Re: PGW POW Lawsuit - Op Ed

Date: June 09, 2004

"Joe Crankshaw: Our mistreated POWs aren't allowed to sue
By Joe Crankshaw columnist

An appeals court has thrown out a $959 million judgment awarded to 17 Americans held prisoner of war by Iraq during the last Gulf War. Most of the 17 were subjected to torture and otherwise brutal treatment by Saddam Hussein's minions. Given the concern being expressed over the reprehensible treatment of the Iraqis by our troops, the court ruling is difficult to fathom. Are they saying the Iraqis are better than our men and women?

You will also be surprised as to who challenged the award: the U.S. government. It said the money was needed to rebuild Iraq, and besides, the former prisoners were working for the United States and thus not entitled to sue. Pardon me?

Advertisement Here is a portion of the Associated Press story detailing the lawsuit and the government's position:

"The U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit overturned a lower court ruling that said 17 former POWs and 37 family members were entitled to the damages under a federal statute allowing suits involving countries which financed or aided terrorists.

"The three-judge panel said the statute only allows lawsuits for pain and suffering if they are filed against agents and officers of those foreign states responsible for the torture who are not acting on behalf of their government.

"Thus, even though the lawsuit also names Saddam Hussein, he is immune because the POWs sued him for his alleged activities as Iraq's president, the panel said.

" 'We are mindful of the gravity of (the POWs') allegations in this case. That appellees endured this suffering while acting in service to their country is all the more sobering,' Judge Harry Edwards stated in the opinion.

" 'Nevertheless, we cannot ignore ... its impact on the United States' conduct of foreign policy where the law is indisputably clear that appellees were not legally entitled.'

"The POWs in the lawsuit, which also named the Iraqi Intelligence Service, say they endured severe beatings, starvation, electric shock, threats of amputation and dismemberment and continual death threats.

"Nearly 125 pages of the complaint detail the servicemen's stories, including those of Marine Maj. Michael Craig Berryman, who said his legs were beaten with a metal pipe and a wooden ax handle; Marine Col. Clifford Acree, who said he was so near starvation he could 'feel his body consuming itself;' and Navy Cmdr. Lawrence Slade, whose body was described as so blue from bruises that it was 'as if he had been dipped in indigo dye.'

"The Iraqi government never appeared in a U.S. court to argue its case, leading to the default judgment last July. But the Justice Department intervened after the POWs sought to be paid from frozen Iraqi assets in the United States, saying the money was needed to rebuild Iraq.

"Government lawyers had argued that huge legal judgments against foreign governments would hamper diplomacy efforts as the United States wages its war on terror.

"They also argued that the POWs weren't entitled to the money because President Bush made an official determination in May 2003 that a statute allowing payment from frozen assets wasn't applicable to Iraq because it no longer supported terrorism after Saddam was overthrown.

"One of the POWs in the suit, retired Air Force Col. David Eberly, said he and the other plaintiffs have not decided on their next step, which could include appealing to the full court or asking Congress and President Bush to change the statute or issue an executive order.

" 'This is difficult to take,' Eberly said. 'We served without question and withstood the worst the Iraqi torturers handed out. ... I am also concerned for those who serve our country in the future, as future torturers may now believe that the United States will not stand behind its servicemen and women.'

"An attorney representing the plaintiffs, Tony Onorato, noted 13 of the 17 POWs in the case were held in 1991 at the Abu Ghraib prison, the site of recent apparent abuse of Iraqi prisoners by their U.S. military guards. Bush has said the prison will be destroyed 'as a fitting symbol of Iraq's new beginning.'"

The president just spent some time extolling our military at the 60th Anniversary of D-Day. He made a big thing of praising them for their devotion and service, but I guess it was just words. The victims of the attack on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon are entitled to all sorts of assistance, but that does not apply to our military people who were brutally treated during the war fought by Bush I when they seek to take money Bush II wants to keep.

News stories out of Iraq tell us that Iraqis who were supposedly on our side have made off with millions of our dollars — money that did not go to rebuild Iraq. And we don't seem very alarmed about that. But when our troops ask for recompense for brutal treatment, the government balks. Now try to tell me this administration is really backing our troops.

Contact Joe Crankshaw by telephone at (772) 221-4181, or e-mail: Joe Crankshaw@scripps.com. © 2004 The E.W. Scripps Co."