"Buried By Bedouins"

The last prewar myth is debunked:

Navy officials announced early Sunday that Marines in western Anbar Province, Iraq, had found remains that have been positively identified as those of an American fighter pilot shot down in the opening hours of the first Gulf War in 1991. The Navy pilot, Michael Scott Speicher, was the only American missing in action from that war. Efforts to determine what happened to him after his F/A-18 Hornet was lost to ground fire on Jan. 17, 1991, had continued despite false rumors and scant information. Conflicting reports from Iraq had, over the years, fueled speculation that the pilot, promoted to captain in the years he was missing, might have been taken into captivity either after parachuting from his jet or after a crash landing. But the evidence in Iraq suggests he did not survive and was buried by Bedouins shortly after he was shot down. An official statement released early Sunday said that Marines in western Iraq had received information from local citizens last month about the crash of an American jet and the burial of the pilot. “One of these Iraqi citizens stated that they were present when Captain Speicher was found dead at the crash site by Bedouins and his remains buried,” the statement said. “The Iraqi citizens led U.S. Marines to the site.” A search of the area last week recovered remains that included bones and skeletal fragments, which were flown to Dover Air Force Base for scientific examination. Positive identification was made by visual and radiographical comparisons of Captain Speicher’s dental records with the jawbone recovered at the site.

Recall that this was a particularly poignant part of the prewar case against Iraq, with since-discredited media figures and bloggers dutifully relaying "reports" of Speicher's initials carved in a prison wall and his torture sessions personally watched by a delighted Saddam. The deception went right to the top. From Bush's press conference on March 13, 2002:

Q. Mr. President, do you believe there is an American pilot from the Gulf War still alive in Iraq? And if so, how might that complicate any actions you consider---- The President. Well, let me just say this to you. I know that the man has got an MIA status, and it reminds me once again about the nature of Saddam Hussein if, in fact, he's alive. And therefore, it's just another part of my thinking about him, my--I guess, lack of respect is a good way to define it. Q. Does it complicate any action you might take--you might consider taking against Iraq in the war against terror? The President. Well, that's where we're--this is the old hypothetical again. And let me just put it this way: It doesn't change my opinion about him. Matter of fact, it reinforces the fact that anybody who would be so cold and heartless as to hold an American flyer for all this period of time without notification to his family just--I wouldn't put it past him, given the fact that he gassed his own people.