GREEN BERET CASE Abrams’s Part In Charges

Press, Volume CIX, Issue 32099, 22 September 1969, Page 16

GREEN BERET CASE Abrams’s Part In Charges

(N.Z. Press Association—Copyright) SAIGON, September 21. General Creighton Abrams, the United States Military Commander in Vietnam, said yesterday that he did not think the murder case involving eight Green Berets would adversely affect the future of the elite army unit.

“I don’t see the future of the Green Berets as being involved in the outcome of the case," General Abrams said. “I think they will continue doing the fine job they’ve done in the past.” General Abrams’s comments to reporters as he arrived at a Prime. Minister’s reception in Saigon, marked a public break in silence on the sensational case by the commander who, by some accounts, has been closely involved in the Army’s decision to press it

General Abrams refused to comment on the details of the case in which six Special Forces officers, including the former commander of all Green Berets in Vietnam, are accused of murder and conspiracy to murder a Vietnamese man last June 20. The victim allegedly was a double agent working for the Americans and the North Vietnamese. Meanwhile United Press International reported that General Abrams might be cited for the military equivalent of contempt of court in the case, sources close to the defence said. They said such a move would come in the form of an accusation that he used his influence in the Army’s decision to court-martial the six United States Special Forces officers. In iailitary terms, it would be known as "command influence.” A source intimate with the defence said General Abrams insisted the men be tried during his recent visit to Washington for talks with President Nixon.

Sources close to both defence and the Central Intelligence Agency have indicated that General Abrams played a primary role in the original charges brought against the Green Berets.