European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - January 23, 1992, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Pos thursday january 23, 1992 the stars and stripes Page 5 Washington apr a former Kab officer said tuesday that a fellow soviet agent questioned american prisoners of the Vietnam War several years after the conflict ended in Hopes of recruiting the americans As spies. Oleg Kalugin told a Senate committee that a subordinate travelled to Vietnam in 1976 or 1978 a to recruit americans to work for the soviet Union in the United  a at least one gave a definite answer to cooperate with the soviet Union a Kalugin told the select committee on pow Mia affairs which is investigating whether any of the 2,273 americans listed As missing in the War were held after the conflict. But the former Kab major general said the soviets were unable to Contact the american because of an incorrect Telephone number. A the whole affair flopped a Kalugin testified. The subordinate Oleg Nechiporenko has disputed Kalugina a statements saying earlier this month that he interviewed Only one american in 1973, the year the North vietnamese released american prisoners of War. Earlier tuesday the vietnamese government said Kab agents interviewed an american prisoner in Vietnam once before the War ended in 1975. Vietnam previously had denied the allegation that soviet agents had questioned americans in Vietnam. Vietnam said the Only soviet Contact was with prisoner Eugene Andre Weaver captured by North vietnamese forces Jan. 31, 1968. Vietnam said the soviets asked for a meeting with Weaver after learning he was of russian origin. Weaver returned to the United states in March 1973. . Military involvement ended in 1973. But the South vietnamese continued to fight until Saigon fell in april 1975. Kalugin said Nechiporenko had gone to Vietnam in 1973, but the vietnamese government did not allow him to talk to any americans. In 1976 or 1978, Kalugin said Nechiporenko returned to Vietnam to talk to a a handful of americans selected by Vietnam a including one Cia agent. Those interviewed came from a list of americans held prisoner. A there was a rather limited number on the list Quot Kalugin said. I he purpose of the second trip also was to recruit americans to spy for the soviet Union Kalugin said. Sen. John Kerry a Massachusetts Democrat and the panel s chairman questioned Why Nechiporenko would dispute the Story. Kalugin said he believes his former assistant was pressured by soviet officials to deny the Story since the Issue would be embarrassing to them. Both the russian foreign intelligence and the Cia have disputed Kalugina a claims made earlier this month that two Cia agents and an air Force officer were interrogated by the Kab after the War. Reports have circulated that americans were kept As prisoners after the War. . Officials however have said no one has produced proof that any americans were detained when the North vietnamese repatriated 591 . Prisoners of War in 1973. Sex defense chief says Cuba had nukes from wire reports Washington a the soviet Union sent 36 nuclear warheads to Cuba at the time of the 1962 missile crisis contrary to Cia estimates that none had been delivered former defense Secretary Robert s. Mcnamara said tuesday. Mcnamara based his information on testimony by soviet officials at a conference on the missile crisis earlier this month in Havana. Speaking at a news conference Mcnamara said participants at the Havana conference also were told that the soviet Force in Cuba in 1962 totalled 42,000, compared with the Cia estimate of 10,000. That Force he said had �?o36 nuclear warheads for the 24 intermediate Range missiles that were capable of striking the United states. At the time the Cia stated they did not believe there were any nuclear warheads on the  the Range of the missiles was estimated at 800 to 1,000 Miles. Cia spokesman Mark Mansfield had no immediate comment in the stars and stripes 10 years ago Jan. 23,1982 a president Reagan facing Sharp and apparently unexpected criticism from business leaders backed away from boosting so called Quot sin taxes Quot on gasoline cigarettes most alcoholic beverages and some luxury items. 20 years ago Jan. 23,1972 a Britain Denmark noway and the Irish Republic signed a treaty in Brussels Belgium and joined the european economic Community. 30 years ago Jan. 23,1962 a the . Federal space Agency at Cape canaveral fla., postponed a launch to Send astronaut John Glenn on America s first manned space flight. Scientists cited problems with the space capsule Friendship 7. 40 years ago Jan. 23,1952 Gen. Dwight d. Eisenhower suggested that a a constitutional convention Quot be called to unify Europe. On the statement. The Havana conference held behind closed doors was the fifth in a series on the lessons of the crisis which brought the world closer to nuclear War than any other superpower confrontation of the Post world War ii Era. The soviet delegation stunned the american representatives by disclosing that nine Short Range nuclear weapons had also been deployed on Cuba for use in the event of a . Invasion of the Island. Mcnamara acknowledged that he was caught off guard by that revelation. A never in my wildest dreams did i believe they had tactical nuclear weapons a Mcnamara said. The crisis ended when soviet Leader Nikita Khrushchev agreed to withdraw the soviet missiles from Cuba in Exchange for a Promise by president Kennedy that the United states would not invade the Island. Documents released earlier this month suggested that Kennedy a Promise was not unconditional. China and other communist countries ridiculed Khrushchev a actions in the confrontation according to a document made Public tuesday. In a rambling letter dated Jan. 31, 1963, to cuban Leader Fidel Castro Khrushchev explained his actions. The soviet Leader also complained about a representatives of some socialist states who were a a distorting and a criticizing Quot his actions. He said he wanted to explain his decision a to deploy our ballistic rockets in Cuba a because even the representatives of some socialist states Are thinking in a rather strange Way distorting not on our initial Steps but also those we too  Khrushchev went on to assert that those critics of soviet policy a really did no to do anything to help Cuba when it was faced with mortal  a some Are now daring to slander us a he continued a stating that when resolving the conflict in the Caribbean we guided ourselves exclusively by our own egotistical interests. That is the greatest offence against the soviet  i Robert s. Mcnamara senator urges release of Kennedy files Washington a the chairman of the Senate intelligence committee called tuesday for the release of All classified government files relating to the assassination of president Kennedy. Sen. David l. Boren d-okla., said in a statement that he knew of no indications that the government was involved in any kind of assassination plot a but it is time to find an appropriate Way to Clear the  Borens comments were directed in part at the Cia which his committee oversees and came amid renewed Dis world War ii 50 years ago today 23 Jan. 1. 9 4 -2 japanese Landing forces capture Rabaul an important naval Anchorage on new Britain and. Land on new Ireland in the Bismarck archipelago. Japanese troops also land at Bougainville in the Solomon islands and at Kendarin on celebes and the Oil port of Balikpapan on Borneo in the dutch East indies. In North Africa Axis troops outflank the Lead units of Britain s 8th army capturing Sanunu. Cussion of the assassination prompted by director Oliver stones new movie Juk. A it is important that the american people particularly those who have been born since the assassination of president Kennedy have Confidence that their own government even in its most secret programs is operated in accordance with Basic american values Quot Boren said in the statement. The National archives is in the process of reviewing closed files of the Warren commission which initially investigated the 1963 assassination. Already 98 per cent of those files have been opened to historians and scholars. Records of the House select committee on assassination remain closed under House rules which routinely keep committee files out of the Public Domain for 30 years. That panel reviewed the findings in the assassinations of Kennedy and Martin Luther King in the 1970s. There May be other files at the Cia the Fri or other Federal agencies that also remain classified Boren said and those should be searched out and declassified As Well. Source 2194 Days of War. W. H Smith a publishers inc. World almanac Book of world War ii. Bison books corp ,1901 a year ago Day 7 Jan.23 two americans Are wounded in a clash with an iraqi patrol just inside saudi Arabia. Six iraqis Are captured. Forty one iraqi aircraft Are reported destroyed. After 12,000 sorties Gen. Colin Powell . Joint chiefs chairman declares Allied forces have achieved air superiority and will focus air attacks on iraqi troops in and around Kuwait. Israel comes under iraqi missile attack. A