Michael Scott Speicher Updated 02 August 2009 August 2, 2009 Source:  CNN   WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The remains of the first American shot down in the 1991 Persian Gulf War have been uncovered, the U.S. Department of Defense announced Sunday. Navy Capt. Michael Speicher's remains have been identified, the U.S. military announced Sunday. U.S. Navy Capt. Michael "Scott" Speicher was shot down in an F/A-18 Hornet on January 17, 1991, the first night of the war. The announcement early Sunday of the discovery of Speicher's remains ends more than 18 years of speculation about whether Speicher may have survived the crash and been held captive, or died in captivity in the ensuing years.  "Our thoughts and prayers are with Capt. Speicher's family for the ultimate sacrifice he made for his country," Navy Secretary Ray Mabus said in a statement. "I am also extremely grateful to all those who have worked so tirelessly over the last 18 years to bring Capt. Speicher home." An Iraqi civilian told U.S. forces in Iraq in early July about the location of the crash that killed Speicher, according to the statement. U.S. Marines in Anbar province went to the site and spoke to another Iraqi who told them he witnessed Bedouins burying Speicher's remains in the desert after the crash, the statement said. A search of the area uncovered the remains, which were flown to Dover Air Base last week and positively identified as Speicher's by the Armed Forces Institute of Pathology, the statement said. Recovered remains included bones and skeletal fragments, and positive identification was made by comparing Speicher's dental records with a jawbone recovered at the site, the statement said. Speicher was a lieutenant commander when shot down, but because his status remained uncertain, he received promotions during the past 18 years, reaching the rank of captain.  He was originally listed as "Killed-In-Action/Body-Not-Recovered" in May 1991. That status changed in 2001 to "Missing in Action," and then to "Missing/Captured" in 2002 based on sighting reports in Iraq. Those sightings have since been discredited. His status was changed back to MIA earlier this year.  In the six years that the United States has been in Iraq for the second Gulf War, many leads and alleged sightings of Speicher have been investigated and found to be false.  The Speicher family has worked closely with the Navy to ensure the hunt for him would not stop. Name: Michael Scott SpeicherBranch:  United States Navy   Rank at Loss:  Lieutenant CommanderCurrent Rank:  CaptainUnit: Strike Fighter Squadron (VFA) 81 (USS Saratoga) Aircraft:  F/A-18C Hornet Born:  July 12, 1957 Age at Loss:  33 Current Age:  52 Home City of Record: Jacksonville FL Date of Loss: 17 January 1991 Original Status:   MIA Status Changed:  May 1991 KIA/BNR Status Changed:  11 January 2001 - MIA Status Changed:  11 October 2002 - POW Status Changed:  10 March 2009 - MIA  Status Changed:  02 August 2009 - KIA   10 March 2009 Statement by Donald C. Winter, Secretary of the Navy Regarding the Change in Status of Captain Michael Scott Speicher Captain Michael Scott Speicher’s F/A-18 was downed by hostile action over Iraq in January 1991, and he was declared KIA/BNR in May 1991. His status was changed in 2001 to MIA, and then from MIA to Missing/Captured in 2002 based on sighting reports in Iraq. Those sightings have since been discredited. In October 2008, the intelligence community concluded that Captain Speicher is deceased, though his remains are unlocated. Based on this assessment I directed the convening of a Status Review Board to consider whether Captain Speicher’s status should remain Missing/Captured or be changed. This Status Review Board convened on 5 January 2009 and recommended that Captain Speicher’s status should remain Missing/Captured. As Secretary of the Navy, it is my responsibility to make a determination with respect to the status of Captain Speicher, which requires me to reconcile the intelligence community’s assessment with the recommendation of the Status Review Board that rejects that assessment. In order to make a fully informed decision, I conducted a comprehensive review of all the information available to me, including the entire transcript of the Status Review Board and the Defense Intelligence Agency’s briefs which were presented to the Status Review Board. My review of the board proceedings and the compelling evidence presented by the intelligence community causes me great concern about the reliability of the board’s recommendation, given their failure to employ a logical analytic process to their evaluation of the evidence in the intelligence assessment. The board’s recommendation is premised on the conclusion that Captain Speicher was alive upon landing in Iraq after ejecting from his aircraft. They base this on a statistical analysis of F/A-18 ejections; however that analysis was based solely on peacetime ejections, and not the combat environment in which this ejection occurred. They also chose to ignore the lack of any parachute sighting, emergency beacon transmission or survival radio transmissions. Given the current state of U.S. presence and access to the territory of Iraq, and the discrediting of all intelligence sources who previously claimed to have seen Captain Speicher in captivity, there is currently no credible evidence that Captain Speicher is "captured." For Captain Speicher to be in captivity today one would have to accept a massive conspiracy of silence and perfectly executed deception that has lasted for over 18 years and that continues today. Consequently, I cannot support the recommendation of the Status Review Board. However, in the abundance of caution, and in the absence of a board report on which I can rely; I determine that Captain Speicher’s status should be changed to "Missing in Action." I believe another Status Review Board is warranted and that that board should conduct a de novo review of the evidence in this case given the fundamental problems identified with this board’s process. Accordingly, I strongly recommend that the Department of the Navy reconsider this matter not later than 12 months from the date of this memorandum. The Navy appreciates the challenges Captain Speicher’s family has faced these past 18 years. Captain Speicher is an American hero and bringing him home to his family and his country will remain a top priority for the Navy and the Nation. U.S. Department of Defense Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense (Public Affairs) News Release On the Web: http://www.defenselink.mil/releases/release.aspx?releaseid=12546 Media contact: +1 (703) 697-5131/697-5132 Public contact: http://www.defenselink.mil/faq/comment.html or +1 (703) 428-0711 +1 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- IMMEDIATE RELEASE No. 156-09 March 10, 2009 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Navy Changes Speicher Status To ‘Missing-In-Action’ Secretary of the Navy Donald Winter determined today that the status of Capt. Michael Scott Speicher is changed from “Missing/Captured” to “Missing-In-Action” (MIA). This determination was made after a review of available information; including the report and recommendation of a Status Review Board and comments provided by the Speicher family, as well as a Defense Intelligence Agency assessment. Speicher was the first casualty of Operation Desert Storm. His F/A-18 Hornet was downed by hostile action on January 17, 1991, during the first manned air strike of the war, and he was declared “Killed-In-Action/Body-Not-Recovered” in May 1991. His status was changed in 2001 to MIA, and then to Missing/Captured in 2002 based on sighting reports in Iraq. Those sightings have since been discredited. In October 2008, the intelligence community concluded that Speicher is deceased, though his remains are unlocated. Based on that assessment, the Secretary of the Navy convened a Status Review Board to consider whether Speicher's status should remain Missing/Captured or should be changed. Media may direct queries to the Navy Office of Information at 703-697-5342. Navy May Close Case of Missing Pilot By BEN EVANS, AP WASHINGTON (Jan. 3, 2009) - The family of a Navy pilot missing since his plane was shot down during the first Gulf war isn't ready to give up hope that he is alive and say they will oppose any decision to declare him killed in action. The Navy has scheduled a review board hearing for Monday on the status of Capt. Michael "Scott" Speicher, who has been missing since January 1991, when his FA-18 Hornet was shot down in Iraq on the first night of the Persian Gulf War. The hearing comes several months after the Navy received a fresh intelligence report on Speicher from Iraq. Speicher's family, which has seen the latest information, believes Navy Secretary Donald Winter is moving toward changing Speicher's status from missing/captured to killed, according to family spokeswoman and attorney Cindy Laquidara. The family — including two college-age children who were toddlers when Speicher went missing — believes the Pentagon should do more to determine definitively what happened, Laquidara said. They see the outcome as setting a standard for future missing-in-action investigations, she said. "This really is a precedent for every other captive serviceman or woman and it needs to be done right," Laquidara said. "We've looked at the information that's going to be presented to the board and we feel pretty confident that it's not time under the standards that they've set to change the status. There are things that need to be done before one can be certain." Speicher, who had lived in the area of Jacksonville, Fla., was the first American lost in the war. Some believe Speicher ejected from the plane and was captured by Iraqi forces, and potential clues later emerged that he might have survived: The initials "MSS" were found scrawled on a prison wall in Baghdad, for example, and there were reports of sightings. The Pentagon has changed Speicher's status several times. He was publicly declared killed in action hours after his plane went down. Ten years later, the Navy changed his status to missing in action, citing an absence of evidence that he had died. In October 2002, the Navy switched his status to "missing/captured," although it has never said what evidence it had that he was ever in captivity. Another review was done in 2005 with information gleaned after Baghdad fell in the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq, which allowed U.S. officials to search inside Iraq. The review board recommended then that the Pentagon work with the State Department, the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad and the Iraqi government to "increase the level of attention and effort inside Iraq" to resolve the question of Speicher's fate. The Defense Intelligence Agency, which tracks missing-soldier cases and works with other intelligence agencies, submitted its latest report last fall. "Capt. Speicher's status remains a top priority for the Navy and the U.S. government," Cmdr. Cappy Surette, a Navy spokesman, said recently. "The recent intelligence community assessment reflects exhaustive analysis of information related to Capt. Speicher's case." The final decision on changing Speicher's status must come from the secretary of the Navy; the review board's decision is only a recommendation, said Lt. Sean Robertson, another Navy spokesman. Robertson said that once the board meets, it has up to 30 days to complete its report. The family would then have up to 30 days to comment on the board's recommendation before it is forwarded to the secretary for decision. The board will be composed of three officers, including one who is experienced in F/A-18 aircraft. The board has a legal adviser assigned and Speicher will also be represented by legal counsel to look after the interests of him and his family, Robertson said. Laquidara said family members would attend the hearing. "It's really easy to put out a yellow ribbon but not so easy to allocate resources to find a missing serviceman or woman," she said. "If Scott's not alive now, he was for a very long time, and that could happen to somebody else." FROM FRIENDS WORKING TO FREE SCOTT SPEICHER 09 January, 2007, Jacksonville, FL— In January of 1991, the first Gulf War, Operation Desert Storm, was initiated. On the night of January 17, the Air Craft Carrier USS Saratoga launched the first waves of fighter jets into the pitch-black night sky. One of the pilots, flying a Navy F-A/18 fighter-attack jet, was Lt. Commander Michael “Scott” Speicher. Speicher was a very experienced pilot by all accounts, having a tremendously successful career as a Navy flier. Nobody expected that he would not return from that night’s maneuvers; if anyone could make a successful strike and return unharmed, it would be Speicher. But somehow, something went wrong. Lt. Commander Scott Speicher never returned. It has now been 16 years, almost to the day, since that night. Friends and family have waited, sometimes patiently, sometimes not so patiently, to know what happened to Speicher in the time since he was last seen. It’s a mystery that may never have a satisfactory ending, but one that has not been forgotten, either—not by the nation, not by the US Navy. In absentia, due to a total lack of evidence that he had perished, Scott Speicher was promoted twice by the Navy, and now has the rank of Captain. Though the times of waiting have been difficult and complex, the waiting, praying and hoping still continues. We may never have the answers we seek, but we will continue to keep our hope alive that one day we will know. Every time a Navy jet flies overhead—the engines screaming, the wings soaring with a glorious, flashing brilliance against a blue Jacksonville Florida sky, we will hope. We will pray. We will think of our friend and fellow citizen/soldier and ask God for His constant watchcare over Scott, wherever he is.  By ROBERT BURNS, AP Military Writer Thursday, September 8, 2005 (09-08) 10:09 PDT WASHINGTON, (AP) -- A Navy pilot shot down over Iraq in January 1991 may have been captured by Iraqi forces, and members of the former Iraqi government "know the whereabouts" of the officer, the Navy has concluded. A Navy board of inquiry concluded that there is no credible evidence that Capt. Michael "Scott" Speicher is dead, and it reaffirmed his official status as "missing/captured," according to the board's final report. The board also recommended that the Pentagon work with the State Department, the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad and the Iraqi government to "increase the level of attention and effort inside Iraq" to resolve the question of Speicher's fate. Navy Secretary Gordon England approved the report on Wednesday, according to Lt. Erin Bailey, a Navy spokeswoman. The Iraqi government under President Saddam Hussein maintained from the start that Speicher perished at the site where his F/A-18 fighter jet crashed in the desert. No evidence to contradict that has surfaced since the fall of Baghdad in April 2003, but the new Navy inquiry concluded there was no credible evidence of his death, either. Tampa Tribune - Frank Davies - July 8, 2003 WASHINGTON - New secret evidence has surfaced during an intensified search for clues concerning the fate of Florida fighter pilot Michael Scott Speicher, a Navy captain once presumed dead after the downing of his aircraft over Iraq 12 years ago. Sen. Bill Nelson, a Florida Democrat and a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, said after a visit Monday to a prison cell in Iraq and meetings with U.S. military leaders that fresh, highly classified evidence presented new leads that might solve the case. Nelson's comments came as U.S. forces have stepped up efforts not only in the search for weapons of mass destruction but for signs of Speicher, often quizzing Iraqis about both topics simultaneously. Documents have been scoured at Baghdad prisons, and the military has interviewed former Iraqi prisoners. But Nelson refused to discuss the nature of the fresh clues. ``I cannot tell you what the evidence is,'' he said in a telephone conference call with reporters. ``But there is new evidence, and the clues to me are promising.'' Added Nelson, who weeks ago had given up hope of finding fresh leads: ``I am personally optimistic on the basis of what I saw. I had thought everything had come to a dead end.'' A $1 million reward for information offered by the Pentagon also may help, Nelson said. Members of the Iraq Survey Group, a 1,400-member team searching for weapons of mass destruction, are also seeking information on Speicher. ``One of the first questions'' is often about Speicher, Nelson said. Asked whether the new evidence suggested Speicher was alive, Nelson replied, ``I don't have any proof on that. But it clearly gives me some optimism we have a much better chance than I thought of resolving the question of Capt. Speicher.'' Nelson's unusual one-day foray into Iraq in a convoy of armored vehicles and helicopters included a stop at the prison where some believe Speicher might have been held, including a firsthand look at the initials ``M.S.S'' carved on the wall of a 10-by-15-foot cell upstairs at the Hakmiyah prison. The carving cut through a layer of beige paint to a red layer underneath, Nelson said. If the initials were Speicher's, it would suggest the pilot was imprisoned there, and thus alive, at a later time in the 1990s than thought. Nelson described the cell as ``a pure hell hole'' with ``no windows, an iron door, a small opening in a door that can be closed shut.'' He saw torture equipment in the basement. Also Monday, the senator met in Iraq with members of the Florida National Guard unit of Jeffrey Wershow, a 22- year-old specialist from Gainesville who was killed at close range by an unidentified gunman on the campus of Baghdad University. Wershow was assigned to the Army's 3rd Infantry Division. Asked whether too many American soldiers were dying in Iraq, Nelson responded, ``the soldier from Florida was one too many.'' Associated Press - April 23, 2003 WASHINGTON (April 23) - American investigators in Iraq have found what may be a clue to the only American missing from the first Gulf War: the initials of Navy pilot Michael Scott Speicher, etched into a prison wall in Baghdad. It is unknown who scrawled the letters ``MSS'' into a cell wall in the Hakmiyah prison, said U.S. officials, or whether the letters had anything to do with the missing pilot. The officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said an informant had also reported that an American pilot was held at that prison in the mid-1990s. A joint team of officials from the CIA and Defense Intelligence Agency is in Iraq, searching for clues to Speicher's fate. Lt. Cmdr. Speicher, an F/A-18 Hornet pilot from Jacksonville, Fla., and three other pilots flew off the USS Saratoga for a bombing run over Iraq on Jan. 17, 1991, the first night of the war. During the mission, another 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. Several months later the Pentagon classified the pilot as killed in action, but changed that last year to ``missing in action, captured.'' Intelligence reports from several sources led to the change, officials said. Iraq officials have said Speicher was killed in the crash. Speicher's flight suit was found at the crash site and there have been persistent intelligence reports about a U.S. pilot held in Baghdad. Only one U.S. service member remains listed as missing from the second Iraq war - Army Sgt. Edward J. Anguiano, 24, of Brownsville, Texas, who disappeared after his convoy was ambushed March 23. Please visit these sites for more information and detailed reports. Friends Working to Free Scott Speicher Intelligence and Evidence from Pilots On-Line Report     March 23, 2003 - Breaking News Team to search for pilot lost since first Gulf war __________________________________________________________________________ By Bill Gertz THE WASHINGTON TIMES __________________________________________________________________________      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." NAVY CHANGES STATUS OF CMDR. MICHAEL SCOTT SPEICHER Secretary of the Navy Richard Danzig has changed the status of Cmdr. Michael Scott Speicher from Killed in Action/Body Not Recovered (KIA/BNR) to Missing in Action (MIA). Speicher's F/A-18 aircraft was shot down by enemy fire in the first day of the air war over Iraq on Jan. 17, 1991. He was placed in an MIA status the next day. On May 22, 1991, following a Secretary of the Navy status review board that found "no credible evidence" to suggest he had survived the shootdown, his status was changed to KIA/BNR. In December 1995, working through the International Committee of the Red Cross, investigators from the Navy and Army's Central Identification Laboratory entered Iraq and conducted a thorough excavation of the crash site. In September 1996, based on a comprehensive review of evidence accumulated since the initial KIA/BNR determination, the Secretary of the Navy reaffirmed the presumptive finding of death. Over the years since that determination was made, the Navy and the U.S. government have consistently sought new information and continued to analyze all available information to resolve Speicher's fate. This additional information and analysis, when added to the information considered in 1996, underscored the need for a new review. Based on the review, Danzig has concluded that Speicher's status should be "Missing in Action."  (Source:  United States Department of Defense News Release, January 11, 2001)   Department of Defense Act For FY 2003 - S. 2515 SEC. 1035.    Reports on efforts to resolve whereabouts and status of Captain Michael Scott Speicher, United States Navy. (a) REPORTS- Not later than 60 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, and every 90 days thereafter, the Secretary of Defense shall, in consultation with the Secretary of State and the Director of Central Intelligence, submit to Congress a report on the efforts of the United States Government to determine the whereabouts and status of Captain Michael Scott Speicher , United States Navy. (b) PERIOD COVERED BY REPORTS- The first report under subsection (a) shall cover efforts described in that subsection preceding the date of the report, and each subsequent report shall cover efforts described in that subsection during the 90-day period ending on the date of such report. (c) REPORT ELEMENTS- Each report under subsection (a) shall describe, for the period covered by such report-- (1) all direct and indirect contacts with the Government of Iraq, or any successor government, regarding the whereabouts and status of Michael Scott Speicher ; (2) any request made to the government of another country, including the intelligence service of such country, for assistance in resolving the whereabouts and status of Michael Scott Speicher , including the response to such request; (3) each current lead on the whereabouts and status of Michael Scott Speicher , including an assessment of the utility of such lead in resolving the whereabouts and status of Michael Scott Speicher ; and (4) any cooperation with nongovernmental organizations or international organizations in resolving the whereabouts and status of Michael Scott Speicher , including the results of such cooperation. Pilot believed alive, held in Iraq -- March 11, 2002 By Bill Gertz THE WASHINGTON TIMES U.S. intelligence agencies have obtained new information indicating Iraq is holding captive a U.S. Navy pilot shot down during the Persian Gulf war, The Washington Times has learned. British intelligence provided the CIA and Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) with the new information several months ago, and intelligence officials said it could assist in the ongoing investigation into the fate of Navy Lt. Cmdr. Michael Scott Speicher. Cmdr. Speicher was declared killed in action in 1991 after his F-18 Hornet was shot down over Iraq. But last year he was re-classified as "missing in action" by the Pentagon, based on information from an Iraqi defector. According to U.S. intelligence officials, the British intelligence information was based on an additional intelligence source; someone who had been in Iraq and said he had learned that an American pilot is being held captive in Baghdad. The British report stated further that only two Iraqis were permitted to see the captive American pilot: the chief of Iraq's intelligence service, and Uday Hussein, son of Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein, said the officials, speaking on the condition of anonymity. The new intelligence has led some Pentagon officials to believe Iraq is holding Cmdr. Speicher prisoner. One U.S. official said the new agent offered to identify the exact location in Baghdad where the American is being held and also offered to obtain a photograph of the prisoner. A defense official said the new information is not related to an earlier report from an Iranian pilot who was repatriated recently to Iran and said that he had seen an American held prisoner in Iraq. "That was checked out, and the intelligence community didn't find anything about it," the defense official said. President Bush has been briefed on the new intelligence on Cmdr. Speicher and the likelihood of an American POW in Baghdad is being factored into U.S. policy toward future operations against Iraq, the officials said. DIA spokesman Lt. Cmdr. Jim Brooks said the Speicher case is "an active investigation." The agency "investigates and continues to investigate all reports regarding the Speicher case." He declined to comment further on specific reports on the case. A White House spokesman could not be reached for comment. It could not be learned if the Bush administration is taking steps to contact the Iraqi government about Cmdr. Speicher. However, U.S. intelligence agencies are continuing to gather information on the case, the official said. The CIA sent a notice to Congress Feb. 4 saying it had obtained new intelligence related to Cmdr. Speicher and is expected to provide more information in a briefing that could come as early as this week, one official said. 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." The report stated that Cmdr. Speicher's aircraft was shot down by an Iraqi jet firing an air-to-air missile, and that the jet crashed in the desert west of Baghdad. An unclassified summary of the report, "Intelligence Community Assessment of the Lieutenant Commander Speicher Case," was obtained by The Times. The intelligence community report said that after the Gulf war cease-fire, Cmdr. Speicher was not among the 21 U.S. military personnel released, nor were his remains returned. The new intelligence information bolsters an earlier report from an Iraqi national. In 1999, an Iraqi defector reported to U.S. intelligence officials that he had taken an injured U.S. pilot to Baghdad six weeks after the Gulf war began. He identified Cmdr. Speicher in a photograph as the pilot. Based on the defector report and pressure from Sen. Robert C. Smith, New Hampshire Republican, the Navy changed Cmdr. Speicher's status from killed in action to missing in action on Jan. 11, 2001. The intelligence community report stated that during an investigation of the crash site in 1995, Iraqi officials provided investigators with a flight suit that appeared to be the one worn by Cmdr. Speicher. The flight suit had been cut. The intelligence report concluded that the pilot "probably survived the crash of his F/A-18." "We assess Lt. Cmdr. Speicher was either captured alive or his remains were recovered and brought to Baghdad," the report said. Mr. Bush has called Iraq one of three "axis of evil" states, and there have been intelligence reports indicating Iraq may have supported the September 11 attacks. The government of the Czech Republic monitored a meeting in Prague between an Iraqi intelligence officer and Mohamed Atta, regarded by U.S. investigators as a ringleader for the September 11 attacks. Senior Pentagon policy-makers have said Iraq should be the next target for U.S. anti-terrorism operation. Cmdr. Speicher was the pilot of a Navy F-18 jet that was shot down by enemy fire on Jan. 17, 1991, the first day of combat operations in the Gulf war. Defense Secretary Richard B. Cheney said during a news conference that same day that the pilot had been killed, and the Navy declared Cmdr. Speicher killed in action five months later. The intelligence community report said that Iraq's government learned that the pilot was declared dead and as a result felt it probably did not have to account for him at the end of the war. At first the Pentagon believed Cmdr. Speicher's aircraft was hit by either a ground- or air-fired missile and broke up in flight. But the aircraft was later found intact and its canopy was found some distance from the crash, a sign the pilot had ejected. The CIA also was told about the capture of an American pilot in the early 1990s but dismissed the information as coming from an unreliable agent, the officials said. The agency later acknowledged its dismissal was an error, U.S. officials said.