News-Info-Alerts

Re: Enemy POW Numbers Fall Far Below Expected

From: POW-MIA InterNetwork

Date: April 09, 2003

"POWs Fall Below Estimates
U.S. official: Propaganda may be key

By Tom Brune
WASHINGTON BUREAU

April 10, 2003
Washington - The number of Iraqi prisoners of war under U.S. military control is smaller than expected, possibly a result of American propaganda urging Iraqi soldiers to put down their arms and go home, a key U.S. military official said yesterday.

After three weeks of fighting, U.S. forces have about 7,300 prisoners of war, far fewer than the 50,000 or more planned for, said Army Col. John Della Jacono in a satellite-teleconference from a new prisoner-of- war camp in Umm Qasr, Iraq.

"I think the information campaign has taken an effect here. I think a lot of [Iraqi] soldiers are just leaving," said Della Jacono, who is in charge of enemy prisoners of war in Iraq. "There's been reports of tanks and positions just abandoned."

He said the POWs include a mixture of nationalities, but few are in full uniform or with military identification, making it difficult to determine who is an enlisted soldier, an officer or a civilian.

Military tribunals, required under the Geneva Conventions on the treatment of civilians and prisoners in war, will commence shortly to determine the status of each prisoner, Della Jacono said.

U.S. forces have placed 236 POWs under medical treatment, Della Jacono said, and have identified three to four officers.

Prisoners will be housed in tents bounded by fences topped with concertina wire at the POW camp until the end of the war, he said. Each POW is initially given a box of food and juice, and then fed two hot meals a day afterward, consisting of fruit, tea and bread in the morning and rice, meat, vegetables and a broth in the evening, Della Jacono said.

Muslim religious customs are being honored, with some prisoners helping with cooking, Della Jacono said. When supplies arrive, he added, each Muslim would be given a prayer rug and a Quran.

The International Committee of the Red Cross initially spent three to five days at the camp and now visits daily, Della Jacono said.

Human rights groups said they had not received specific complaints about treatment of Iraqi POWs.

About nine months ago, the U.S. military began planning for POWs based on its experience in Operation Desert Storm in 1991, Della Jacono said. U.S. officials say the coalition held about 86,000 POWs.

For the current war, the U.S. military developed a "capitulation strategy" to allow Iraqi Republican Guard or Regular Army divisions to surrender on the battlefield, as they did in the 1991 Gulf War.

So far, however, there have been no "capitulations," or surrenders, on the battlefield, he said.

"But it was a different campaign. A lot of the [Iraqi] formations during Desert Storm, they were out there weathering an aerial bombardment for a significant number of weeks," he said.

"A lot of the [Iraqi] guys in their foxholes were not fed, they were hungry, they were starving and they just had enough," Della Jacono said. "I think that's why you saw the influx of [enemy prisoners of war] during Operation Desert Storm."

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