Re: Navy Says No Evidence Speicher Held in Captivity

Date: March 04, 2004

In 1991, Scott Speicher was declared dead within hours of his loss incident. The powers-that-be ignored this case for almost a decade. A small group of concerned Senators steadfastly lobbied for a review of the case, only to be politely thanked and dismissed. The familiy, friends and other concerned citizens could not believe that the case was backburnered and ignored. Then, after 10 years, Speicher's status was changed from KIA/BNR to Missing in Action in January 2001. Suddenly Washington, DeCeit, was floating stories, gabbing during press gaggles and obliquely inferring that the Gulf War pilot's case was one of consideration and concern... he may have survived his shootdown, there was evidence that his wreckage had been pilfered and staged, that human remains returned to the US were proven not to be his. The stories increased to a chorus culminating in the October 2002 change of status from Missing to Missing/Captured. All of this activity was concurrent to an escalating warning of Saddam Hussein's depravity and danger to humankind, not only the Iraqi and Kurdish people and the Middle East.

Between November 2002 and Spring 2003, the Speicher stories became more frequent, with live sightings, possible captivity in Baghdad, defectors speaking of a captured American and more. Then the war came, and just as quickly we are seeing a reversal of the whole thing... stories disappeared, reports and those making reports, discredited. And now, a Federal law enforcement agnecy, the FBI, is reviewing Speicher DNA materials and the Navy suddenly says there is no evidence and "anonymous sources" state that pre-war assertions by informants have been discredited.

It makes one wonder... was the fate of Scott Speicher, unaccounted-for, declared dead and ignored for almost a decade then suddenly Missing and then again Missing/Captured, really a question of the "highest national priority" and a search for a Missing American or was his case simply exploited and politicized for the mileage it provided in assisting the US to fast track to Baghdad? Now that Hussein has been deposed and the former regime relegated to history, will Commander Michael Scott Speicher once again be declared KIA/BNR or PFOD'd and relegated to some list of unaccounted-for personnel? It makes one wonder.

Today's News

"Navy chief says no evidence that missing pilot was ever in Iraqi hands

By ROBERT BURNS AP Military Writer

WASHINGTON -- Investigations in Iraq since the fall of Baghdad have found no evidence that missing Navy pilot Michael Scott Speicher was held in captivity after being shot down on the first night of the 1991 Gulf War, the Navy's top admiral said Tuesday.

U.S. officials have been interrogating Iraqis and searching throughout the country for evidence of Speicher's fate since the regime of Saddam Hussein was toppled by U.S. forces in early April last year.

Despite having found no evidence that the Iraqis captured Speicher, the Navy is sticking to its position, declared publicly in October 2002, that Speicher is "missing-captured," Clark said.

"We have not found out new specific intelligence revelations that have changed our fundamental conclusion," Adm. Vern Clark, the chief of naval operations, told reporters at a breakfast interview.

The Iraqi government under President Saddam Hussein maintained from the start that Speicher died in the crash on Jan. 17, 1991, although his body was not recovered.

Asked directly whether evidence had emerged to reinforce the theory that Speicher had been taken captive by the Iraqis, Clark said no. He said there is no evidence either for or against it.

Other officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Tuesday that prewar assertions by informants that Speicher had been seen in a prison in Baghdad have been discredited.

Nonetheless, the Navy is maintaining its position that Speicher is "missing-captured," Clark said.

The Navy has changed its position on Speicher's status over the years.

In October 2002 the Navy changed Speicher's status from missing in action to "missing-captured," although it has never said what evidence it has that he was in captivity. In announcing that decision, Navy Secretary Gordon England wrote at the time, "I have no evidence to conclude that Captain Speicher is dead. He also 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."

Hours after his plane when down, the Pentagon had declared Speicher killed in action, with no body recovered. But 10 years later, in January 2001, the Navy changed his status to MIA, citing an absence of evidence that he had died.

Clark said in the interview Tuesday that resolving the fate of Speicher is a high priority for the Navy.

"We do not have new intelligence that adds clarity and definition to what happened to him" after he was shot down, Clark said. "If you think about what I just told you, that tells you something about the discovery or lack of discovery."

Speicher was 33 when he was shot down. He held the rank of lieutenant commander at the time; he has since been promoted to captain.

© 2004 Pulitzer Newspapers, Inc. "