U.S. Panel Calls POWs’ Existence ‘Strong Possibility’

WASHINGTON — A government task force has found no hard evidence but believes there is a “strong possibility” that American servicemen from the Vietnam War are still being held prisoner in Southeast Asia, the head of the Defense Intelligence Agency said Tuesday.

“The prisoner of war-missing in action center should be clear that its largest analytical question is whether Americans remain alive in Southeast Asia against their will,” states the report by the task force.

“No one knows the answer to the question for sure. Based upon the body of information, there is a strong possibility of prisoners still being held.”

The findings of the group were released by Lt. Gen. Leonard H. Perroots, the Air Force general who heads the Defense Intelligence Agency. Perroots created the task force last spring to gain an independent assessment of his agency’s work on the POW-MIA issue.

False Hope Feared

Perroots, during a Pentagon briefing, said he could not adopt the panel’s conclusion that there was a “strong possibility” of live American prisoners in Southeast Asia. At one point, he expressed concern that it might raise false hopes among the families of missing American servicemen.

The report by the task force, which was headed by retired Lt. Gen. Eugene F. Tighe Jr., has been classified and was not released to reporters.