I have always had a deep interest in world conflicts and over time, this has always led me into piles of research learning the things we have never been told.
To be honest, these attacks on Senator Obama lately have really made me question so many times over "Who really is Senator McCain?". This question led me back to some information I found a few years back. Although I have not found everything I once reviewed, I am now on a quest again.
I wish to share this with you now.
There is one part of his [Senator McCain] record, however, that the press almost never asks him about. They never ask why this decorated navy pilot and Vietnam P.O.W. has spent so much of his time and energy as a senator pushing through legislation to block the release of information about American P.O.W.'s and M.I.A.'s who are still not accounted for.
Seriously, does this not tell us of what kind of man Senator McCain is?
Seriously, why is this never talked about?
Follow me now....
For those that do not know, I will get right to the point of this diary.
If the following does not bring up the final questions as to what kind of person, what kind of a member of the armed forces, what kind of veteran, what kind of member of government and finally what kind of a man who wants to lead this country, John McCain is seriously beyond me.
At the end of the Vietnam war, Hanoi held back POW's as bargaining fuel for war reparations that were promised to them by the United States government.
Working hand in hand with the Pentagon and the intelligence community, McCain has kept hidden critical documents about a body of prisoners who were alive but secretly held back by Hanoi when the war ended as bargaining fuel for war reparations. They were never returned. They are now merely listed as either dead or missing in action.
McCain authored a bill in the 1990's that only added to the aggravation families of these unaccounted sons of theirs. The result was basically the final touches on placing enough red tape into an already complicated system that basically resulted in families finally throwing in the towel and giving up on their desperate searches.
Simply put, it created a tight bureaucratic maze from which few P.O.W. documents can possibly emerge. And in 1996, McCain succeeded in amending—and gutting—the Missing Service Personnel Act, removing all its enforcement teeth. The original act contained criminal penalties for anyone, such as a government official, civilian or military, who destroys or covers up or withholds from P.O.W. families any information about a missing soldier. McCain just erased this part of the law. He said the penalties would have a chilling effect on the Pentagon's ability to recruit personnel for its P.O.W.-M.I.A. office.
I came across another article posted recently on The Nation. It is very well documented so I will just add to this diary of few of the points that need to be questioned.
This imposing body of evidence suggests that a large number--probably hundreds--of the US prisoners held in Vietnam were not returned when the peace treaty was signed in January 1973 and Hanoi released 591 men, among them Navy combat pilot John S. McCain.
The worst part of all of this? He stands on his pedestal and brags how he refused to leave the "Hanoi Hilton" until those that were captured before him were allowed to leave. What about those that were never allowed to come home Senator McCain?
The general, Tran Van Quang, told the Politburo members that Hanoi was holding 1,205 American prisoners but would keep many of them at war's end as leverage to ensure getting reparations from Washington.
Throughout the Paris negotiations, the North Vietnamese tied the prisoner issue tightly to the issue of reparations. Finally, in a February 1, 1973, formal letter to Hanoi's premier, Pham Van Dong, Nixon pledged $3.25 billion in "postwar reconstruction" aid.
James Schlesinger and Melvin Laird, secretaries of defense under Nixon, said in a public session and under oath that they based their conclusions on strong intelligence data--letters, eyewitness reports, even direct radio contacts. Under questioning, Schlesinger chose his words carefully, understanding clearly the volatility of the issue: "I think that as of now that I can come to no other conclusion...some were left behind."
Furthermore, over the years, the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) received more than 1,600 firsthand reports of sightings of live American prisoners and nearly 14,000 secondhand accounts. Many witnesses interrogated by CIA or Pentagon intelligence agents were deemed "credible" in the agents' reports. Some of the witnesses were given lie-detector tests and passed.
Sickening is it not? Shameful at the very least and dishonorable even more when considering he wears that bracelet and states he always remembers why it was given to him. What about all the POW's that were left behind? Did they die in vain?
Why did you assist in helping to cover this up Senator McCain?
Why do you use your pill box to frequently bring up your POW experience?
Sources & Interesting Links:
Senator Goes Missing
Why Has John McCain Blocked Info on MIAs?
McCain and the POW Cover-up
The Peck Resignation Letter - an interesting read why the Chief of the Special Office for Prisoners of War and Missing in Action resigned from his post in 1991.
Update #1: John McCain Losing His Cool
Thanks to JamesEB for the video recommend. Nice way to make her cry Senator. Man he gets pissed!