Rumsfeld Says Some U.S. Soldiers Missing
By MATT KELLEY, Associated Press Writer
WASHINGTON - Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld said Sunday some American soldiers are missing in the fighting in Iraq and that there is a report of a missing allied aircraft.
Rumsfeld said he could not provide any information about a missing aircraft. In Baghdad, security officers searched the banks of the Tigris River, apparently looking for one of more pilots who may have bailed out of a downed plane.
Asked what he could say about missing pilots, Rumsfeld replied, "Nothing." He suggested that the search in Baghdad was staged.
"There has been a report of an aircraft missing," the secretary acknowledged on NBC's "Meet the Press. "I don't want to speculate because I simply don't know."
Rumsfeld said there are some American troops who are missing in Iraq. He noted that under the Geneva Convention governing prisoners of war, "It's illegal to do things to POWs that are humiliating to those prisoners."
"There are, we believe, there are some American soldiers missing." He said there also could be captured journalists.