Navy pilot's fate now looks grim

(EXCERPT) , By Rowan Scarborough THE WASHINGTON TIMES

A secret Pentagon report states that once-promising leads in the hunt
for Capt. Michael Scott Speicher in Iraq have turned up no evidence of
his whereabouts, contradicting public official comments that the
search was producing positive results. The classified document also
cast serious doubt on the credibility of the Iraqi defector who first
raised hopes in the United States that the Navy pilot was alive and a
captive in Iraq after his plane was shot down in 1991.

The defector claims to have seen Capt. Speicher alive in 1998. But
Iraqis interviewed by U.S. investigators say he is lying, according to
the report prepared for Gen. Richard B. Myers, Joint Chiefs of Staff
chairman. The internal report, a copy of which was obtained by The
Washington Times, quotes one Iraqi as saying the defector is a "born
liar." U.S. officials are said to now have serious questions about the
unnamed defector's veracity. "No si...

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---------------------------
Otis Willie
Associate Librarian
The American War Library
http://www.americanwarlibrary.com