News-Info-Alerts

Re: PGW Ex-POw Ponders Saddam's Capture

From: POW-MIA InterNetwork

Date: December 16, 2003

"Former POW ponders Saddam's future
Capture brings closure to veterans

By David Klepper The Sun News

An Operation Desert Storm veteran who spent 15 days as a prisoner of Saddam Hussein said he is delighted that Saddam himself is now behind bars.

Retired Air Force Lt. Col. Jeff Fox was held by the Iraqi army in 1991 after his A-10 attack jet was shot down during a bombing run. His captors tortured, threatened and starved him.

Now, as U.S. and Iraqi officials debate Hussein's fate, the Surfside Beach resident admits that a part of him would relish the thought of Hussein getting the same treatment he received.

"I have to admit, it would be nice to put him in a cell for the rest of his life and feed him a cup of rice a day," said Fox, who successfully sued Saddam's government for violating his rights as a prisoner of war but is not receiving a financial award. "Let him experience what we went through."

Fox has reason to be vengeful - his guards spat on him, kicked and beat him. They starved him, threatened to castrate him and fired a gun next to his head, rupturing his eardrum. All are violations of international agreements on the treatment of POWs.

But Fox is not a vengeful man, and he agrees that even Saddam's rights should be protected. But if Iraqi officials try Saddam and condemn him to death, that's another matter.

Saddam's capture brings to an end the long search for the dictator and gives veterans of the Gulf War a measure of closure.

Desert Storm veteran Chad Varn of Garden City Beach said he was surprised Saddam gave up without a fight.

"I was thinking he would go like his sons did - go out in a blaze of glory," he said.

"One way or another, I knew we'd get him," he said. "Unlike Mr. [Osama] bin Laden, he wasn't going to leave his country. I figured it was just a matter of time."

For Fox, Saddam's capture is justice. He and other former Desert Storm POWs sued Saddam and the former Iraqi government for violating the Geneva Convention, which details the rights of prisoners of war.

He won, and a judge awarded him $30 million in damages. President Bush blocked the award, saying Saddam's money should be used to rebuild Iraq. Saddam's arrest may be all the comfort he ever gets.

Though Fox never saw Saddam in person, he said there was little doubt who issued the orders in Iraq.

Fox said he hopes some good can come from Saddam's capture. He predicted that officials might strike a deal with the former dictator.

"They'll say 'OK, Saddam, we won't lop your head off if you get on the radio and tell your supporters to back off,'" he said.

Contact DAVID KLEPPER at dklepper@thesunnews.com or 626-0303."