News-Info-Alerts

Re: Speicher Stories

To: ALL

From: Andi Wolos & Bob Necci

(POW-MIA InterNetwork)

Date: November 09, 2002

3 Stories

"Speicher Bill offers incentive to help POWs

By Paul Pinkham
Times-Union staff writer
President Bush has signed the Speicher Bill into law, granting asylum to any Middle Eastern national who returns an American prisoner of war from Desert Storm, the White House said yesterday.

The bill, approved overwhelmingly by both houses of Congress, is named for Navy Capt. Scott Speicher of Jacksonville, unaccounted for since his plane was shot down over Iraq on the first night of Desert Storm in 1991.

The law also applies to any future conflict with Iraq and expands a similarly worded 2000 bill that applied to POWs in Southeast Asia. It provides for the International Broadcasting Bureau, which includes the Voice of America, to broadcast information about the law in the Middle East. It excludes terrorists, criminals or others deemed a risk to U.S. security.

"This legislation aims to persuade foreign nationals to take necessary and sometimes risky steps needed to return any surviving American POW/MIA from the Persian Gulf War by providing those who cooperate, and their families, with asylum," said U.S. Sen. Ben Nighthorse Campbell, R-Colo., who sponsored the legislation.

The bill's co-sponsor, Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Fla., said the legislation "might just be the additional incentive someone might need to defect. You never want to leave any stone unturned."

The new law comes as Bush seeks United Nations backing to use force to disarm Iraqi President Saddam Hussein.

"I greatly appreciate President Bush's support in continuing the effort to find out what happened to Capt. Scott Speicher," said U.S. Rep. Ander Crenshaw of Jacksonville. "In an ideal world, Saddam Hussein would tell us what happened to Capt. Speicher. Instead, Saddam has chosen to seal Scott's fate in secrecy. This law encourages the truth to come forward."

Speicher was declared killed in action immediately after his disappearance but questions lingered about his fate after military investigators found wreckage of his FA-18 Hornet in 1995. That discovery led the Central Intelligence Agency to conclude Speicher probably survived being shot down and was captured by Iraq.

Based on that report and information from Iraqi defectors, the Navy changed Speicher's status to missing in action last year, then to missing-captured, a nearly identical designation to POW, this month. Iraq says Speicher died but hasn't produced his remains.

Cindy Laquidara, attorney for Speicher's family in Orange Park, said the new legislation is important because it recognizes that "we've left someone behind."

"It may shake out additional intelligence. It may help additional people come forward," Laquidara said.

Laquidara said she recently spoke to an Iraqi defector who provided "favorable information" about Speicher's fate. The defector is not anyone who has been reported to have spoken to intelligence agencies over the years, she said. She wouldn't elaborate further on the discussion.

Though pleased with the new legislation, Laquidara said the family is upset that the United States isn't pressing the U.N. harder on the POW issue. Bush mentioned Speicher's plight in his speech to the U.N., and returning Desert Storm POWs are mentioned in the U.N. resolution on Iraq, but Laquidara said the issue hasn't been discussed in the recent debate. In addition to Speicher, there are hundreds of Kuwaiti and Iraqi servicemen unaccounted for.

"We can resolve this issue if it's important," Laquidara said.

Staff writer Paul Pinkham can be reached at (904) 359-4107 or ppinkhamjacksonville.com.

© The Florida Times-Union "

"Speicher's new status doesn't right a wrong
A DEMOCRAT EDITORIAL

While it is encouraging that the Navy last week changed the status of Lt. Cmdr. Scott Speicher from missing in action to missing-captured, it does not absolve the U.S. government of failing for years to do more to determine the flier's fate.

Mr. Speicher, a Florida State University graduate who was listed as the first U.S. casualty of the Persian Gulf War, was shot down in his FA-18 Hornet over western Iraq during one of the first sorties of the 1991 conflict. For 10 years, he was listed as killed in action, despite reason to suspect that the Navy pilot from Jacksonville survived the crash of his jet fighter. Iraq had returned to the United States human remains that DNA tests proved were not Mr. Speicher's. Moreover, intelligence reports indicated that the Iraqis, who maintain that the pilot was killed, took an injured flier into captivity.

Last year the Navy changed his status to missing in action in the face of mounting intelligence that he didn't die in the crash of his aircraft. The latest change, while hopeful news for Mr. Speicher's friends and family, does not alter the fact that the government failed to do everything it could to locate and possibly rescue the downed flier, if he indeed survived."

"Nation: Navy changes downed Gulf War pilot's status

 By MATT KELLEY, Associated Press

WASHINGTON (October 12, 2002 5:04 p.m. EDT) - The U.S. Navy on Friday declared Gulf War pilot Michael Scott Speicher was captured by Iraq, saying there's no evidence the officer is dead.

Two senators suggested there is new, classified evidence indicating Speicher is alive inside Iraq.

Speicher originally was declared dead after his F/A-18 was shot down the opening night of the Gulf War in 1991. But the military changed his status to missing in action a decade later, given the absence of evidence he was killed in the crash.

Iraq claims Speicher was killed, but has not turned over any remains. Navy Secretary Gordon England on Friday changed Speicher's official status to missing/captured.

"I have no evidence to conclude that Captain Speicher is dead," England wrote.

"While the information available to me now does not prove definitively that Captain Speicher is alive and in Iraqi custody, I am personally convinced the Iraqis seized him sometime after his plane went down. Further, it is my firm belief that the government of Iraq knows what happened to Captain Speicher."

A spokeswoman for Joanne Harris, Speicher's wife, said the officer's family was pleased with the change.

"We think it is about time. We asked for this change more than a year ago," said Cindy Laquidara, a Jacksonville attorney who speaks for Harris.

"When you leave somebody behind, the passage of time does not make a difference," she said. "It should not be up to the serviceman to prove he is alive."

Sen. Pat Roberts, R-Kan., said in a statement Friday he believes Speicher is indeed alive. Roberts came to that conclusion last month after getting a series of classified briefings on the case, said spokeswoman Sarah Ross. "A lot of that is based on intelligence information and a general hunch," Ross said.

Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Fla., said an Iraqi defector told officials that 11 years ago he drove a wounded American pilot to a hospital.

"He was a credible witness," said Nelson, who said the man had given information on other topics that was correct. He had also passed a polygraph exam, Nelson said.

Roberts, Nelson and other members of congress had pressed the Pentagon to declare Speicher a prisoner of war. England wrote that the captured designation means that "if alive, he's a prisoner of war."

"This change in status adds credibility and urgency to efforts to secure Capt. Scott Speicher's release," Roberts said. "It sends a symbolic message to the Iraqis, to other adversaries and most important to the men and women of the armed forces that we will accept nothing less than full disclosure of circumstances surrounding the missing and captured."

Some in the Navy had worried that declaring Speicher captured would be seen as a political move as part of President Bush's drive to win support for possible military action against Saddam Hussein. England deliberately waited to approve the change until after Congress had given Bush the authority he sought to take military action in Iraq, according to a defense official who spoke on condition of anonymity.

Though not mentioning Speicher by name, Bush has referred in several recent speeches to a U.S. pilot still missing in Iraq.

There is no known physical evidence that Speicher was captured, but U.S. intelligence agencies believe it is a possibility.

Last year, U.S. intelligence agencies said in a report to the Senate Intelligence Committee that Speicher probably ejected from his plane and survived the shootdown. "We assess Lt. Cmdr. Speicher was either captured alive or his remains were recovered and brought to Baghdad," the report said. In either case, the Iraqi government has concealed information about his fate, it said.

In July, the State Department sent a diplomatic note through the International Committee of the Red Cross asking whether the Iraqi government can offer new details about Speicher.

In a July 8 letter to Secretary of State Colin Powell, Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld said he agreed with Powell's suggestion that a note be delivered "to confirm Iraq's intention to provide new information."

In March, Iraq offered to meet with U.S. officials in Baghdad to discuss the case.

A U.S. excavation team visited the crash site in 1995, finding aircraft debris but no human remains. U.S. officials have said the site was tampered with because reconnaissance photos showed part of the plane removed, then returned, before the excavation team arrived.

The team "determined that the cockpit area had been expertly excavated" before the team's arrival, and "all significant cockpit debris was removed," England wrote. "

"Pilot is now considered captured
October 12, 2002

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The U.S. Navy yesterday declared Gulf War pilot Michael Scott Speicher was captured by Iraq, saying there's no evidence the officer is dead.

Two senators suggested there is new, classified evidence indicating Speicher is alive inside Iraq.

Speicher originally was declared dead after his F/A-18 was shot down the opening night of the Gulf War in 1991. But the military changed his status to missing in action a decade later, given the absence of evidence he was killed in the crash.

Iraq claims Speicher was killed, but has not turned over any remains. Navy Secretary Gordon England yesterday changed Speicher's official status to missing/captured.

''I have no evidence to conclude that Captain Speicher is dead,'' England wrote.

''While the information available to me now does not prove definitively that Captain Speicher is alive and in Iraqi custody, I am personally convinced the Iraqis seized him sometime after his plane went down. Further, it is my firm belief that the government of Iraq knows what happened to Captain Speicher.''

A spokeswoman for Joanne Harris, Speicher's wife, said the officer's family was pleased with the change.

''We think it is about time. We asked for this change more than a year ago,'' said Cindy Laquidara, a Jacksonville attorney who speaks for Harris.

''When you leave somebody behind, the passage of time does not make a difference,'' she said. ''It should not be up to the serviceman to prove he is alive.''

Sen. Pat Roberts, R-Kan., said in a statement yesterday he believes Speicher is indeed alive. Roberts came to that conclusion last month after getting a series of classified briefings on the case, said spokeswoman Sarah Ross.

''A lot of that is based on intelligence information and a general hunch,'' Ross said.

Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Fla., said an Iraqi defector told officials that 11 years ago he drove a wounded American pilot to a hospital.

''He was a credible witness,'' said Nelson, who said the man had given information on other topics that was correct. He had also passed a polygraph exam, Nelson said.

Roberts, Nelson and other members of Congress had pressed the Pentagon to declare Speicher a prisoner of war. England wrote that the captured designation means that ''if alive, he's a prisoner of war.''

''This change in status adds credibility and urgency to efforts to secure Capt. Scott Speicher's release,'' Roberts said. ''It sends a symbolic message to the Iraqis, to other adversaries and most important to the men and women of the armed forces that we will accept nothing less than full disclosure of circumstances surrounding the missing and captured.''

Some in the Navy had worried that declaring Speicher captured would be seen as a political move as part of President Bush's drive to win support for possible military action against Saddam Hussein. England deliberately waited to approve the change until after Congress had given Bush the authority he sought to take military action in Iraq, according to a defense official who spoke on condition of anonymity.

Though not mentioning Speicher by name, Bush has referred in several recent speeches to a U.S. pilot still missing in Iraq.

There is no known physical evidence that Speicher was captured, but U.S. intelligence agencies believe it is a possibility.

Last year, U.S. intelligence agencies said in a report to the Senate Intelligence Committee that Speicher probably ejected from his plane and survived the shootdown.

''We assess Lt. Cmdr. Speicher was either captured alive or his remains were recovered and brought to Baghdad,'' the report said. In either case, the Iraqi government has concealed information about his fate, it said.

In July, the State Department sent a diplomatic note through the International Committee of the Red Cross asking whether the Iraqi government can offer new details about Speicher.

In a July 8 letter to Secretary of State Colin Powell, Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld said he agreed with Powell's suggestion that a note be delivered ''to confirm Iraq's intention to provide new information.''

In March, Iraq offered to meet with U.S. officials in Baghdad to discuss the case.

A U.S. excavation team visited the crash site in 1995, finding aircraft debris but no human remains. U.S. officials have said the site was tampered with because reconnaissance photos showed part of the plane removed, then returned, before the excavation team arrived.

The team ''determined that the cockpit area had been expertly excavated'' before the team's arrival, and ''all significant cockpit debris was removed,'' England wrote.

©The Morning Journal 2002 "