So much for vacation . . . We're back to address the recent sewage spill emanating from "unnamed Pentagon sources" who have, once again, duped members of the media. By presenting only selective portions of evidence, the media is now giving voice to the Pentagon's belief that Navy Captain Michael Scott Speicher was never held captive in Baghdad or anywhere else and died at or near his crash site and is buried in the desert of Iraq.

Over the last month, as this story developed, those inside the government trying to do a good job on the Speicher case and the POW/MIA issue in general must be experiencing the same level of frustration as we are regarding the latest comments from the Pentagon. We believe it is that high level of frustration that led one individual, a well-placed government source, to contact the National Alliance of Families.

As always, we will protect our source. We will not indicate if the source is male or female, civilian or military. We will simply refer to this individual as "Buddy." We will tell you Buddy is in a position to know . . . and Buddy's comments should be read very carefully.

Note: All comments from Buddy will be in italics to insure there is no confusion between Buddy's comments and material from Bits N Pieces

In the November 23^rd edition of Bits 'N' Pieces, we wrote: "Speicher's Gonna Get Screwed - The trial balloons are up. The anonymous sources are out in force. Even H. Bruce Franklin, author of MIA - Myth Making in America" has weighed in. "Speicher dead." "Speicher is almost certainly dead." "Survived the ejection but he died afterward." "All the signs . . . say he's dead." "It has not been resolved, and it may never be." Yep, Speicher gonna get screwed."

We wrote that after reading a Nov. 11 2002 Boston Globe article. We're not going to reprint the full article here, just several quotes from the article:

"Many intelligence and military officials assert that Speicher is almost certainly dead . . . "

"All the signs that the military has say he's dead . . . "

"There is a conflict between the evidence that says he's alive and the evidence that says he's not alive . . . "

"... Speicher appeared to have escaped his stricken Hornet, but what happened to him afterward remained unknown. "We think he survived the ejection but he died afterward . . ."

These quotes, some anonymous, some not, clearly indicate no one was looking for Speicher with an open mind.

Speicher has served his purpose. It is time to KOP (Kill on Paper) him, once again. So, by providing the media with half-truths, the general public is now reading headlines like "U.S. Search For Missing Gulf War Pilot Focuses On Crash Site" and stories that begin "U.S. investigators searching in Iraq for clues to the fate of missing Navy pilot Michael Scott Speicher, shot down on the opening night of the 1991 Gulf War, have returned to an early hypothesis: that he died at or near the site where his F-18 fighter crashed."

According to various articles published over the last several days, the Pentagon is basing this "shift" of position on the following:

The initial's M S S found in a Baghdad cell do not belong to Michael Scott Speicher

DNA testing done on material taken from the cell does not match Scott Speicher.

Information provided by a source, who passed his polygraph, putting Speicher in that cell

could not be confirmed.

While Pentagon sources say the search continues in Baghdad, the new focus of the investigation is the crash site.

Speicher was never a POW, never held in Baghdad, died and was buried at/or near his crash site. That was the thinking in 1995, the thinking last November, and that is the thinking today.

The Pentagon has discredited the sighting of Speicher in Hakimiyah Prison.

What about the other sighting? The Pentagon has not explained away the sighting of by an Iraqi defector who escaped to Jordan telling American investigators that in the first days of the war, he had driven an American pilot from the desert to Baghdad and the authorities. The pilot, he says, was alive, alert, and wearing a flight suit. The defector pointed Speicher out in a photo lineup, and passed two lie detector tests.

With regard to the Live Sighting in the Hakimiyah Prison, our well-placed Government Source, referred to as Buddy states: "the source in question claimed a long time ago that he had seen Speicher in the early 1990's and may have been the one that passed two polygraphs; however, some folks claim he was not telling the truth. In the meantime, there have been a number of different sources who claimed that Speicher was alive and being moved between facilities, which they identified. Some of those sources were deemed to be entirely credible, while others had no reason or motivation to lie."

"I am afraid that questions within the Government about the credibility of one source have tainted reporting by others."

According to Buddy: "For them to intimate that there has been only one source is totally wrong - there have been many, and the one they are claiming was less than credible passed the polygraph. Each of the sources that reported on Speicher put him in a different location or indicated that he was moving between locations. The more credible of those sources [four (4) words that might give an indication as to Buddy's identity] indicated that Speicher was held three floors below ground and in that facility for years; the prison belonged to the Iraqi Intelligence Service (SIS); there was also Special Security Organization (SSO) involvement in control of the prisons."

"The one source that claimed to have been held with Speicher and fed him on a daily basis stated they had been held for 10 years in the underground prison; that individual was released and left Iraq. "

Buddy also told us: "The individual that reported feeding the pilot was talking to an individual outside Iraq when he made the claim, and the U.S. side never interviewed him."

"Another source said Speicher had a scar on his face from the aircraft loss incident, and that he walked with a slight limp."

"Another source put him in another prison facility in downtown Baghdad, and underground, to which access was limited to a small number of people. These many, many source reports did not come from a single source, and there is no way they can claim the information is bogus."

"Now, as I stated earlier [four (4) words removed to protect the source] to you, if all or most of the folks working the Speicher issue actually believed that he died when his aircraft crashed, then they would be quick to say that the source information is bogus, and I think that is what you are seeing."

"What is the one piece of evidence that would help to determine whether Speicher got out of the aircraft alive or not? Obviously, the flight suit would be a good indicator. What have you heard about the analysis of the flight suit - nothing."

"I have always held the position that if there was one iota of evidence that Speicher was alive (for example, one source promised to provide a picture of Speicher in his prison cell), there would be just cause to invade Iraq."

"But Speicher was not a priority; too many people believed he died in 1991. After the invasion, CENTCOM said to the invaders, "Oh by the way, when you enter the prisons, look for Speicher."

"The Bush Administration never considered the fate of Speicher as it moved towards invasion of Iraq, or it never never have let the military bomb anywhere near any of the prisons where he might have been held, and the military would never have bombed a convoy moving west towards Syria for fear of killing Speicher, if he was being moved. They thought high ranking Iraqi officials were in the convoy, which was not true."

"I could go on and on Lynn, but you can see through the smoke and mirrors and the spin - those in Government who should have led the charge all along to account for Speicher have been swayed by the naysayers or on their own have come to believe that he died long ago."

"No one has been willing to stand up and demand an answer from Iraq. It still comes down to the question: A number of sources reported that Saddam planned to use Speicher as a bargaining chip - what did that mean before, and what does it mean now, if anything?"

"Don't be misled by those who would pooh pooh the Speicher reporting."

With regard to the issue of polygraph (lie detector) testing, the source placing Speicher in Hakimiyah Prison passed his polygraph. Two of the individuals, the source stated could confirm his report, denied it and passed their polygraphs. Someone is lying.

The question is who is lying and why has the Pentagon assumed it is the source of the Speicher sighting. This is especially important after U.S. investigators have admitted that captured Iraqis have proved very adept at beating the polygraph, telling lies shown by the polygraph as being truthful. Yet, the Pentagon gives weight to the captured Iraqis over the Iraqi defector.

According to Buddy: " The report just leaves too many questions unanswered, such as use of polygraph, especially if everyone knows that it is not effective with the Iraqis; and now CIA is to polygraph the same individuals - pretty soon it will be one polygrapher's word against another, and who is to say that CIA will do any better - [three (3) words redacted to protect source] the President of the American Polygrapher's Association [four (4) words redacted to protect the source] polygraph was only 70% reliable anyway; other sources that claimed that 2314 was lying, when no one would reasonably expect Iraqis to come forward to report on Speicher;"

"Tariq Aziz, who has claimed that he was out of the inner circle so did not know about Speicher, but did claim that it was his understanding that Speicher died during the loss of his aircraft - he was not one of the few persons reported to have access to Speicher anyway. And so on."

"I am not impressed that journalists, members of the DIA team and others reported to be looking for Speicher are busting their buns to do so."

Initial Not Speicher's and No DNA Match - The Pentagon reported that samples of genetic material taken from the cell containing the initials M S S do not match samples for Scott Speicher. Therefore, Speicher was never in that cell and he did not make the initials M S S.

That is certainly possible. But, lets look at another possibility. A possibility the Pentagon and media have ignored.

With regard to the cell, Senator Bill Nelson (D-FL) described it as a "hell-hole." Various articles described its rest room facilities as a hole in the ground with a drain over it. From our understanding, and we could be wrong on this, the hair tested came from that drain.

The source put Speicher in that cell in the mid-90's. Do we have absolute proof that no one else occupied that cell after Speicher. Is it not possible that Speicher's genetic material may have been wash away by whatever other genetic material followed it through the drain and into that hole?

How does the failure of a DNA match prove Speicher was not in that cell? Is it not possible Speicher was in that cell, and left his initials but that his genetic material did not survive in the cell? We are not even going to get into the question of the Speicher reference sample taken, we are told, from hair found in a razor.

The basic question is how does the absence of a DNA match absolutely proved Speicher was never in that cell?

According to Buddy: "I think you see what is happening with the Government responses, to wit: there is no evidence of this or that. There is a reason for that. Since Speicher became an issue in the mid-1990's, the position of those in the issue assigned responsibility to determine his fate has been that he was lost in the aircraft crash in 1991."

"So they can say well in advance of any investigation that there is no evidence of his being alive, since they maintain he died previously. Does that make sense? If no one believed in the DNA evidence, again, how could there be such evidence if he died, they would be willing to say rather quickly that there was no evidence he was held in the cell. There is also good reporting to the effect that he would not have been held in the cell in question anyway."

"Tantamount to giving lip service to the hunt for Speicher, sort of giving up before you get started."

Buddy also reminded us of a piece written by Bill Gertz, of the Washington Times, on 5 July 2002, - "The Pentagon's Defense Prisoner of War/Missing Personnel Office is on the hot seat. Critics say the office is dragging its feel in responding to an Iraqi government offer to allow a delegation of U.S. officials to go to Iraq and investigate the case of missing Navy pilot Lt. Cmdr. Michael Scott Speicher."

According to Buddy: "This essentially reflects the Government position that if he died in 1991, why respond to the Iraqis?

Gertz also quoted Senator Bill Nelson as saying, "It's apparent that we, as a nation, haven't done all we can to find out what happened to Scott Speicher."

The Mindset To Debunk Lives - that was our position last year, after our meeting at DPMO, and recent events have done nothing to change our opinion. The mindset was and is Speicher is dead and any evidence that indicates otherwise will be twisted, edited or ignored to fit the governments 1991 conclusion that Scott Speicher is dead.

According to Buddy: " Further interviews in Baghdad of former Iraqi officials have failed to surface any information as to the status of Speicher, but have revealed the names of a number of other officials who would know what happened to him. If the team remains vigilant in its pursuit of information on Speicher, they will find out what happened to him, or determine where he is."

We have to wonder how seriously any new leads will be taken? We wonder what the status of those interviews are?

We're Not The Only Ones - Senator Bill Nelson (D-FL) is highly critical over the latest developments in the Speicher case. The following is excerpted from the Jacksonville Times Union, by Rachel Davis. Unfortunately, this article has not had the same wide distribution, as the articles claiming Speicher is dead and buried at or near the crash site.

"U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson yesterday said he was angered by what he characterized as ''negative leaks'' from the Pentagon about the fate of missing Navy pilot Scott Speicher."

"Citing senior military sources, NBC reported Tuesday that investigators found nothing in Iraqi documents to suggest Speicher was taken prisoner or is alive, and ''all but concluded that Speicher died of his injuries'' when his plane was shot down. The report also said his body was buried in the desert and discounted Iraqi sources who claimed Speicher was in custody. Nelson called the report ''incorrect information'' and said the search for Speicher will continue until his whereabouts are determined.

''I think there is somebody in the Pentagon that is trying to kill the effort to find Speicher, and I do not like it one bit,'' said Nelson, D-Fla...."

"Nelson is briefed on intelligence relating to the Speicher case regularly and was apprised of the latest information last week by Maj. Gen. Keith Dayton, who is conducting the investigation in Iraq. Concerned with how misinformation might affect the investigation, Nelson said he contacted both the chairman and vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff to express his discontent."

"Speicher's F/A-18 fighter was shot down over Iraq the opening night of the Gulf War. He initially was declared killed in action, but his status later was changed to missing after intelligence reports suggested he might have survived the crash."

"The Navy changed his status again last year to missing-captured, a label similar to prisoner of war....." [Note: this reporter got it right. "Missing-captured, a label similar to prisoner of war." We'll be addressing this again in the future.]

Enough Is Enough - it's time to let the White House know we are not happy with the handling of the Speicher Case. So, as we did back on March 16^th 2002, the National Alliance of Families is, once again, declaring a "Bring Scott Speicher Home Week."

Beginning Monday August 18^th through Friday August 22^nd we ask that everyone who reads this to make a call to the White House at 202-456-1111 and express their dissatisfaction with the handling of the Speicher case.

It is obvious, as Senator Nelson has stated, "there is somebody in the Pentagon that is trying to kill the effort to find Speicher." We can not tolerate the continued mindset to debunk.

Remember: more attention is paid to calls and faxes.

And let them know, we don't want our comments and questions passed off to the Pentagon or agencies within the Pentagon such as DPMO. They are a big part of the problem. This is a White House problem. They must address the mindset that exists among those handling the Speicher investigation.

The White Home must address Senator Nelson's concern that "there is somebody in the Pentagon that is trying to kill the effort to find Speicher." Allowing the Pentagon to address this matter, is like allowing the bank robber to be his own judge and jury.

The White House needs to independently investigate what is going on with the Speicher case.

This newsletter reaches an enormous number of individuals either by direct email, forwarded email or fax. We should be able to generate a tremendous amount of calls and if we can't, well shame on us.

We need, NO, Scott Speicher needs every one of you to make the call, send a fax or email. We must keep the pressure on.

We've issued the challenge to make that call. If the White House is flooded with calls, faxes and email's, they will know Scott Speicher is #1 priority. If only a few of us make the calls, that will tell them the Scott Speicher and all other POWs and MIAs are really not a priority. We need to send a message. That message will be measured in the number of calls made or not made. Don't let this opportunity pass..... please make your calls, send your faxes and email's.

Our source Buddy Says:

"I am afraid that questions within the Government about the credibility of one source have tainted reporting by others."

"Don't be misled by those who would pooh pooh the Speicher reporting."

"I am not impressed that journalists, members of the DIA team and others reported to be looking for Speicher are busting their buns to do so."

"Tantamount to giving lip service to the hunt for Speicher, sort of giving up before you get started."

Senator Bill Nelson Says:

''I think there is somebody in the Pentagon that is trying to kill the effort to find Speicher, and I do not like it one bit,''

If Senator Nelson had more experience in the POW/MIA issue, he wouldn't think "there is somebody in the Pentagon that is trying to kill the effort to find Speicher," he'd know it.

In our last Bits we quoted a readers comment "Nelson is impatient..." I hope he gets throughly pissed enough to recognize what's been going on for decades..."

As for Nelson getting "Pissed," we think he's there!

Does Anyone Doubt.... We Need H. RES 103 - As of this date we have 17 co-sponsors in addition to Congressman King, who introduced the resolution. We need to move this legislation and now is the time to do it! Remember to call, fax or write your Congressional Representative and ask that he support H. RES 103 to establish in the "House of Representatives a Select Committee to be known as the Select Committee POW and MIA Affair."

According to the legislation: "The select committee shall conduct a full investigation of all unresolved matters relating to any United States personnel unaccounted for from the Vietnam era, the Korean conflict, World War II, Cold War Missions, or Gulf War, including MIA's and POW's."

We have posted a list of all 435 Congressional Representatives, along with phone and fax numbers. You can find the list at http://www.nationalalliance.org/leg/list.htm Just find your state and look for your Congressional Representative. If you represent a statewide organization, contact all your Representatives.

Congress is in recess for most of the month of August. This means that many Congressional Representatives will be back in their home districts. All have district offices. Now is the time to make a visit to the local office. Then make your call and send your faxes, and if you have already done that.... do it again!

This is very important and we need your help

Quotes to Remember:

A member of the military, involved in the POW/MIA issue... "I told my [redacted] that if I ever go missing.... hire someone to find me."

Buddy: "I am not impressed that journalists, members of the DIA team and others reported to be looking for Speicher are busting their buns to do so."

Senator Nelson: ''I think there is somebody in the Pentagon that is trying to kill the effort to

find Speicher, and I do not like it one bit,''

National Alliance of Families: "Why does Johnie Webb still have a job?"

With these quotes in mind.... remember our troops deployed worldwide.....

If You're Not Listening Your Missing Out - Did you know that every Sunday The American Freedom Network broadcasts POW/MIA Radio from 3:00 PM - 6:00 PM Mountain time (that's 5:00 PM - 8 PM Eastern and 2:00 PM - 5 PM Pacific Time.)

The show, hosted by Rod Utech, presents an hour of "news and views" and devotes two hours to guests knowledgeable on POW/MIA matters, from all wars and on other veteran related issues.

You can listen to POW/MIA radio over the internet by clicking on to http://www.americanewsnet.com and following the Radio links. POW/MIA Radio also broadcasts on satellite and locally on KHNC-AM, 1360khz, Johnstown, Colorado.