The POW/MIA issue won’t go away. There’s also an Opacity Problem in Journalism. Some Journalists are Dining in the Dark with Members of the United States Congress.

Vietnam is not a very popular topic in America these days. It has become another problem in the political arena to be sure, in more ways than you could imagine. Sydney Schanberg has written much about the Vietnam conflict and is considered to be an expert in his field. In 2010 he wrote a very sobering piece that turned conventional journalism upside down. Schanberg suggested that there is massive evidence of wrongdoing—McCain and the POW Cover-Up—and 1,205 Vietnam soldiers were left behind. To make matters even worse, these concerns could prove to be accurate.

Pulitzer Prize–winning reporter Sydney Schanberg is best known for his coverage of the war in Cambodia. He has also been the recipient of many other awards, and he was played by Sam Waterston in the 1984 The Killing Fields film. A more recent work is entitled Beyond the Killing Fields: War Writings, which is drawn from more than four decades of reporting at home and abroad for the New York Times.

Schanberg gives us 10 Key Pieces of Evidence That Men Were Left Behind; he lists ten critical arguments that are crucial to the POW/MIA issue. Manipulation in higher layers of government and media is quite obvious, if we just stand back and look at the big picture in a rational manner.

What we have witnessed with the media has been a gross distortion of reality, nothing near a true dimension of reality. Facts can and will be twisted into a state of manner which obfuscates the targeted issue. Journalism is by essence a craft of opacity.

The mainstream has intentionally hidden important details in the Post-Vietnam Era. John McCain was held captive in Vietnam himself, and there may be some very embarrassing moments that he doesn’t wish to share with the public. Moments like him breaking under pressure and submitting to the enemy, which was not apropos for a war hero at the time, or thereafter for that matter. McCain didn’t want his father to know of his deep humiliation, especially when father John “Jack” McCain was a United States Navy admiral, who served in conflicts from the 1940’s through the 1970’s.

“McCain died of a heart attack on a military aircraft en route from Europe on March 22, 1981. McCain was written about extensively in his son John’s 1999 memoir — Faith of My Fathers: A Family Memoir.”

Senator Bob Smith, a member of a certain committee, suggested that 10 members were trying to cover up evidence about Americans missing in Vietnam, including Senator John Kerry of Massachusetts and Senator John McCain of Arizona. From the New York Times:

After a July trip to Vietnam, Mr. Smith said at a news conference here that there now was “very compelling” evidence of live prisoners. “I can’t go into more detail,” he said, “but after the conversations I had with the Vietnamese, I can say again it’s compelling evidence.”

In the letter to Ms. Reno, he listed “potential Federal criminal violations” in four areas: “false testimony and statements” (which, he has said, means perjury), mail fraud, destruction of classified documents and improper classification procedures.

If we look at the US Senate Select Committee on POW/MIA Affairs, we will observe the prominent 12 members on the roster:

The 12 Senate Select Members

John Kerry, chairman and Vietnam veteran
Bob Smith, vice-chairman and Vietnam veteran
John McCain, seriously wounded Vietnam veteran and POW in North Vietnam
Bob Kerrey, seriously wounded Vietnam veteran and Medal of Honor recipient
Chuck Robb, Vietnam veteran
Hank Brown, Vietnam veteran
Chuck Grassley
Nancy Landon Kassebaum
Herb Kohl
Tom Daschle
Harry Reid
Jesse Helms

“Kohl replaced Dennis DeConcini, who was initially selected but then asked to be removed over the Keating Five scandal. Al Gore was the only Vietnam-era veteran who declined to participate.”

For those interested in more resources, An Enormous Crime: The Definitive Account of American POWs Abandoned in Southeast Asia is a great option to choose from.

And while we don’t have enough time to cover it in this post, the Keating Five affair was another scandal in which John McCain (Republican of Arizona) was involved in. Enough said.