Fleischer: Rape of POWs 'not worth mentioning'

WorldNetDaily ^ | March 25, 2003 | Les Kinsolving

[Dajjal]

Fleischer: Rape of POWs 'not worth mentioning'

Spokesman fails to address issue of U.S. women held by enemy

---

Posted: March 25, 2003
7:10 p.m. Eastern

Editor's note: Each week, WorldNetDaily White House correspondent Les Kinsolving asks the tough questions no one else will ask. And each week, WorldNetDaily brings you the transcripts of those dialogues with the president and his spokesman. If you'd like to suggest a question for the White House, submit it to WorldNetDaily's exclusive interactive forum MR. PRESIDENT!

By Les Kinsolving
© 2003 WorldNetDaily.com

At today's White House news briefing, WND asked presidential press secretary Ari Fleischer about the Iraqis' holding of a female United States soldier as a prisoner of war and how it relates to the issue of women in combat.

WND: Ari, one of the U.S. POWs in Iraq is Shoshana Johnson of Texas, while The New York Times this morning reports that Pfc. Jessica Lynch of West Virginia is missing or captured. And during Desert Storm, Maj. Rhonda Cornum was captured and gang-raped, while the other U.S. female prisoner of war would neither confirm or deny that she, too, was gang-raped. And my question, does the president think that the Iraqi army has somehow changed to avoid the raping of female prisoners?

FLEISCHER: Lester –

WND: Or does he believe that it would be wise –

FLEISCHER: Lester –

WND: – to keep the women out of combat areas?

FLEISCHER: The history of our military is that men and women have served this nation honorably and with distinction. The treatment of prisoners by Saddam Hussein is the only point worth mentioning here. It's a given that men and women serve our country with dignity, that Saddam Hussein's regime had better not harm our prisoners. The president has made that clear. … Lester, no follow-up.

The Washington Times reported yesterday that Johnson was the first U.S. female held as a POW since the Clinton administration's military leaders repealed a rule barring servicewomen from positions with a high risk of encountering enemy fire or capture.

"It's bad when a man is captured. But if a woman is captured, she doesn't have the same chance [to defend herself] that a man does," Elaine Donnelly, president of the Military Readiness Center, told the paper.

Said retired Army Lt. Col. Robert Maginnis, "You must consider that women in every society are preyed upon if they are overtaken. ... Now that women are closer to the front lines, they are more subject to becoming captives and being manipulated."

---

Submit a question to the MR. PRESIDENT! forum.

Les Kinsolving is WorldNetDaily’s White House correspondent and a talk-show host for WCBM in Baltimore.

[Eva]

It's just plain stupid to discuss hypotheticals at this point. This is an issue to be addressed when we are not at war.

[Nov3]

I am not clear, do you support women in combat areas?

[AAABEST]

I'm being brutalized because of a PC policy implemented by a bunch of illogical morons.

[dighton]

A disgraceful question under the circumstances, and a fraudulent headline.

[P.O.E.]

The headline is a lie which twists Ari's words.

Send it into the cornfield!

[annyokie]

Les Kinsolving

Tin Foil Hat Alert.

[PhilDragoo]

What an inspiration.

Thank you for the link.

She could kick Les Kinsolving's ass.

Which works for me.

[Howlin]

Oh, that's good to know.

[Howlin]

What's the point of this reporter's question other than to sensationalize the issue?

Ding! Ding! Ding! Move to the head of the class!

[Howlin]

Deliberate misquote.

Call it what it is: a lie.

[Howlin]

It must just kill you to see people actually SUPPORT a person and this country.

[PolishProud]

This question is about self promotion of WND. The post headline is hyperbole in the best trdition of WND.

[discostu]

Women have been near harms way since WWII, those aid stations weren't far behind the lines. So I take it you consider Patton to be an illogical PC moron.

Way to use this poor woman as a flag for your pet issue. Talk about scummy behavior.

[whadizit]

I agree. Even in his question, there was more info. than the families needed to hear.

[Illbay]

I don't support the Palestinians--I have no interest in them one way or the other, except it would be nice if they stopped killing people--and I don't support women anywhere near combat.

That isn't my point.

It is, that this is a POINTLESS question to be raising right now, in the teeth of this conflict. We need to support, not only Ari Fleischer, but the family and loved ones of these women.

I don't like the "rules" that exist, that allowed them to be where they could be captured. But they are in enemy hands, and lurid speculation on their fate just sickens me.

This was WRONG, and it makes me detest WND even more than I already do.

[Illbay]

WND ever had credibility?

[Illbay]

In a word:

NO!

And I've taken more than my share of grief on this score.

[Willie Green]

It's just plain stupid to discuss hypotheticals at this point. This is an issue to be addressed when we are not at war.

Concern over Iraqi mistreatment of American POWs, both male and female, IS a topic worthy of current discussion.
The administration may not be in a current position to resolve the issues that are brought up. That policy was implemented by Klintoon. But immediately upon completion of this military action, Klintoon's policy should be reevaluated and (IMHO) reversed. Women do not belong in front line combat units.