$cirisme
March 23rd 2003, 02:11 PM
Arabic news channel Al-Jazeera showed footage Sunday of what it said were five U.S. prisoners, including one woman.
The station showed footage of the alleged soldiers being questioned by their captors and being asked things such as where they were from and their names. The tape that was broadcast was reportedly provided by Iraqi television and was edited.
"This is the first we've seen of it -- it looks like Iraqi TV propaganda," said a U.S. Defense Department spokesperson. "What they're doing is wrong -- we're trying to get to the bottom of what we're seeing. We're investigating the tape now."
Defense officials said they were analyzing the video. They also said there is nothing in the tape that would lead them to believe the prisoners were not really U.S. troops.
The footage violated the Geneva Convention, the International Committee of the Red Cross said Sunday.
"Article 13 of the Third Geneva Convention says clearly that prisoners of war must at all times be protected ... against insult and public curiosity," ICRC spokeswoman Nada Doumani told Reuters.
Three prisoners -- including the woman -- said they were from Texas, another was from New Jersey and another from Kansas. At least two of them identified themselves as being part of a maintenance unit.
"I come to shoot only if I am shot at … I wouldn't kill anybody … they don't bother me, I don't bother them," said the Kansas man. "I was told to come here," he said when asked why he came to Iraq.
One Texas man said: "I follow orders," when asked why he was there.
When asked how the Iraqi people have received him -- whether it be with "flowers or guns" -- the Texas man said "I don't understand … they're people of their own country."
The woman said she was 30 years old. She had no shoes on.
The station said the prisoners were captured around Nasiriyah, a major crossing point over the Euphrates River northwest of Basra.
The British Ministry of Defense refused to comment about a BBC report that four were killed and 50 wounded during eight hours of fighting in Nasiriyah.
Al-Jazeera also showed at least one prisoner lying on a cot, appearing to be wounded. Two prisoners were bandaged.
One of the male prisoners, sitting up, was being interviewed by an unseen person holding a microphone labeled "Iraqi TV." The soldier spoke in English and at one point said: "I'm sorry. I don't understand you."
The station also showed a gruesome and disturbing video of bodies in uniform in an Iraqi morgue that it said were Americans.
"There's a real sickened feeling here" after seeing the tape, said Fox News' Mike Tobin at U.S. Central Command in Doha, Qatar.
While an Iraqi smiled at the camera over the bodies and shifted them to better display the wounds, the tape showed what is purported to be U.S. Marines in U.S. military attire lying on the floor with serious head and torso wounds -- many execution style.
At one point, Iraqis pulled out what appears to be a passport and other papers out of one deceased person's pocket. Soldiers' shirts were pulled up, and pants pulled down, to show the extent of the wounds.
Al-Jazeera also showed footage of what appeared to be a fuel or water carrier parked alongside a highway and a body in uniform with full gear and still wearing a helmet lying behind the carrier.
...More here. (http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,81911,00.html)
It is so sad... :bawl:
The station showed footage of the alleged soldiers being questioned by their captors and being asked things such as where they were from and their names. The tape that was broadcast was reportedly provided by Iraqi television and was edited.
"This is the first we've seen of it -- it looks like Iraqi TV propaganda," said a U.S. Defense Department spokesperson. "What they're doing is wrong -- we're trying to get to the bottom of what we're seeing. We're investigating the tape now."
Defense officials said they were analyzing the video. They also said there is nothing in the tape that would lead them to believe the prisoners were not really U.S. troops.
The footage violated the Geneva Convention, the International Committee of the Red Cross said Sunday.
"Article 13 of the Third Geneva Convention says clearly that prisoners of war must at all times be protected ... against insult and public curiosity," ICRC spokeswoman Nada Doumani told Reuters.
Three prisoners -- including the woman -- said they were from Texas, another was from New Jersey and another from Kansas. At least two of them identified themselves as being part of a maintenance unit.
"I come to shoot only if I am shot at … I wouldn't kill anybody … they don't bother me, I don't bother them," said the Kansas man. "I was told to come here," he said when asked why he came to Iraq.
One Texas man said: "I follow orders," when asked why he was there.
When asked how the Iraqi people have received him -- whether it be with "flowers or guns" -- the Texas man said "I don't understand … they're people of their own country."
The woman said she was 30 years old. She had no shoes on.
The station said the prisoners were captured around Nasiriyah, a major crossing point over the Euphrates River northwest of Basra.
The British Ministry of Defense refused to comment about a BBC report that four were killed and 50 wounded during eight hours of fighting in Nasiriyah.
Al-Jazeera also showed at least one prisoner lying on a cot, appearing to be wounded. Two prisoners were bandaged.
One of the male prisoners, sitting up, was being interviewed by an unseen person holding a microphone labeled "Iraqi TV." The soldier spoke in English and at one point said: "I'm sorry. I don't understand you."
The station also showed a gruesome and disturbing video of bodies in uniform in an Iraqi morgue that it said were Americans.
"There's a real sickened feeling here" after seeing the tape, said Fox News' Mike Tobin at U.S. Central Command in Doha, Qatar.
While an Iraqi smiled at the camera over the bodies and shifted them to better display the wounds, the tape showed what is purported to be U.S. Marines in U.S. military attire lying on the floor with serious head and torso wounds -- many execution style.
At one point, Iraqis pulled out what appears to be a passport and other papers out of one deceased person's pocket. Soldiers' shirts were pulled up, and pants pulled down, to show the extent of the wounds.
Al-Jazeera also showed footage of what appeared to be a fuel or water carrier parked alongside a highway and a body in uniform with full gear and still wearing a helmet lying behind the carrier.
...More here. (http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,81911,00.html)
It is so sad... :bawl: