Posted on 06/20/2005 11:44:42 AM PDT by LouAvul
MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) - An Australian engineer from California dramatically rescued from insurgents in Baghdad last week arrived back in his native country Monday and apologized for his televised plea for coalition forces to withdraw from Iraq.
The world discovered Douglas Wood had been abducted when his captors released a DVD through Arabic television May 1 showing him with automatic weapons pointed at his head as he pleaded for troops to pull out of Iraq.
But at his first media conference since being freed, the 64-year-old resident of Alamo, Calif., said he supported the coalition forces' role in Iraq.
"Frankly I'd like to apologize to both President (George W.) Bush and Prime Minister (John) Howard for the things I said under duress," said Wood, his American wife, Yvonne Given, and his two brothers and their wives by his side.
(Excerpt) Read more at sacbee.com ...
I find it difficult to hold this against him since the alternative would have been his beheading with a dull knife.
That said, I'll bet $10 that this guy won't be setting foot in Iraq again.
The Lib's will just love this ......
I'll bet no major news org. runs with this story
I'd probably say anything to keep my head from being sawed off, too.
Meanwhile, the Democrats continue to be held hostage...
Can't blame him. Not one bit.
Blame the rusty butchers. And thank GOD this man was rescued. God bless our troops.
["Frankly I'd like to apologize to both President (George W.) Bush and Prime Minister (John) Howard for the things I said under duress," said Wood]
No one should blame him for saying those things on video with terrorists pointing a gun at his head, and an apology really isn't necessary.
The fact that he feels the need to apologize and "set the record straight" now that he's been freed, shows how much character he has.
Read closer... He is considering going back. That is what I like about Aussies, the are a bunch of tough guys looking for a better challenge. I used to work with a bunch of them and they are completely nuts. I used to tease them about one-upping American sports - Austrailan rules bullriding "If you are tying up the bulls nuts, tie mine up, mate"
Good on ya, mate!
I couldn't get the entire article without signing up to SacBee, but I think that this guy was one extremely lucky SOB to get out of that situation with his head still attached to his body.
He's definitely got some brass aggies to go back after an ordeal like that.
I hope he fares well.
No need to apologize. We all realize all those 'pleas' to remove troops are completely meaningless.
Good for him.
Wonder if he'd consider arming himself next trip, eh?
ROD McGUIRK
Associated Press
MELBOURNE, Australia - An Australian engineer held hostage in Iraq for nearly seven weeks arrived in his home country Monday and apologized for his televised plea for coalition forces to withdraw from Iraq. Douglas Wood, 64, who lives in Alamo, Calif., told reporters at Melbourne's airport he supported the coalition forces' role in Iraq.
"Frankly I'd like to apologize to both President Bush and Prime Minister (John) Howard for the things I said under duress," said Wood, with his American wife Yvonne Given and his brothers Vernon and Malcolm and their wives by his side.
"I actually believe that I am proof positive that the current policy of training the Iraqi army ... works because it was Iraqis that got me out," he added.
Iraqi and U.S. troops freed Wood during a search last Wednesday of a house in Baghdad. Insurgents had held him ransom for 47 days.
Wood was abducted on April 30 when lured to what he thought was a business meeting. He had been working for more than a year in Iraq as a self-employed contractor.
A day later his captors released video images showing two masked figures pointing automatic weapons at Wood's head as he pleaded for U.S., British and Australian forces to pull out of Iraq.
Australia's top Islamic cleric, meanwhile, said the military operation to free Wood could have endangered the lives of two Iraqis still being held by the kidnappers.
"The stupid action that was taken last week has exposed the fathers of these families to death," Sheik Taj El Din al-Hilaly told reporters on his return from Baghdad, where he had tried to secure Wood's release. He said it was unlikely the Iraqi hostages would now be freed.
His comments, delivered in Arabic, were translated into English by his spokesman Keysar Trad.
Australia sent a hostage negotiation team with elite troops to Iraq to try to secure his freedom. The government refused the kidnappers' demands that Australia withdraw its 1,400 troops from Iraq and pay a reported $19 million ransom.
Wood described his treatment at the hands of the kidnappers, who kicked him in the head and shaved off his hair, as "a bit intimidating." He said he sometimes feared for his life. He declined to discuss his captors, saying the ordeal was "too traumatic."
Clearly elated at being back in Australia, he entered the news conference shouting "Waltzing Matilda," the title of Australia's unofficial national song.
Asked if he was feeling fragile after his ordeal, he said: "Not especially. I've got some physical ailments and I've been deprived of medication for a bit."
Wood suffers a heart condition but his captors gave him medication apparently passed to them by al-Hilaly.
Howard said he received a briefing from the head of the Australian hostage team, Nick Warner, Sunday night. Warner confirmed Wood was picked up by U.S. and Iraqi forces in a sweep-and-cordon operation.
Howard welcomed Wood's apology, but said he had not sought it. "After what that poor man has been through, that would be the last thing I would want," Howard told Australian Broadcasting Corp.
Wood said he did not know who the insurgents were who kidnapped him.
"I didn't know whether it was al-Qaida or who it was," he said. "I didn't know ... obviously, my head is intact, so it wasn't al-Qaida."
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