Posted on 03/23/2003 3:42:29 PM PST by FairOpinion
television has shown film of at least four bodies, said to be US soldiers, and five prisoners who said they were American.
Two of the prisoners, including a woman, appeared to be wounded. One was lying on the floor on a rug. The prisoners were questioned on air and gave their names, military identification numbers and home towns. Al-Jazeera, an Arabic television network, broadcast the film outside Iraq.
Donald Rumsfeld, the US defence secretary, said that showing prisoners of war was on television violated the international rules of war as laid out in the Geneva Conventions.
Geroge W Bush, the US president, said that he expected any prisoners of war to be treated in accordance with international rules. He said: " If there is somebody captured and it looks like there may be, I expect those people to be treated humanely. If not, the people who mistreat the prisoners will be treated as war criminals."
And a spokesman for Prime Minister Tony Blair said that the British Government urged "our broadcasters and media not to allow themselves to be exploited by the Iraqis."
Iraq's defence minister, Sultan Hashim Ahmed, said that it would respect the Geneva Convention and would not harm US prisoners of war. He also said that the bodies of the soldiers were lying abandoned on a battlefield near the central Iraq city of Nassiriya, where US Marines are fighting for control.
There was no independent confirmation that the prisoners were US soldiers and US Central Command in Qatar also refused to comment on whether any troops from the 507th Maintenance Company were missing. Two prisoners had said they were from that unit, part of the 11th Air Defence Artillery Brigade.
Earlier reports from Al-Jazeera that allied pilots had been seen parachuting into Baghdad sparked an intense search by Iraqi officials.
There are fears that Iraqi prisoners might not be treated under the Geneva Convention US and British officials said they had no information about any plane that had come down.
Police and security guards scoured a small area along the banks of the Tigris river in central Baghdad for any pilots, firing Kalashnikov assault rifles into reeds near the base of the al-Tahrir bridge.
Baghdad was rocked by blasts throughout the day, continuing after night fell. Bombs and heavy anti-aircraft fire were heard all over the city.
Allied troops taking part in a ground offensive are believed to have captured Basra, Iraq's second city, and pushed forwards to within 100 miles of Baghdad. The 3rd Infantry Division's 2nd Brigade has covered about 230 miles in 40 hours to take positions less than a day's march from Baghdad.
But coalition forces have been facing counterattacks in the key port of Umm Qasr and in the southern Iraqi city of Nassiriya.
In Umm Qasr, US and British soldiers were engaged in a four-hour battle this morning with Iraqi troops, bolstered by members of Saddam Hussein's special forces, who counterattacked in the north-west of the city. Marines fired a missile, attacked with tanks and eventually called in air strikes to try to end resistance.
In Nassiriyah hundreds of military trucks and armoured personnel carriers advanced, but did not take the city, despite using helicopters and artillery against Iraqi resistance. Officers said some of their men had been wounded.
It has been confirmed that three British soldiers were injured while fighting Iraqi forces on the Al Faw oil peninsula last night
A funeral service was today held on HMS Ark Royal for seven servicemen who were killed in a helicopter crashduring the first hours of the ground war.
Did anyone really expect this to not happen ?
You can't expect me to believe that Dan Rather and Ted Koppel did not have already figured out exactly what they would do and say when this type of video came out.
They already have obituaries for every major world figure on file and they would not have planned their responce to this ?
Previously I said it was OK for women to serve in maintenance crews... However they should only be in maintenance units supporting AIR ASSETS, with airfields located far in the rear. I just plain had not thought of women mechanics supporting mechanized forces... But obviously we see now that it is not a good idea. Women are probably better suited to serve as mechanics than men (if some of the stuff I read about their hand-eye coordination is true)... However we should not have them actually following in vehicle convoys near operational forces. Too much of a target, too much of a bargaining chip.
But to the female soldier there now -- Hang in there. I hope she has the strength to spit in the face of her enemies.
I sincerely hope you are right, but these animals are not known for showing curtesy to women.
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