IRAQ VP Says They Will Show Captured Coalition Troops

Reuters, AP | 3/23/03

[Fractal Trader]

Were they not supposed to say anything?

As I said, note the sources. Why has this not been reported by UPI, CBS, or Fox News as sources of origination?

This release would indicate that these media organizations have "special access" to Iraqi sources, and are willing to pass on total falsehoods and call it "breaking news."

Would you have trust for an organization which publishes clearly untruthful claims? Would they distribute a quote, say, from John Malvo as breaking news or gospel truth?

[kabar]

Could also be some special ops personnel. We usually don't announce those losses until the war is over, if then.

[Illbay]

Well, this is one more guy we claimed we'd killed.

I'm beginning to dismiss all news reports from this war. Let me know when the military governor takes charge.

[Hillarys Gate Cult]

Iraq now says it only release still photos of the "captured coalition troops." I guess the command "smile or we'll shoot you" is hard for the Stayfree Human Panty Sheilds to keep going on tape.

[Excuse_My_Bellicosity]

I gotta see this. They'll probably trot out clean-shaven local Iraqis in green coveralls looking dazed and scared. I doubt the Iraqi military is smart enough to remove the Roto-Rooter and Dave's Cleaning Service patches from the "flight suits".

[MinuteGal]

I can't for the life of me explain to myself why Iraqi TV and radio stations weren't taken out first thing.

Since the enemy is militarily unable to win, they have fallen back on propaganda, lies, disinformation and all sorts of psych-ops (just as we utilize on them.)

The Iraqi steady drumbeat of propaganda is not only beamed at its own populace but at the rest of the world. They hope for successes by political means, i.e., softening up governments world-wide. There's aways those who believe their lies or want to believe them no matter how outrageous they are.

Hope today will see bombing of Baghdad's entire public information apparatus.

If not, why not? I understand we want certain parts of the Baghdad infrastucture to remain intact. But restoring TV and other media systems are much easier to restore post-war than broken bridges and exploded power plants.

Leni

[sheikdetailfeather]

"We Anglo Saxon Hyenas and Ravens know that you have no weapons of mess destruction..I mean mass construction."

[cyncooper]

I have Meet The Press on and Jim Mik(etc) just reported that less than 10 coalition prisoners of war were taken.

He then reported that Al-Jazeera (the very station so helpful in airing bin Laden tapes) aired footage of apparent prisoners dead in what appears to be an execution.

Tim Russert just said "Americans".

[cyncooper]

Evidently we are in fact missing troops and they are presumed to be, in fact, taken prisoner. They are now feared dead, shot execution style and video aired on Al-Jazeera. Of course, the video will be carefully reviewed by our side.

[Polybius]

Our army should not be walking on egg shells in this military campaign, as portrayed in the fire fight in Umm Qasr. That whole area should have been reduced to rubble 5 minutes after it was discovered that there was going to be resistance.

That may have saved a few hours for a handful of tanks and gained........ what?

Handing Saddam Hussein, the French and the Peaceniks a Waco-style Civilian Bar-B-Que televised live world-wide?

If the Germans had treated the Russians and Ukranians as "liberated people" rathered than conquered Untermenschen, they may been able to turn Russia's own population against the Stalin regime rather than turning Stalin-hating Russians and Ukranians into German-haters willing to die for Mother Russia in spite of how much they hated Stalin.

As Von Clausewitz wrote, “War is an extension of politics by other means.” The politics in this war is to destroy the Baathist control in Iraq, disarm Iraq of WMD and turn the Iraq into a U.S. strategic friend in the region. Unless you accomplish the third objective, we will be coming back to Iraq every twelve years to fight this war over and over and over again.

If the cost of having the Iraqi people see us as "Liberators" and Allies rather than conquering jack-booted Waco-style thugs Bar-B-Queing second cousin Yasin at Umm Qasr is for a handful of tanks to spend the entire day and night of 22 March 2003 demonstrating remarkable restraint on world-wide live televion in order to avoid civilian casualties, then, so be it.

Consider it invaluable Psy-Ops televised world wide for the price of a dozen hours wasted by a handful of tanks.

For the alternative, think of the psychological impact that words such as "Waco" and "Kent State" have even decades after the event.

[Polybius]

Evidently we are in fact missing troops and they are presumed to be, in fact, taken prisoner. They are now feared dead, shot execution style and video aired on Al-Jazeera.

If this is true, some Iraqi leadership will be swinging at the end of a rope after the war if they survive the bombing.

The corpse of convicted Nazi war criminal Julius Streicher after his execution by hanging.

[Excuse_My_Bellicosity]

True enough, but the missing guys are not shot down jet pilots like the Iraqi military is trying to portray by burning reeds along the river and shooting into the water.

[WarSlut]

I was just reitering your point, agreeing with you 100%.