Re: Ex-POW Suit Against Saddam Snarled

Date: May 10, 2004

"Ex-POW's suit vs. Saddam snarled
By PATRICE O'SHAUGHNESSY
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER

Air Force Capt. Richard Storr endured 33 days of torture at the hands of Iraqis during the Persian Gulf War 13 years ago. He knew firsthand the cruelty sanctioned by Saddam Hussein and believed that the U.S. was right to go to war again in Iraq.

When he heard the allegations and saw photographs of American soldiers abusing Iraqi POWs, Storr was filled with shame and empathy.

"For those of us that have been there, I just felt horrible for those guys," Storr said of the prisoners.

"What I did see in those pictures I thought was just awful," said Storr, 42, of Spokane, Wash. "There is absolutely no reason for those prisoners to receive that kind of treatment.

"I was ashamed," said Storr, an airline pilot and a lieutenant colonel in the Washington Air National Guard. "And I'm glad to see the military is acting swiftly, and I think they're taking all the appropriate measures in regards to these soldiers for doing that to these guys."

Storr brings a singular perspective to the scandal that threatens to undermine the U.S. mission to rebuild Iraq as a model of freedom and human rights in the Middle East.

He was one of 21 U.S. servicemen captured by Iraqi forces during the Gulf War.

The pilot of an A-10 Thunderbolt aircraft, he was captured Feb. 2, 1991, when his plane was shot down over Kuwait.

He was taken to Baghdad and handed over to Saddam's secret police for interrogation.

They broke his nose, dislocated his shoulder and punctured his eardrum.

When his answers were unsatisfactory, he was shocked with an electric prod.

He was always blindfolded, handcuffed, cold and hungry during his captivity, which ended March 6, 1991.

"I know the guards who mistreated us never received a slap on the wrist, so I'm glad to see the system working," he said. "However, I'm disappointed the system failed in letting these guys mistreat those prisoners.

"Those guys were wrong, and the worst part about the whole thing is that the troops there are going to suffer."

Storr spoke to the Daily News last week while waiting to take a flight out of Denver. He has been a 737 pilot for United Airlines since 1996, along with his Air National Guard duties.

Much of the abuse by the Americans involves humiliation and degradation.

"[The Iraqis] did the same things to us," Storr said. "We didn't consider that torture."

Hoping to deter mistreatment of future prisoners of war, Storr and 16 other Americans held as POWs filed a $900 million lawsuit two years ago against Iraq, Saddam and the Iraqi Intelligence Service.

They won a judgment, which they were told would come out of Iraqi assets frozen at the beginning of the current Iraq war.

Then they were told the money was used to rebuild Iraq.

The case is under appeal.

Meanwhile, Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld has suggested that mistreated Iraqi prisoners might be compensated, a notion Storr finds puzzling.

"They're trying to extinguish this lawsuit, and we go and mistreat the prisoners," he said. "What are we saying? What kind of message are we sending? It's very confusing to me.

"There's talk of reimbursing Iraqis with taxpayer money. We didn't want taxpayer money, we wanted Saddam's money," Storr said.

His unit, the 116th Air Refueling Squadron at Fairchild Air Force Base in Spokane, is deploying in August to Turkey to support the "airbridge," flying troops and cargo in and out of Iraq.

"I'm looking forward to it. It's the first real chance to get in there and do something to help the cause and serve our country, so I'm looking forward to it, and I'm ready to go," Storr said.

© 2004 Daily News, L.P."