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SCMP Reporter

Circumstantial evidence could soon be used to cut the list of Americans still missing from the Vietnam War.

  It would mark the beginning of the end in Washington's controversial and costly hunt for bones.

   The Pentagon is considering using evidence other than actual remains to scrub names from the list of 2,128 US servicemen still classed as missing in Indo-China.

  The Defence Department said final decisions could be made by either the Joint Chiefs of Staff or the President.

 'We are having a good look at the situation, but any final move would have be taken at the top level. It could happen soon or never at all.

  'It is a significant and sensitive decision.'   News of a possible decision comes weeks ahead of the expected arrival of ex-prisoner of war Douglas Peterson as the first US ambassador to modern Vietnam.

   He will have a fresh mandate to keep the search for the missing the top priority in Washington's slowly thawing relationship with Vietnam.

  Any move to accept circumstantial evidence could delete about 600 names from the list overnight, those deemed 'unrecoverable'.

   The group involves pilots whose planes crashed far out to sea or soldiers killed in huge explosions.

   Major Barbara Claypool, of the Defence Department's joint taskforce, said the names remained on the list as missing even though their families had been told they would never be found. 'We are not exerting any effort on these cases, our priorities are elsewhere,' Major Claypool said.

   At present, a name can only be taken from the list once actual remains, such as bones or teeth, have been formally identified.

  It is a costly and lengthy process involving wide searches in Vietnam and extensive forensic analysis in Hawaii.

   Just 27 names were identified last year. A further six names have been taken from the list so far this year, after the analysis of remains from as far back as 1988.

   Up to US$18 million (HK$139.14 million) is spent on searches each year.



US considers accepting circumstantial evidence in MIA search