US Navy Pilot from Gulf War May Be a POW in Iraq
Investigative journalist Bill Gertz reports in The Washington Times that Navy Lt. Cmdr. Michael Speicher may be a Prisoner of War in Iraq, in captivity since The Gulf War. Speicher was declared dead in 1991 when his F-18 was shot down over Iraq. According to the article, The Department of Defense reclassified him as missing in action last year. The article went on to say:
A U.S. intelligence report from March 2001 stated: "We assess that Iraq can account for Cmdr. Speicher but that Baghdad is concealing information about his fate."
The report, ordered by the Senate Intelligence Committee, stated that Cmdr. Speicher "probably survived the loss of his aircraft, and if he survived, he almost certainly was captured by the Iraqis."