are Department of Justice attorneys. Roger has two attorneys.
If anyone has had dealings with attorneys, you know that they can argue the most mundane points. And they take forever to argue these points. And that adds up to "in court" time. "In court" time is the most expensive charge that lawyers have.
The next phase is discovery. Each side must provide the other with the gist of their case, the witness list, the documents that will be used as exhibits; the meat of the case. Both the plaintiff and the respondent have to provide each other with an evidence list that will be used to prosecute and defend against. As I understand it, this has been done in this particular matter.
Then there are pre-trial motions. Everything for stating argument against allowing certain evidence in to arguing why the case should move forward to the limiting of the number of questions that can be asked on a specific piece of evidence to arguing against the way certain questions can be asked. This is a long, arduous process and all of it "in court" time.
Motions can also be rather wordy. And at the end of the day each side should have a transcript of the record so that they can tighten up their arguments. You must purchase the trial transcripts by the page. In New York City, for example, I believe it is something like $1.00 per page. Now that might not sound like a lot, but understand that each line is double spaced, and it is numbered usually 1-30, so there are 30 lines indented to approximately two inches on each page. The daily trial transcript can add up to hundreds of dollars. The CIA and Department of Justice use tax dollars to supply them with trial transcripts. Roger Hall's attorney uses money that Roger has had donated to get their copies of transcripts.
In some cases there is a motion made to suppress evidence. A hearing is conducted, much like a mini-trial, and the argument is put forth as to why said evidence should not be allowed in, or suppressed. Both sides present their case specifically to this motion to suppress. As motions go, a motion to suppress is the most fought for and against motion, sometimes argued over the course of days, before the Court rules in favor of or against said motion.
Roger does all the copying, collating and stapling himself or with the help of others…all volunteers. That helps keep the cost down somewhat, but it does not make a dent when you figure on "in court" time.
After the motion calendar is heard, the hearing regarding depositions gets under way. During the discovery phase, a witness list is given. There are witnesses, which the plaintiff wants to depose and there are witnesses that the respondent wants to depose. The plaintiff witnesses buttress the plaintiff's case and the respondent witnesses buttress the respondent's defense.
The CIA will fight a long, protracted and expensive fight to keep some of those that Roger wants to depose off the witness list, so there will be several days of "in court" time that will have to be paid for just to argue in favor of keeping certain witnesses from getting excused from participating. In some cases, these witnesses may hire attorneys themselves and they will argue against having to be deposed. This is another arduous and costly part of the trial.
Because we are talking Central Intelligence Agency, some of the witnesses are all over the country, maybe the world. Roger's attorney will have to fly to wherever these witnesses are to depose them. It is rather costly--one of the most expensive parts of the case.
Not only do you have travel arrangements to make, you must also pay for a stenographer locally, someone who will record the deposition. And after the depositions are taken, you pick the depositions that will make the strongest case.
Once you decide which of the depositions you are going to submit to the Court, you then have to have a trial date firmly set and then you must make travel arrangements for your witnesses. You incur the expense of their travel yourself. In this case, Roger must be prepared to put his witnesses in a hotel for several days depending on what they are going to testify to under direct and cross examinations. Remember, attorneys can prolong a trial by examining the most minuscule portion of their depositions and most people who are deposed are not actually called to the witness stand for several months. Most likely, their story will differ then their deposition. Granted not to a large degree, but some lawyers will jump on a variance and make an issue over the fact that several months before you said you saw such and such and now you are saying you had seen such and such.
Remember President Clinton? Remember, depending on what "is is?" Well, that's lawyering for you.
At the present time, Roger needs money to be used for depositions. The rest of the money has gone for the filing fees of the suit, court costs, stenographic minutes of the court sessions - or trial transcripts- his attorneys "in court" time not to mention the costs for drawing up motions, researching cases, etc.
All of this takes money. He needs a minimum of $25,000.00 in reserve for the depositions alone. The entire case should cost between $40,000.00 and $50,000.00. Roger can account for every dime. Anyone wishing an accounting can contact Roger from this page.
Central Intelligence and Department of Justice Attorneys are doing everything possible to stall this case that the Court has ruled is valid and should move forward. Quite simply, they are trying to outspend Roger. Blitz him and his attorneys with motions, forcing them to answer them as well as to defend against some of the motions in court. "In Court" time. A colloquial for what some firms call Billable Hours.
If they can outspend Roger, this case will go away. They won't have to respond and they won't have to be held accountable and they won't have to release all the documentation that the Central Intelligence Agency has relative to the POW/MIA issue.
Sure, Roger tells us that he needs cash in order to do this. It is an old song that we all have become familiar with. There will be some that will claim that the suit is useless or that it is too costly or that they will take a wait-and-see approach.
To them I say the wait-and-see approach has gotten us nowhere all these years. It is time to be part of the solution rather than by broadcasting little or no support you become part of the problem. The Central Intelligence Agency has documents on American Prisoners of War from the Korea and Vietnam Wars. It is time that they shared these documents with the families of those who are missing from those wars. If you claim to be an advocate of the POW/MIA issue, if you claim to be a pro-unrepatriated POW proponent, then do not waste your time with a wait-and-see approach. Dig in and be part of this precedent setting case.
Let's show the government of the United States that we can all come together and that we can beat them at their own games.
If Roger Hall looses this suit it will not be because of any hidden agenda or dark sinister plan to make money, it will be because too many of us took a wait-and-see approach and we waited too damned long and saw the suit crash and burn.
Pretty much like some pilots who crashed into a mountainside in Laos, Cambodia or Vietnam and were left to languish.
Roger won't want to hear your apology; we won't want to hear your apology. "If" you are wrong, being the first to apologize won't change the fact that because you withheld your support [and others did too because you withheld yours] one of the best chances we ever had at gleaning a smoking gun slipped through our fingers because our government was able to outspend us. If we do not support Roger Hall and this lawsuit then I submit that we should really examine our own agendas as well as our commitment. I submit that we are just spinning our wheels and beating our chest and living life as victims rather than taking charge and not allowing them to victimize us.
And since we in this issue have such a propensity for placing blame, if Hall looses this suit because he does not have the funding to properly prosecute it, then I submit that the blame for loosing such is no further than the mirror on our own walls.
You now have somewhat of an understanding as to what it will take in order for Hall to be successful in this insurmountable endeavor. If Hall is successful, then we all are successful. If we can pry the fingers of the CIA away from their documents, every agency that people file FOIAs (Freedom of Information Act) against will have to think twice before playing with their redaction pens. Think about all the documents that we have gotten through the years with [source], [name], [date] and the like. Wouldn't it be nice to be able to find who [source], [name] and [data] are?
National Security is not and should not be involved here. They should not be able to invoke National Security because it is 25 plus years after the fact. We should be able to view this documentation. If Hall's suit is successful, and we have every indication to believe it will be, then we will have this documentation.
I held coffee cans for hours during a Rolling Thunder event in an effort to help Hall fund the suit. If I did not believe in the suit, or if I believed that Roger was using the donations for other than what he has stated, believe me I would not have stood for hours holding coffee cans asking people to donate to this cause. Suing the CIA? You must have a death wish; you must be crazy. Why not file suit against the Gambino Crime Family, you'll have a better chance. Well, folks, the Court has already ruled against the CIA for summary judgment. In other words, Roger's case is sustainable.
But it costs money and I realize that we have been down the please fund me route before; but this is serious business and we have an opportunity to beat the government at their own game and actually come out ahead for a change. Roger took the initiative and did the monumental leg work that led to the filing of this suit and the fact that the court has stated that the suit has merit is indicative of Hall's meticulous preparation. This is not throwing money away.
I fully support this suit. In my opinion, should you have a spare dollar bill, a five-dollar bill, a ten-dollar bill—change—whatever you can spare send it to Hall. It is tax deductible and it is a chance to be part of a precedent setting case that can very well garner some real answers. It is the small donations that are going to make a difference. Just like the small hits in the ball game make for a subway series. It's the singles and doubles that set it up for the home runs. You hit the singles and the doubles. Together with Hall we can hit the home runs. Wouldn't that be nice for a change?
Donate to this. It's tax deductible and it is precedent setting. It's the right thing to do. If you are willing to donate toward this very worthy effort, please E-mail Roger Hall from here.
By Steve Golding.
BELATED AND WITHHELD INTELLIGENCE ON AMERICAN POWS
The Pentagon announced on February 20th "Vietnam has sent its first official military delegation to the United States in a step toward possible future strategic cooperation between old enemies. "The Pentagons required cooperation with Vietnam leaves Vietnam's refusal to cooperate on unaccounted for POW/MIAs a further failure of leadership regarding un-repatriated American prisoners. The matter of America's POWs sent to other communist countries from Vietnam is one blind side the Pentagon has. In 1992 former Czechoslovakian General Jan Sejna, the highest-ranking communists to defect revealed to the Congress that he processed American POWs from Vietnam that were sent to Soviet Russia. He arranged their arrival and holding, and states that the Russian interrogated these POWs. The National Security Agency also holds classified information on such prisoner movements.
Unfortunately for American servicemen Vietnam was not the first war where POWs were left in enemy hands. Col. Philip Corso a military advisor to President Eisenhower testified before the House Committee on National Security, Military Personnel Subcommittee, that at the end of the Korean War, "at least 900 - perhaps as many as 1,200 American prisoners - were shipped by rail to the Soviet Union." Ed Evenhoe a retired Army sergeant and agent handler has stated that his S. Korean "agents were dropped into N. Korea and obtained photographs of American POWs being sent to China from N. Korea. "That photography is in the hands of the CIA as is other documentation on missing American's from the Korean War, the Cold War, and the Vietnam War under national security restraints. These restrictions have prevented even the Department of Defense POW/MIA Office from obtaining POW/MIA documentation. If at this late date the information has not resulted in recovery or accounting of these people, the full Congress and the American public should be made aware of the fate of withheld American prisoners. The Russians have acknowledged a program to obtain aircraft technology from POWs during the Korean War. Although the Department of Defense has become "increasingly convinced" that the Russians masked their programs for obtaining information from POWs in the Korean War the DOD is dragging its feet investigating Russian exploitation of POWs in Vietnam.
Many answers are hidden in the records of the Interagency Prisoner of War Intelligence Committee (IPWIC) headed by Henry Kissinger and membered by the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA), National Security Agency (NSA), Secretary of Defense, and the Joint Chiefs of Staff. The IPWIC advised President Nixon on prisoners of war in Southeast Asia. The Congress approved the sending of troops to Vietnam and had the moral responsibility for their return, but they were not informed of the many POWs that were not released. The denial of those abandoned US captives is a restraint of our right to know the truth that if known could require action for POW recovery.
THE POWs AND THE COURTS
Pursuing unreleased information on POW/MIAs is not a spectator Sport. To overcome institutionalized resistance to the release of POW/MIA information litigation under the federal open government laws specifically the Freedom Of Information Act (FOIA), is the way to require government to release withheld POW/MIA information. Government passes laws but it is up to the people to exercise their right and seek redress of grievances in the courts to get it done.
After (FOIA) requests are denied by agencies the third branch of government is the only recourse. Congress has passed legislation allowing for the release of documents, the President has issue executive orders for it to be done. The DOD has released a large volume of documents but the more revealing POW information from the Secretary of Defense, intelligence units, diplomatic records, and special committees are kept from release or denied to exist. If action was being taken on the withheld information the withholding could be justified, but since 1973 there has been no meaningful action for the recovery of abandoned POWs or the release of significant information on their fate because the information would embarrass some agencies and the career employees involved.
POW/MIA family members reveal and research experience has shown that there is no FOIA enforcement by the agencies. Government agency experience has shown that FOIA requesters will go away when the FOIA request is denied. FOIA lawyers that write for the American Civil Liberties Union Foundation report that 95% of FOIA requesters give up once their initial FOIA request is denied, and government operates with this knowledge. FOIA office employees whine that they do not get special funding to work the FOIA requests and that the FOIA is not all they have to do. Unless documentation has been previously declassified the FOIA offices do not do a search for identifiable documentation and dismiss the request. This works for operating government, after all they have other priorities.
Expert legal representation with FOIA experience is being obtained to take the CIA to court for withholding known POW/MIA documentation and have them required to release that POW/MIA documentation or be subject to individual and agency sanctions for their failure or refusal to do so. This is going to be a costly pursuit, the agencies do resist litigation, donations from individuals and organization can help make this a successful court battle. POW/MIA family members can not afford to do this on their own, you can help accomplish and win this action. Please send contributions to the below named escrow account for this case:
ACQUIRING POW/MIA DOCUMENTATION - TAKING IT TO COURT
The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) is the main agency withholding POW/MIA information from public release and it is time to take the CIA to court to make them release their information on military and civilian POWs. The Executive Orders (E.O.s) of Presidents Bush and Clinton for the declassification and release of all eligible POW/MIA documentation is being avoided because the only mechanism for compliance is the Freedom Of Information Act (FOIA) and no one has bean willing to challenge the CIA in court. The U.S. District Court can make even the CIA comply with the FOIA and the Executive Orders when it fails to do so. Your financial help is needed now to retain council and bring the CIAs defiance before the courts to force compliance of the FOIA and E.0.s.
The CIA too often forgets it is an agency of this Country; we are not to be targets of their deception. The CIA FOIA handling on POW documentation has reached the point that they will not even do a search for documentation that can be identified as originating from them. The CIA turns down Freedom of Information Act requests by stating that they have done their search for POW/MIA information as require under PDD 8 and E.O. 12812, therefore if it did exist it would have been declassified and sent to the Library of Congress. On a FOIA denial: the administrative appeal is to the CIA who backs up their original FOIA denial. The agency wrongly denies the FOIAs because they have realized no one is going to take them to court to make them comply with their responsibilities.
Employees of the CIA have defied the E.0.s and the FOIA. We have documented evidence to prove this. Witness have been located that can identify unreleased POW/MIA information in the control of the CIA. Getting the more revealing POW information released will establish the historical evidence on the POWs that were left to the Communists. Informing the Congress can bring a government audit of CIA files for additional POW information and put pressure on the President for action. This will not be easy but it will be done.
This can and will be accomplished with your financial support, we must start fund raising immediately. The estimated legal costs for depositions, investigations, and taking the case to trial is $25,000. The lawyer requires $7,500 deposit to begin on the case. Most of the public dismisses the POW problem as another news story that passes before them in the newspaper, or on TV. POWs were left to the enemy in our last three wars and acquiring that evidence can bring about public support for meaningful government action for the return of survivors. You can't leave it to be done by disinterested politicians. Make it happen by contributing to this case to confront the government under the laws of the land.
Follow this link to read the letters of endorsement from some of the leaders in this issue.
Some good words from people in the know
A Detailed Look at the Costs of this Case
The Freedom Of Information Act (FOIA) court case against the CIA is very close to being on schedule. The case will ask the court to order POW/MIA documentation withheld by the CIA released under the Executive Orders of Presidents Bush and Clinton and the FOIA. Witnesses and evidence will prove that such documentation does exist and is wrongfully withheld. The Case will be filed in U.S.. District Court in May 1998.
It was the effort of Veterans, POW family members. and citizen activity that caused the U.S. Congress to form the Senate Select Committee on POW/MIA Affairs. These same people persuaded President Bush to issue Executive Order 12812 and President Clinton to issue Presidential Decision Directive 8 for the release of all POW/MIA documentation except for matters of national security. The CIA and some other Agencies have failed to comply because there is a conflict between the administrative procedures of those agencies the FOIA and Executive Orders
If agencies wrongly withhold POW information, the FOIA allows us as American citizens to pursue the release of that information in court. The CIA and other agencies of government have much to hide regarding abandoned POWs. Donate to complete the work to get this documentation released. An escrow account has been established for donations to pay tile legal costs and expenses of the case. Help and be a part of this battle.
CIA POW/MIA FOIA The CIA obtained three postponements to our May 28, 1998 Freedom Of Information Act (FOIA) case. In August they acknowledged over 500 documents still withheld for reasons of national security; the CIA further acknowledged 40,000 pages of documentation they withheld from declassification at the National Archives. On October 13 the CIA filed a summary judgement motion asking the court to dismiss the case.
On November 30 three motions were filed against the CIA (1) A 29 page Affidavit of Plaintiff Roger Hall, (2) A 26 page Memorandum Of Points And Authorities In Support Of Plaintiff's Opposition To Defendants [CIA] Motion For Summary Judgement, (3) A 4 page Statement Of Genuine Issues; this included 31 Attachments and 21 Exhibits of supporting documentation including witness affidavits. These actions were to further identify to the court that the CIA has been less then thorough in their previous search for POW/MIA documentation. The supporting attachments and affidavits show that there is a need for an expanded search for additional POW/MIA documentation. We have asked the court to appoint a special master [with the proper security clearances] to oversee the search for POW documents at the CIA.
There will be a very short time to take depositions and discovery once this is approved. The fundraising has not yet produced enough money to take all the needed depositions. The courts will not give us postponements to raise money. We will be forced to proceed with what we have which may not be enough to win. We need all the depositions.
If you take the POW matter seriously and haven't contributed to this case, please do so now. If you want to help make a difference, this is the action needed to obtain the information from our government. The FOIA is the law this country gives us to obtain that information. Use the laws or we loose the right. If you don't help who will? Please make a contribution now.
A complete copy of the lawsuit filed against the CIA can be found at: http://www.vvof.org/
In the case of: Roger Hall, Plaintiff Vs Central Intelligence Agency, Defendant
Civil Action No. 98-1319
The hearing on pending motions for summary judgment for withheld POW/MIA documentation is set for June 11, 1999 at 9:30 A.M. The case will behead
Before Paul L. Friedman
A law suit was filed against the CIA on May 28th, 1998 for the POW/MIA documentation that the CIA was ordered to declassify and release, ordered by two presidents and the Congress. President Bush in 1992 issued Executive
Order 12812 for all government departments and agencies to declassify and release all POW/MIA documentation except for matters of national security, sources and methods. President Bush wasn't reelected, the declassification was never completed.
The Senate Select Committee on POW/MIA Affairs that ended January 3, 1993,
ordered all of its POW/MIA documentation declassified and made available to
the public. The CIA has not declassified those documents and has classified
that very list of the documents, This is because the Senate did not enforce
their promise to have all Select Committee documents declassified, the Senate
just turned all documents [both unclassified and those in still classified
form] over to the National Archives. The National Archives never processed
the classified CIA POW/MIA documentation for declassification as promised by
the US Senate and the CIA would not initiate declassification.
On Memorial Day 1993 President Clinton promised America that he would issue
an Executive Order for the declassification of all POW/MIA documentation to
be released by Veteran's Day 1993. He put a dead line on when government must get the job done. On Veteran's Day 1993 President Clinton informed the
American public that all POW/MIA documentation declassification except for
national security information, sources, and methods had been completed. It
wasn't, much of that documentation was not declassified or released. The
Department of Defense, CIA, and State Department didn't even notify their
components, i.e., military bases or field stations to search for additional
documentation, they just declassified what they had on hand.
That promise was made six years ago on Memorial Day and the CIA documentation is still classified. One reason is because President Clinton did not issue an executive order, the national security council issued a presidential decision directive instead, not an executive order, there's a big difference. A
directive does not have the same force in law as an executive order. We were
lied to again about POW/MIA documents. An Executive Order must be published
in the Federal Register, it can be referenced there by anyone, a directive is
not. In fact it took more than six months to get a copy of the directive when
they did admit what had happened. Why all the deception about POW/MIA
documentation?
Once the directive was given, the President had nothing to do with seeing
that the order was complied with. That is up to his staff if they're
interested; they weren't. This is because once an order is given it is left
to each department or agency to implement an order as they see it should be
implemented. The different agencies are responsible only to themselves unless
someone makes them comply. The President had taken time to hang a carrot
before the public that led nowhere without enforcement. It got him off the
hook, it got the public off his and the governments back.
The CIA has a conflict of interest in its POW collection activities. They are
the intelligence arm of the State Department in addition to their own
activities, and their POW collection activities prevent them from effective
performance. The CIA controls the tasking of satellites and intelligence
activities in former communist countries. They also receive tasking from the
Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) and the Drug Enforcement Agency. This is
how pilot identification codes were found in the 1980s and 90s.
Acknowledgment of the existence of POWs complicates their other tasking
requirements that includes trade with Russia, China, Laos, Cambodia, and
Vietnam. Such POW information is classified as national security. The release
of that POW information is now prevented by the CIA. If it is released to the
DIA the DIA does not acknowledge it in that they are only required to reveal
documentation that they originate.
If you still expect the government to just declassify POW/MIA documentation,
that's just what they want you to do. It won't happen. It won't get done. You
need to finish the job you began on Memorial Day 1993. It's up to you.
The CIA did produce some documentation on 19 specific cases we requested, and 30 additional documents that were previously released. They front-end-load
their documents as a buffer in dealing with the public, they make you go
through a gauntlet of obstacles designed to frustrate you and make you go
away, to exhaust your resources and energy. They haven't yet been required to
dig into their denied records including other programs on POWs taken to
Russia from Vietnam and produce them.
We have identified the existence of more than 574 records being withheld for
reasons of national security. We have also identified numerous records over
which the CIA has declassification authority, records outside the CIA that
contain POW/MIA information. This court case can require them to produce
identified documentation and the court can order the search for more. We have
government witnesses that require the protection of the court that will
identify that additional documentation.
The progress that has been made so far is the result of donations from individuals, veteran's and non-veteran's, POW/MIA family members, Veteran's
organizations and non-veteran's organizations. That is who I refer to as
"we," this is a community effort.
POW/MIA FOIA Litigation Account
PO 8044, Attn: Roger Hall
Silver Spring, MD 20907-8044
Tel # 301/585-3361
Email:Rhall8715@aol.com
Roger Hall
COURT CASE
United States District Judge for the District of Columbia
Suing the CIA on Behalf of Abandoned POWs
By Roger Hall
