POW's left behind Betrayed by our government.

[kell490]

Originally Posted by NJGOAT

During WW2 at the Tehran Conference it was agreed by both sides to repatriate all POW's/citizens that were liberated. In order to carry favor with Stalin, within that arrangement FDR agreed to include Russians who had chosen to fight on Germay's side during the war. In general these were certain Cossacks, White Russians who had fled during the Revolution, etc.

The US and Britain ultimately pulled back on this agreement. While the majority were sent back (as were the majority of allied POW's the Soviets found) many were retained as assets by the US and Britain. In return the Soviets kept some allied POW's, in particular those they deemed as most useful given their skills or those who were descended from White Russians that had fled to the US. The estimate is that there were approximately 500 allied POW's retained by the Soviets.

Over the course of the Cold War many other Americans found themselves as Soviet POW's. There were the captured crews of downed spy planes, prisoners taken in Korea and Vietnam that had technical skills the Soviets wanted, etc. Of course, there were plenty of Soviets held by the US as well. "Black Op" sites are not an invention of the war on terror.

As for the money for prisoners deal, that is a theory postulated by some of the more hardcore MIA people. The truth is that no such offer was ever made. This site breaks down the theory and contains the text of the actual letter:

The Nixon Letter

Please be aware that the video you watched, for the most part, is theory masquerading as fact.

I did find it very strange in the video they claim 3.25 billion was offered to the Vietnamese when in 1970 money that was a enormous amount which I find it very hard to believe that would have ever been offered to Vietnam. I could see 50 - 100 million 3.25 billion seemed little high to me.


As far as WW2 is considered I have never heard of "Soviet POW's being held against their will by Americans" I could see Soviet who defect to America that is a possibility.

[NJGOAT]

Originally Posted by kell490

I did find it very strange in the video they claim 3.25 billion was offered to the Vietnamese when in 1970 money that was a enormous amount which I find it very hard to believe that would have ever been offered to Vietnam. I could see 50 - 100 million 3.25 billion seemed little high to me.

As far as WW2 is considered I have never heard of "Soviet POW's being held against their will by Americans" I could see Soviet who defect to America that is a possibility.

I never said they were held against their will. They were people Stalin wanted returned to the Soviet Union for various reasons. The US and Britain provided asylum to some of them that were of use, despite previously agreeing to return all such people to the Soviet Union. Since those people were not all returned, Stalin continued to hold a handful of western allied POW's. It was a "tit-for-tat" situation.

[OpanaPointer]

The Zaporozhye Cossacks sided with the Germans against the Soviets. The Great Stalin wanted them back "for the encouragement of others" as the French say.