From: "Lynn O'Shea"



National Alliance of Families

For The Return of America's Missing Servicemen

World War II - Korea - Cold War - Vietnam - Gulf War



Dolores Alfond - 425-881-1499

Lynn O'Shea --- 718-846-4350

Web Site http://www.nationalalliance.org

email -- lynn@nationalalliance.org



March 22, 2003

Bits N Pieces



God Bless and Protect Our Troops Deployed.

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The National Alliance of Families extends our deepest sympathy to the families of American and British Servicemen who lost their lives this week in "Operation Iraqi Freedom"

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Skewing The Results On February 20th, an anonymous fax was sent to the National Alliance of Families. Normally, such a fax are read with the roll of the eyes. In this case, however, the charges made are of such concern that we decided to investigate. Unfortunately, a well-placed source has confirmed the problems outlined in the fax.



According to the fax and confirmed by our source, the Life Science Lab at Brooks Air Force Base in San Antonio Texas is being denied casework. For those unfamiliar with the Life Science Lab, it is their job to analyze material recovered from excavation sites. They are the people who examine the scraps of cloth, the buttons, the pieces of metal and anything else recovered. Their findings are then included in the final report to the families.



According to the fax and confirmed by our source, JTF-FA management, not to be confused with the fine men and women out in the field, are either withholding casework or selectively submitting items recovered. According to our source, Life Science only reports on what is sent to them. They will not accept or report on photos of items. The item must be in their

hands for evaluation.



So, why would JTF-FA management refuse to submit casework or withhold selective items from the Life Science Lab?



The simple answer is another dumb move by those charged with accounting for our POW/MIAs. Failing to provide case work or withholding relevant artifacts, give the appearance of deception and leaves JTF-FA management open to criticism.



The more complicated answer, and certainly more disturbing is that there is a deliberate attempt, by JTF-FA management, to influence the outcome of a Life Science report, by withholding information and relevant artifacts.



We need to know if JTF-FA management is giving the appearance of deception or actively engaging in deception.



When we last spoke with our source, on March 14th, a resolution to the situation was expected but had not happened. This will be something we will be watching, closely.



Sadly, this fits in with another aspect of the POW/MIA issue, we are currently investigating. The families may not be the only ones that information is being withheld from.

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Senator Bill Nelson Believes Speicher Alive from Fox News March

6th "U.S. Senator Bill Nelson says new intelligence information

convinces him that missing Jacksonville pilot Scott Speicher is alive and being held prisoner in Iraq."



"Senator Nelson had a closed door meeting with intelligence agents

Wednesday. Speicher's status was changed by the Navy last year from 'Missing In Action' to 'Missing-Captured'. Nelson says he has spoken to military commanders who say Captain Speicher will be at the top of their list when they go to Iraq."

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Wherever Scott Speicher Is In Iraq the events of the last several days must be the equivalent of his Christmas 1972 bombing.

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Who's Looking For Speicher A new Special Unit, that's who! According to a Washington Times article by Bill Gertz, published the "Defense and intelligence agencies have formed a special unit that will go into Iraq to search for Capt. Michael Scott Speicher, a missing U.S. Navy pilot believed to have been held captive in Iraq since 1991. "



"Creating the special unit comes as U.S. intelligence agencies reported last week that an American pilot believed to be Capt. Speicher was spotted alive in Baghdad earlier this month. A classified intelligence report circulated to officials March 14 stated that Capt. Speicher was seen as he was being moved in Baghdad, although officials said the sighting could not be confirmed."



"The joint program by officials of the Defense Intelligence Agency, the CIA, U.S. Central Command and other agencies also will conduct a nationwide search of Iraq for terrorists and chemical, biological and nuclear weapons, said Lt. Cmdr. James Brooks, a DIA spokesman."



"The intelligence community has established a unit to do a country-wide discovery, exploitation and interrogation effort to identify and disrupt terrorist operations; and to identify, examine and eliminate [weapons of mass destruction]," Cmdr. Brooks said in a statement."



"Another function is to determine and resolve the fate of Capt. Speicher," Cmdr. Brooks said. Capt. Speicher was declared killed in action after his F-18 jet was shot down by a missile over Iraq on Jan. 17, 1991. Later, intelligence reports indicated that his plane had crash-landed and that Capt. Speicher had ejected. His flight suit was later found during a Red Cross mission to Iraq."



"Several intelligence reports from the 1990s also indicated that Iraq was holding an American pilot believed to be Capt. Speicher, and in 2001 the Navy reclassified him from killed in action to missing in action. In October, Navy Secretary Gordon England changed the status again to "missing in action, captured," effectively declaring Capt. Speicher a prisoner of war."



"The Navy determined at the time that wreckage from the F-18, the recovery of Capt. Speicher's flight suit, Iraqi tampering with the downed plane and recent intelligence "continues to suggest strongly that the government of Iraq can account for him."



"Baghdad has denied that it was holding Capt. Speicher and invited a U.S. team to visit Iraq last year to investigate. The Pentagon and State Department declined the offer. U.S. officials hope the ouster of Saddam Hussein in the U.S.-led war will produce definitive proof on whether Capt. Speicher is a prisoner or whether he died in captivity."



"Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld told reporters yesterday that finding terrorists and deadly unconventional weapons are among eight key U.S. objectives in Iraq. Mr. Rumsfeld said the United States hopes to "identify, isolate and eventually eliminate Iraq's weapons of mass destruction, their delivery systems, production capabilities, and distribution networks." U.S. forces also will "search for, capture, drive out terrorists who have found safe harbor in Iraq." The troops also will "collect such intelligence as we can find related to terrorist networks in

Iraq and beyond" and intelligence on "the global network of illicit weapons of mass destruction activity," the defense secretary said.



"Sen. Pat Roberts, Kansas Republican and chairman of the Senate

Intelligence Committee, said in an interview that he and other interested members of Congress have "come a long way from where we were," a reference to bureaucratic resistance to pursuing the Speicher case. "Every hearing we have, every [congressional delegation] we have, we always mention this issue," said Mr. Roberts, whom intelligence agencies brief regularly on the

Speicher case."



"The Kansas senator said the Pentagon's Defense Prisoner of War Missing Person Office and the DIA are working on a new assessment of the case, based on the numerous intelligence reports that indicate Iraq is holding an American pilot. "We're talking about a considerable number of people [in Iraq] who say they've seen an American POW," Mr. Roberts said."



"The senator said he is holding out hope for the day when "we see him getting off an airplane" as a free man.



Saddam has admitted holding some POWs for decades. On Tuesday, Iran and Iraq exchanged about 200 prisoners captured by each side during their eight-year war in the 1980s, according to reports from official Iranian and Iraqi news services."



"The Washington Times disclosed in March 2002 that U.S. intelligence agencies had new information indicating that Baghdad was holding an American pilot believed to be Capt. Speicher. A U.S. intelligence report produced in March 2001 stated that "we assess that Iraq can account for Capt. Speicher, but that Baghdad is concealing information about his fate."



"The report also stated that Capt. Speicher was "either captured alive or his remains were recovered and brought to Baghdad." It also concluded that Capt. Speicher "probably survived the loss of his aircraft, and if he survived, he almost certainly was captured by the Iraqis."

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Iraqi Objectives On Friday, March 21st, during a press briefing

Secretary of Defense Rumsfeld listed our goals in Iraq. The following is from a transcript of that briefing, provided by the Defense Department.



"On the president's order, coalition forces began the ground war to disarm Iraq and liberate the Iraqi people yesterday. And a few minutes ago, the air war in Iraq began."



"General Myers will provide some details on the progress of our operation, but first let me comment on the aims and objectives we have for the days ahead."



"Our goal is to defend the American people, and to eliminate Iraq's weapons of mass destruction, and to liberate the Iraqi people. Coalition military operations are focused on achieving

several specific objectives: to end the regime of Saddam Hussein by striking with force on a scope and scale that makes clear to Iraqis that he and his regime are finished."



"Next, to identify, isolate and eventually eliminate Iraq's weapons of mass destruction, their delivery systems, production capabilities, and distribution networks."



"Third, to search for, capture, drive out terrorists who have found safe harbor in Iraq."



"Fourth, to collect such intelligence as we can find related to terrorist networks in Iraq and beyond."



"Fifth, to collect such intelligence as we can find related to the global network of illicit weapons of mass destruction activity."



"Sixth, to end sanctions and to immediately deliver humanitarian relief, food and medicine to the displaced and to the many needy Iraqi citizens."



"Seventh, to secure Iraq's oil fields and resources, which belong to the Iraqi people, and which they will need to develop their country after decades of neglect by the Iraqi regime."



"And last, to help the Iraqi people create the conditions for a rapid transition to a representative self-government that is not a threat to its neighbors and is committed to ensuring the territorial integrity of that country."



On Saturday morning, March 22nd, General Tommy Franks, in his briefing repeated these goals.



We were disappointed yesterday, when Secretary Rumsfeld announced our Iraqi Objectives with no mention of Capt. Speicher. News of the formation of this special unit, gives hope that Capt. Speicher will be found. We wish the team great success on their mission.



We are also pleased to hear, as reported by Mr. Gertz, that Senator Roberts and other Congressional representatives are encountering less of the "bureaucratic resistance," in pursuing the Speicher case. We have long been concerned about the attitude pervading POW/MIA Offices with regard to the Speicher case.

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Missing Navy Pilot's Kin Look for Answers From the Associated Press, March 22nd, by Ron Word "The family of a Navy pilot shot down over Iraq in 1991 hopes the latest war against Saddam Hussein 's regime may help resolve lingering questions about what happened to the missing aviator."



"U.S. troops will be looking for evidence of Lt. Cmdr. Scott Speicher's fate as they move throughout Iraq, U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson said before the latest conflict began. Speicher and three other pilots flew off the USS Saratoga for a bombing run over Iraq on Jan. 17, 1991. Another FA-18 Hornet pilot saw a flash and lost sight of Speicher. "



"The next morning, the Defense Department announced that Speicher's plane had been downed by an Iraqi missile. The Pentagon has classified the pilot as "missing in action, captured"; Iraq officials said Speicher was killed in the crash."



"I know that we're going to be looking for him big time as we go into Iraq," Nelson said. "The flip side of that is if you're Saddam Hussein, and if you have Scott Speicher alive, you're probably going to use him for propaganda purposes or for some kind of shield. So, we just don't know."



"Nelson, a Florida Democrat and a member of the Senate Armed Services and Foreign Relations committees, has urged the Pentagon to make finding Speicher a priority. He has worked with Sen. Pat Roberts, a Kansas Republican, on the Speicher issue. "



"Lt. Cmdr. Paula Storum, a Navy spokeswoman in Washington, said she could not discuss operational details, but said, resolving Speicher's fate "is always a priority for the Navy and its leadership."



"An attorney for Speicher's relatives, Cindy A. Laquidara, said Wednesday that she could not discuss any possible rescue plans the government may have to free the pilot. She said the family would not be available for comment, fearing it might complicate his case. "Our goal is to bring Scott home after 12 years," she said."

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Senate Pass Resolution of Support for American Troops, President Bush and British Government the resolution passed on Thursday March 20th states:



"Whereas Saddam Hussein has failed to comply with the United

Nations Security Council Resolutions 678, 686, 687, 688, 707, 715, 949, 1051, 1060, 1115, 1134, 1137, 1154, 1194, 1205, 1284 and 1441;



Whereas the military action now underway against Iraq is lawful and fully authorized by the Congress in Sec. 3(a) of Public Law 107-243, which passed the Senate on Oct. 10, 2002, by a vote of 77-23, and which passed the House of Representatives on that same date by a vote of 296-133;



Whereas more than 225,000 men and women of the United States Armed Forces are now involved in conflict against Iraq;



Whereas over 200,000 members of the reserves and National Guard have been called to active duty for the conflict against Iraq and other purposes; and



Whereas the Congress and the American people have the greatest pride in the men and women of the United States Armed Forces, and the civilian personnel supporting them, and strongly support them in their efforts;



Now therefore be it resolved that the Senate:



(1) Commends and supports the efforts and leadership of the president, as commander in chief, in the conflict against Iraq;



(2) Commends, and expresses the gratitude of the nation to all members of the United States Armed Forces (whether on active duty, in the National Guard, or in the reserves) and the civilian employees who support their efforts, as well as the men and women of civilian national security agencies who are participating in the military operations in the Persian Gulf region, for their professional excellence, dedicated patriotism and exemplary bravery;



(3) Commends and expresses the gratitude of the nation to the family members of soldiers, sailors, airmen, Marines and civilians serving in operations against Iraq who have borne the burden of sacrifice and separation from their loved ones;



(4) Expresses its deep condolences to the families of brave Americans who have lost their lives in this noble undertaking, over many years, against Iraq;



(5) Joins all Americans in remembering those who lost their lives during Operation Desert Shield and Operation Desert Storm in 1991, those still missing from that conflict, including Capt. Scott Speicher, USN, and the thousands of Americans who have lost their lives in terrorist attacks over the years, and in the global war on terrorism; and



(6) Expresses sincere gratitude to British Prime Minister Tony Blair and his government for their courageous and steadfast support, as well as gratitude to other allied nations for their military support, logistical support and other assistance in the campaign against Saddam Hussein's regime."

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The National Alliance Of Families Fourteenth Annual Forum is scheduled for June 26th - 28th, 2003. Our forum is conducted to coincide with the Governments annual Vietnam POW/MIA Family Briefings. We urge all family members to attend this years government briefings. A separate briefing for Korean/Cold War families will be held in July. The government will provide free airfare to two family members to attend the government

briefings. There is no charge or registration fee to attend the government briefings and you do not have to belong to an organization to attend these briefings.



This year the Alliance meeting will be held at the Sheraton Crystal City located at 1800 Jefferson Davis Highway, in Arlington Va. Rate for single or double occupancy is $99.00 per night plus tax.



Many of you will remember this hotel from the previous Alliance meetings (1994 - 96). The hotel is located across the street from both the Crystal City Underground Food Court and the Metro Stop. The Sheraton is within walking distance of the hotel hosting the government briefings. The Alliance is working on transportation between hotels for those who prefer to ride. To make your reservations, call 703-486-1111 and remember to say you want the special National Alliance of Families rate.



The Alliance is an all volunteer organization. Our meetings are open to all, without charge. At this time of year, we actively seek contributions to finance our forum. If you wish to contribute, donations may be mailed to:



National Alliance Of Families

P.O. Box 40327

Bellevue, Wa. 98015.



Remember all contributions are tax deductible.



Lynn O'Shea

Director of Research

National Alliance of Families

For The Return of America's Missing Servicemen

World War II -- Korea -- Cold War -- Vietnam -- Gulf War