European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - June 29, 1985, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 8 the stars and stripes june Vietnam mias n by Cunt Swift Washington Bureau chief Washington the United states is no closer than it was a year ago to knowing whether any of its service members Are still prisoners in a Row of administration spokesmen told a congressional panel in the last 10 there has been Little substantive change in the intelligence situation relative to reports of live americans held prisoner in Southeast said Commodore Thomas Brooks of the de sense intelligence to we have not been Able to prove that americans Are still being held in that part of the Brooks told the he said those responsible for checking reports of americans sighted there work on the Assumption that at least some americans May still be held captive by the indochinese the testimony was delivered during a joint hearing by the House foreign affairs subcommittee on East asian and Pacific affairs and the House task Force on american prisoners and missing in Southeast Paul an assistant Secretary of state for East asian and Pacific announced that the vietnamese government had agreed to hold the next meeting of technical experts during the first week of he the attitude of the vietnamese government of the single most important Factor in resolving the state of our despite some encouraging Progress thus far is still painfully the technical meetings allow representatives to discuss the cases of specific missing men and give the vietnamese the most precise information available to try to locate Richard assistant Secretary of defense for International Security listed these elements of Progress agreement by vietnamese foreign minister Nguyen co Thach at a new York meeting last octo Ber that the vietnamese will accelerate concentrating on cases from the heavily populated areas of Hanoi and Haiphong and the cases of those listed As having died in Captivity in the agreement at a meeting in Hanoi in March that technical meetings would be increased from four to at least six a return on March 20 of six sets of which have since been identified and returned to their Fame Armitage noted that one of the americans had been on the died in Captivity list and that it was the first Effort by the vietnamese to account for the men on that agreement at the latest technical meeting in to conduct a preliminary Survey of a plane crash site in the first step toward any exc he noted that last and laotian officials teamed up in an excavation of a c130 crash site near the team recovered human remains and some personal those Are being Analysed at the army s Central identification Laboratory in a despite these signs of Armitage an accurate assessment of our track record on the pow Mia Issue must acknowledge that the Progress has been he Atteo told the panel of what the administration believes to be a vietnamese directed program of mis information in the form of do tag refugees Are bringing Back information that can be found on dog tags service blood Type and Armitage seventy percent of the 843 reports so far have been correlated with americans who returned then Congress told to percent relate to people whose remains have been Only 9 percent could be related to men unaccounted he Armitage said he believes Many of the refugees Are being used As unwitting while others probably pass along the believing it will improve their treatment by the but he said the do tag information having to be received As factual draws significant resources from checking potentially More profitable Brooks said reports of americans in Southeast Asia this year May exceed last years previous High of 835 by 50 but he said half those reports were dog tag he gave this breakdown of reports since Vietnam fell to the communists in the Dia has received about reports from Refu they include alleged sightings of crash grave Sites and the handling or disposition of american Twenty percent 773 Are firsthand live sight about 62 percent correlated with individuals who had been accounted another 22 percent were judged to be the remaining or 16 Are still being Brooks said half those sighted were not necessarily in detention and could have been soviet Western european newsmen or other Cau Only two of the reports have been made since of the 63 firsthand reports very few persons mentioned talking to the by Pentagon there Are americans unaccounted for in Southeast that tally places 82 in 569 in Laos and almost All the rest in Mia hearing airs testimony of Collaborator Washington Marine Robert Gar Wood want in the but some lawmakers brought their arguments Over his secret testimony into an open hearing on americans missing in Southeast Stephen greeted the Lead off retired air Force Eugene Tighe with thanks for not requiring a subpoena to that was unlike the Only american convicted of collaborating with the enemy during the Viet Nam Solarz the chairman of the House foreign affairs subcommittee on East asian and Pacific affairs said the panel had been taking Gar Woods testimony in private and would resume after the Public witnesses and spectators then were told that Gar Wood had declined to take a lie Detector test unless All the other witnesses had Gerald asked a former director of the defense intelligence How much Stock he would put in the testimony of someone who refused to take a lie Detector unless he could show hed be placed in Legal Leopar id be inclined to discount Tighe the witnesses were has taken under advisement a request to allow the panel to question a Psychia Trist and a with whom Garwood said he had had extended conversations about americans still in Southeast Tighe said that conversations with a lawyer might involve an upcoming but he said if a witness objected to the psychiatrists an swering questions confined to men missing in his Confidence in the witness Testu Mony would when it came his Bill asked Tighe what the general would think of the credibility of a wit Ness who had passed two poly graph tests and had had intimate knowledge of the area in which he said he saw americans being held in Southeast Garwood Tighe sai0 he would tend to believe Hendon made it Clear he had been talking about who announced at a March 22 news Confer ence that he had Given Hendon maps detailing where he had seen americans being held in one Commodo Ethomas a Deputy director of the called Gar Woods testimony vague generalities and said some of Gar Woods live sighting reports do not Bear up under at one Point waving a brighter bordered secret asked How Brooks could discount an August 1983 sighting in what he said was exactly the same area where Garwood had reported seeing Ameri the officers staff members Shook their Heads in unison at the statement that the areas were the Hendon insisted on Assurance that he would receive copies of the classified reports dealing with the sight Ings and challenged the administration to produce the person who had reported the 1983 sighting so the panel could make its own Hendon was told he would receive details on the who was convicted in 1981 of collaborating with the enemy from 1967 to has not Given his Testi Mony directly to the defense he has said his attorney advised against it to prevent the defense depart ment from using the facts against him in another on june Garwood lost an Appeal of his conviction to the court of military but he could still Appeal to the supreme while he maintains he did nothing to warrant fur ther he has asked for immunity in return Tor testifying freely about americans missing in Viet More soviet ss20s aimed at Bush says of Brussels a vice president George Bush said Friday that the soviet Union has increased the number of medi Umra nge nuclear missiles it has aimed at the speaking at a news conference after meeting with the 16 nato Amassa declined to reveal How Many ss20 missiles have been deployed beyond the 414 estimated by intelligence agencies to have been in place last they have gone he Bush suggested the additional deploy ments by the soviet Union indicate that Moscow is not serious about negotiating arms reductions at the Geneva there int the restraint that perhaps had been advertised by the soviet he told Richard the assistant Secretary of state for european the latest estimate of the number of ss20s deployed by the soviet Union would be Dis closed after a meeting of High level Alliance Bush said he told the nato ambassadors in a special 75minute meeting at nato Headquarters that the administration of president Reagan is sincere in seek ing significant reductions in longhand medium Range nuclear he sharply criticized the soviets for fail ing to negotiate seriously in asked about reports that soviet Leader Mikhail Gorbachev is threatening to break off the Geneva talks because of Intran Bush said he could not comment but he added the matter is so serious that threat is not the Way to do making untrue charges simply is not conducive to what i think the whole world and that is verifiable arms Bush said he could not comment on the latest diplomatic efforts to gain Freedom for americans held hostage in Beirut by Radi Cal shiite in satisfied that everything is being done that can be he told later he this matter has really shaken the United Bush said he also discussed the Reagan administrations Star wars research project for developing a nonnuclear defense against soviet and prospects for cooperation to fight we Are determined to go through with Star wars but we Are flexible in the Way that we interact in this area with the Bush Bush visited Germany and the Netherlands before going to United press International and now is bound for he will Fly to pans and t will be meeting with the soviet negotiators in and there i will reiterate the and our commit ment to arms he i i i r i m if r in