News-Info-Alerts

Re: US Confirms Capture of Soldiers

From: POW-MIA InterNetwork

Date: March 23, 2003

"US confirms soldiers captured
From correspondents in Washington
March 24, 2003

THE US Defence Department has confirmed that some of the 10 US soldiers reported missing in southern Iraq have been captured, CNN has reported.
The news comes after film of dead bodies and five captured US soldiers was shown by Iraq.

Top US officials, after earlier saying the war to oust President Saddam Hussein was making "excellent progress", sternly warned Iraq against humiliating prisoners of war in contravention of the Geneva Convention.

General Richard Myers, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said a handful of US troops – "less than 10" – had been reported missing.

CNN said families of the missing soldiers were contacted shortly after the Arab satellite channel al-Jazeera broadcast Iraqi film of interviews with men and women who appeared to be US prisoners of war.

Al-Jazeera showed several dead bodies along with five prisoners, including two wounded, one of them a woman.

The bodies shown were wearing bloodstained camouflage uniforms and some appeared to have bullet wounds to the head.

Without confirming that the film was of captured Americans, Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld led the attack on Iraq for allowing the filming of captured soldiers.

He said it would be "unfortunate" for international news organisations to show the images. Several US channels said they would not show the film.

"If they happen to be American or coalition ground forces captured, the Geneva Convention indicates how they should be treated," Rumsfeld said.

"The Geneva Convention indicates that it's not permitted to photograph and embarrass or humiliate prisoners of war."

Rumsfeld said that al-Jazeera showing the film "obviously is part of Iraqi propaganda".

He told CNN: "Needless to say, television networks that carry such pictures, I would say, are doing something that's unfortunate."

The defence secretary said the United States had about 2000 Iraqi prisoners all of whom were being treated in accordance with the international convention.

The first US prisoners came as blow as the United States and Britain were also embarrassed by the shooting down of a British Tornado jet by a US Patriot missile over Kuwait.

At the weekend, a US soldier at a base in Kuwait killed one of his colleagues and wounded 12 others by lobbing explosives into tents at Camp Pennsylvania.

But the defence secretary and General Myers both insisted that the war was going the way of the United States and its allies.

According to an AFP correspondent in Iraq, some US forces were within 60 miles (100 kilometers) of the Iraqi capital.

"The progress in the air has been excellent and the progress of our special forces in the north and in the west has been excellent and in the south," Rumsfeld told NBC television.

"The ground forces are moving along at a very good clip and heading towards Baghdad.

"So I think that all in all, while your heart breaks when there is a friendly fire incident or when someone is killed or taken prisoner, nonetheless the general progress of it, I think, is excellent."

Rumsfeld insisted that victory was certain, but added there was no guarantee it would be easy.

"There have to be tough days ahead," Rumsfeld said. "Wars are unpredictable. There are still a large number of difficulties and things that could go wrong that are still ahead of us."

Myers echoed those comments.

"This is going to be tougher as we get closer and closer to Baghdad," he said. "I don't think people should take the last few days as a prediction of what's going to happen."

Rumsfeld also said go-betweens were communicating with senior Iraqi military leaders and pressure for wholesale surrenders would mount as allied forces approached Baghdad.

A number of Iraqi units had surrendered so far, Rumsfeld said, but he declined to reveal either their identities or locations.
Agence France-Presse

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