SUBJECT: WAR CRIMES (CNN REPORT ON "TAILWIND")
 
 The allegations that were presented in "News Stand", and defended by
 producers Oliver and Smith are to the best of my knowledge totally
 false. Other than the initial frenzy associated with the report, the
 real seriousness of the allegations has been totally ignored by all
 press coverage I have seen or  read.  The coverage all seems centered on
 "OH NO Another Press journalistic error or over zealousness".
 Accusations that could lead to Life Imprisonment or Death are not
 journalistic error or over zealousness.  This is bearing "False Witness"
 in it's most grievous form.
 
 THE CHARGE THAT THE PURPOSE OF THE MISSION WAS TO KILL UNITED STATES
 MILITARY DEFECTORS IS A VERY SERIOUS ONE:
        Intentional killing of non-combatants or defectors  is murder and
 punishable by death or life imprisonment.. THERE IS NO STATUTE OF
 LIMITATIONS ON MURDER OR WAR CRIMES!   If it was indeed the policy (to
 my knowledge and the knowledge of many informed Special Operations
 Vietnam Veterans that allegation is false) then the entire command
 structure and all participants involved with "Tailwind" could and should
 be charged and tried for murder.   If this was official policy for "MACV
 SOG" the other Special Operations ‘Projects"  engaged in South East Asia
 could certainly share in the guilt; as a result they would also be
 subject to charges of "War Crimes".   There is a War Crimes Tribunal
 currently in session at the Hague investigating and trying criminals
 from the "Bosnian War". The United States as a "Responsible Member
 Nation" is required to investigate and prosecute its own "War
 Criminals".
 
 NERVE GAS WAS DROPPED TO KILL ENEMY TROOPS, NON-COMBATANTS AND DEFECTORS
 ON AS MANY AS TWENTY OTHER MISSIONS:
        This is a very serious charge that refutes all national policies
 concerning  US employment of poison  gases, biological agents and
 nuclear weapons. If these operations were carried  out they were
 conducted outside the laws of the United States then and now. Any
 actions such as those alleged in the CNN report would make American
 military operations equal to Saddam Hussein's gassing the Iraqi
 "Kurds", North Vietnam's gassing of Laotian hill tribes and Hitler who
 exterminated millions of "Jews" and other "undesirables" in Nazi
 Germany. Such charges erodes national credibility when the United States
 is involved with the United Nations in attempting to remove "Weapons of
 Mass Destruction" from many trouble spots around the world.
 
        The readiness of CNN executives, producers and senior
 correspondents to
 accept the premise for this report convinces me that they are
 predisposed to believe that "We are Just as Bad As They Are".  Time to
 take a good look around!  History records a great many evils perpetrated
 by the United States Government in times of peace and war but we are not
 guilty of this one!
 
 
 
 THESE ALLEGATIONS REQUIRE THOROUGH INVESTIGATION FROM AN OUTSIDE AGENCY:
        A "Special Prosecutor" with an advisory panel of qualified and
 respected military, intelligence, clergy, legal and press
 representatives or a Presidential Commission should be appointed to
 resolve these issues.  However honest and objective a Pentagon or
 Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) investigation may be, there are still
 those who won't believe anything the "government" says. If a purely
 governmental investigation proves the charges to be groundless there
 will surely by a cry of  ‘Cover Up".  In view of those critics, we can
 not allow this investigation to become a political football or expose it
 to "the government is just covering up again" charges. It must have
 access and it must be credible.  The investigation must have White house
 support and participants must include the Departments of Army, Air
 Force, Navy including Marine Corps, Central Intelligence Agency,
 National Security Council (NSC) and all other involved commands and
 agencies whom may have been involved. All participants must be directed
 to allow full access to the investigators for the results to be
 accepted.
 
 WE DO NOT FEAR THE TRUTH:
        The public deserves to know the full truth about these
 allegations. If
 as I expect , they are found to be false, those responsible for this
 "Media Rush To Judgement" should be punished in a Court Of Law. Whoever
 is at fault, irresponsible organizations, reporters who slander, libel
 and lie, and those who knowingly propagate these lies  should  be held
 accountable to those they have maligned.
 
        Had "GB" (Sarin) been used the killed "friendly's" on this
 operation
 would have far exceeded the  three confirmed casualties, killed in
 action (KIA) of this operation.  If you have ever been exposed to gas of
 any kind you would know that when you open up your rucksack you are
 going to get a very strong dose of whatever gas was employed in your
 area.  If this gas was "Sarin", very shortly after you opened your pack
 you would be dead and wouldn't be trying to make a claim with the
 Veterans Administration for increased disability! (According to the
 personnel who received the unit back, no provisions were made for
 decontamination on this or any other SOG mission in South East Asia)
 
        News sensationalism is not new nor is the reporters uneducated
 opinion
 on what is or is not a War Crime.  I was fortunate enough to attend a
 course at the Judge Advocate General School (JAG) for Combat Veteran
 Officers and Division JAG officers on: The Law Of Land Warfare which
 includes War Crimes,  the Geneva and Hague  conventions; and I was an
 authorized  instructor on these subjects. The United States at the time
 of the Vietnam War was not a signatory of the Geneva Conventions but the
 "Rules of Engagement" we operated under( and under which  still operate
 ) are far more stringent than that required by the conventions.
 
        In Vietnam I served as  both a United States Army Special Forces
 Long
 Range Reconnaissance Team  Leader and instructor in the same field. Had
 a "Defector" policy been in effect calling for the execution of
 defectors, especially in denied areas, I would have been so informed.
 The facts are that there weren't many defectors, what was it two or
 three?  I expect our intrepid reporters don't really know or appreciate
 the difference between a ‘DEFECTOR' and an AWOL.  It is high time they
 learned the difference, and the intelligence value of a living defector
 versus a dead one.
 
        "Sleeping Gas", what a bunch of wishful thinking!  Wouldn't it be
 wonderful if we had a gas that would put everyone to sleep long enough
 for us to sort out the "bad guys" take them prisoner and let the non
 combatants go unharmed?  Think of all the empty spaces on the Vietnam
 Memorial if it was that easy.  Unfortunately we don't have it now and
 didn't have it then.  To say this was a "code word" for nerve gas is
 absolutely incredulous and falls in the category of "Buffalo Chips"?
 
 APOLOGY NOT ENOUGH:
        "Plausible Denial", this is one of April's favorite words.  It is
 true
 we don't talk about "our business" to outsiders or non-participants.
 That is  because our lives and mission success often rely on secrecy.
 Your current desire to inform the people does not outweigh the oaths we
 took to protect operational secrets for the requirement to  "Protect And
 Defend The Constitution Of The United States Of America".  Our reticence
 to cooperate can and often is used to victimize our community with half
 truths or innuendo, which allows unscrupulous or well meaning ignorant
 reporters to quote out of context,  misquote and hide or omit the truth
 to further their false beliefs and careers!  Absolute belief in a lie
 does not make the story true or absolve the perpetrators.
 
        I will not accuse CNN, Peter Arnett, April Oliver and the rest
 of the
 staff of being traitors or paid agents of a foreign power. I do accuse
 them of being naive, militarily  technically and tactically ignorant,
 irresponsible and willing to distort or ignore the truth to further
 their own fame, fortune and political agendas.
 
 TIRED OF BEING THE "BAD GUYS":
        It is fashionable to assert that Special Operations organizations
 are
 always up to some form of nefarious activity.  This leads irresponsible
 people to think they have a right to know what is going on "behind the
 fence". Lacking access and having no "need to know" the truth, they are
 only too ready to believe innuendo, rumor, half truth and the lie.
 
        It is very convenient for the "Wish I could have been a protester
 in
 the 60's crowd" to forget that the United States Army/Military is
 controlled by the elected representatives of the people. They ignore the
 facts that our soldiers go to war only when ordered to do so by their
 government.  The soldier fights , kills, bleeds and all to often dies
 executing that policy until his elected civilian government changes the
 orders   The military executes policy as ordered; it does not set it.
 The military does not unilaterally decide to employ chemical weapons or
 execute United States citizens. If so ordered the attention drawn would
 not have allowed such acts to go unchallenged by the participants until
 now!
 
        I am not now nor have I ever been a member of the "Special Forces
 Association ,the old "Decade" club or any other Veterans organization. (
 I did join the American Foreign Legion and Veterans of Foreign Wars in
 Panama as an associate so I could eat at the Yacht Club and attend the
 dances at the VFW in 63 to 65)  My opinions are my own and I speak for
 no others. Selected Special Forces operators that have reviewed this
 document approve and endorse it.
 
 
 
        Albert J. Paxton
        Major (USA) Ret.
        224 Paseo Del Volcan SW #621
        Albuquerque, NM 87121-8718
        (505)831-6027
 
 ©Copyright WAR CRIMES (CNN report on "Tailwind")Albert J. Paxton,  July
 11, 1998
 
 Note: You have permission use in any way you see fit as long as this
 document is not misquoted or quoted out of context.
  >>
Very Strongly endorsed:

James G. Ringland III, D571L
US Special Forces Retired
Marietta, Georgia
 

 Subject:
        JIM PAXTON <jimp@nmol.com>: RE-TRANS WAR CRIMES
   Date:
        Wed, 15 Jul 1998 18:25:28 -0600
   From:
        jensenea@juno.com (Ernest A. Jensen)
     To:
        ASFBacSi@aol.com, tdusa@CITCOM.NET, rdieh@pub3.uwrl.usu.edu, RHughes202@aol.com,
        sfvet@pcfastnet.com, kokopeli@digitalpla.net, lmaker@ccmail.rpihq.com, dasmurf@commandnet.net,
        toplant@sisna.com, andrews@hal.fmhi.usf.edu, jgringland@aol.com, sfahq@sfahq.org, Spec7op@aol.com,
        sstone@commandnet.net, ChapLX@aol.com, SRAAGUT@sisna.com
 
 

--------- Begin forwarded message ----------
From: JIM PAXTON <jimp@nmol.com>
To: Ernie Jensen <jensenea@juno.com>
Subject: RE-TRANS WAR CRIMES
Date: Wed, 15 Jul 1998 07:45:04 -0600
Message-ID: <35ACB260.4F52C224@nmol.com>

Dear Sir:

SUBJECT: WAR CRIMES (CNN REPORT ON "TAILWIND")

The allegations that were presented in "News Stand", and defended by
producers Oliver and Smith are to the best of my knowledge totally
false. Other than the initial frenzy associated with the report, the
real seriousness of the allegations has been totally ignored by all
press coverage I have seen or  read.  The coverage all seems centered on
"OH NO Another Press journalistic error or over zealousness".
Accusations that could lead to Life Imprisonment or Death are not
journalistic error or over zealousness.  This is bearing "False Witness"
in it's most grievous form.

THE CHARGE THAT THE PURPOSE OF THE MISSION WAS TO KILL UNITED STATES
MILITARY DEFECTORS IS A VERY SERIOUS ONE:
        Intentional killing of non-combatants or defectors  is murder and
punishable by death or life imprisonment.. THERE IS NO STATUTE OF
LIMITATIONS ON MURDER OR WAR CRIMES!   If it was indeed the policy (to
my knowledge and the knowledge of many informed Special Operations
Vietnam Veterans that allegation is false) then the entire command
structure and all participants involved with "Tailwind" could and should
be charged and tried for murder.   If this was official policy for "MACV
SOG" the other Special Operations ‘Projects"  engaged in South East Asia
could certainly share in the guilt; as a result they would also be
subject to charges of "War Crimes".   There is a War Crimes Tribunal
currently in session at the Hague investigating and trying criminals
from the "Bosnian War". The United States as a "Responsible Member
Nation" is required to investigate and prosecute its own "War
Criminals".

NERVE GAS WAS DROPPED TO KILL ENEMY TROOPS, NON-COMBATANTS AND DEFECTORS
ON AS MANY AS TWENTY OTHER MISSIONS:
        This is a very serious charge that refutes all national policies
concerning  US employment of poison  gases, biological agents and
nuclear weapons. If these operations were carried  out they were
conducted outside the laws of the United States then and now. Any
actions such as those alleged in the CNN report would make American
military operations equal to Saddam Hussein's gassing the Iraqi
"Kurds", North Vietnam's gassing of Laotian hill tribes and Hitler who
exterminated millions of "Jews" and other "undesirables" in Nazi
Germany. Such charges erodes national credibility when the United States
is involved with the United Nations in attempting to remove "Weapons of
Mass Destruction" from many trouble spots around the world.

        The readiness of CNN executives, producers and senior
correspondents to
accept the premise for this report convinces me that they are
predisposed to believe that "We are Just as Bad As They Are".  Time to
take a good look around!  History records a great many evils perpetrated
by the United States Government in times of peace and war but we are not
guilty of this one!
 

 
THESE ALLEGATIONS REQUIRE THOROUGH INVESTIGATION FROM AN OUTSIDE AGENCY:
        A "Special Prosecutor" with an advisory panel of qualified and
respected military, intelligence, clergy, legal and press
representatives or a Presidential Commission should be appointed to
resolve these issues.  However honest and objective a Pentagon or
Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) investigation may be, there are still
those who won't believe anything the "government" says. If a purely
governmental investigation proves the charges to be groundless there
will surely by a cry of  ‘Cover Up".  In view of those critics, we can
not allow this investigation to become a political football or expose it
to "the government is just covering up again" charges. It must have
access and it must be credible.  The investigation must have White house
support and participants must include the Departments of Army, Air
Force, Navy including Marine Corps, Central Intelligence Agency,
National Security Council (NSC) and all other involved commands and
agencies whom may have been involved. All participants must be directed
to allow full access to the investigators for the results to be
accepted.

WE DO NOT FEAR THE TRUTH:
        The public deserves to know the full truth about these
allegations. If
as I expect , they are found to be false, those responsible for this
"Media Rush To Judgement" should be punished in a Court Of Law. Whoever
is at fault, irresponsible organizations, reporters who slander, libel
and lie, and those who knowingly propagate these lies  should  be held
accountable to those they have maligned.
 
        Had "GB" (Sarin) been used the killed "friendly's" on this
operation
would have far exceeded the  three confirmed casualties, killed in
action (KIA) of this operation.  If you have ever been exposed to gas of
any kind you would know that when you open up your rucksack you are
going to get a very strong dose of whatever gas was employed in your
area.  If this gas was "Sarin", very shortly after you opened your pack
you would be dead and wouldn't be trying to make a claim with the
Veterans Administration for increased disability! (According to the
personnel who received the unit back, no provisions were made for
decontamination on this or any other SOG mission in South East Asia)
 
        News sensationalism is not new nor is the reporters uneducated
opinion
on what is or is not a War Crime.  I was fortunate enough to attend a
course at the Judge Advocate General School (JAG) for Combat Veteran
Officers and Division JAG officers on: The Law Of Land Warfare which
includes War Crimes,  the Geneva and Hague  conventions; and I was an
authorized  instructor on these subjects. The United States at the time
of the Vietnam War was not a signatory of the Geneva Conventions but the
"Rules of Engagement" we operated under( and under which  still operate
) are far more stringent than that required by the conventions.

        In Vietnam I served as  both a United States Army Special Forces
Long
Range Reconnaissance Team  Leader and instructor in the same field. Had
a "Defector" policy been in effect calling for the execution of
defectors, especially in denied areas, I would have been so informed.
The facts are that there weren't many defectors, what was it two or
three?  I expect our intrepid reporters don't really know or appreciate
the difference between a ‘DEFECTOR' and an AWOL.  It is high time they
learned the difference, and the intelligence value of a living defector
versus a dead one.
 
        "Sleeping Gas", what a bunch of wishful thinking!  Wouldn't it be
wonderful if we had a gas that would put everyone to sleep long enough
for us to sort out the "bad guys" take them prisoner and let the non
combatants go unharmed?  Think of all the empty spaces on the Vietnam
Memorial if it was that easy.  Unfortunately we don't have it now and
didn't have it then.  To say this was a "code word" for nerve gas is
absolutely incredulous and falls in the category of "Buffalo Chips"?

APOLOGY NOT ENOUGH:
        "Plausible Denial", this is one of April's favorite words.  It is
true
we don't talk about "our business" to outsiders or non-participants.
That is  because our lives and mission success often rely on secrecy.
Your current desire to inform the people does not outweigh the oaths we
took to protect operational secrets for the requirement to  "Protect And
Defend The Constitution Of The United States Of America".  Our reticence
to cooperate can and often is used to victimize our community with half
truths or innuendo, which allows unscrupulous or well meaning ignorant
reporters to quote out of context,  misquote and hide or omit the truth
to further their false beliefs and careers!  Absolute belief in a lie
does not make the story true or absolve the perpetrators.

        I will not accuse CNN, Peter Arnett, April Oliver and the rest
of the
staff of being traitors or paid agents of a foreign power. I do accuse
them of being naive, militarily  technically and tactically ignorant,
irresponsible and willing to distort or ignore the truth to further
their own fame, fortune and political agendas.

TIRED OF BEING THE "BAD GUYS":
        It is fashionable to assert that Special Operations organizations
are
always up to some form of nefarious activity.  This leads irresponsible
people to think they have a right to know what is going on "behind the
fence". Lacking access and having no "need to know" the truth, they are
only too ready to believe innuendo, rumor, half truth and the lie.

        It is very convenient for the "Wish I could have been a protester
in
the 60's crowd" to forget that the United States Army/Military is
controlled by the elected representatives of the people. They ignore the
facts that our soldiers go to war only when ordered to do so by their
government.  The soldier fights , kills, bleeds and all to often dies
executing that policy until his elected civilian government changes the
orders   The military executes policy as ordered; it does not set it.
The military does not unilaterally decide to employ chemical weapons or
execute United States citizens. If so ordered the attention drawn would
not have allowed such acts to go unchallenged by the participants until
now!

        I am not now nor have I ever been a member of the "Special Forces
Association ,the old "Decade" club or any other Veterans organization. (
I did join the American Foreign Legion and Veterans of Foreign Wars in
Panama as an associate so I could eat at the Yacht Club and attend the
dances at the VFW in 63 to 65)  My opinions are my own and I speak for
no others. Selected Special Forces operators that have reviewed this
document approve and endorse it.
 
 

        Albert J. Paxton
        Major (USA) Ret.
        224 Paseo Del Volcan SW #621
        Albuquerque, NM 87121-8718
        (505)831-6027

©Copyright WAR CRIMES (CNN report on "Tailwind")Albert J. Paxton,  July
11, 1998

Note: You have permission use in any way you see fit as long as this
document is not misquoted or quoted out of context.

return