Posted on 03/23/2003 9:10:39 AM PST by Lessismore
On Sunday afternoon, the Qatar-based television al Jazeera broadcast Iraqi TV, showing a videotape of at least 10 US POWs, including one female soldier, and a room with some 15 bodies of US troops. The live broadcast included also a footage of a battle field area in the southern Iraqi city of Nassiriya with additional corpses of US soldiers as well as struck military equipment.
The videotape has also shown how the Iraqis investigate the American POWs. The prisoners were questioned on air and gave their names, military identification numbers and home towns.
The chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff U.S. Air Force conceded that there were American soldiers missing, but said that there were fewer than 10 troops unaccounted for in southern Iraq.
U.S. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld warned Sunday it was possible that Iraqi forces had taken U.S. prisoners, saying there were unaccounted soldiers and journalists in the combat zone.
He noted that under the Geneva Conventions governing prisoners of war, "It's illegal to do things to POWs that are humiliating to those prisoners."
Earlier, it was reported that U.S. Marines battled for control of Nassiriya, taking "significant" casualties in a fight to open a route north to Baghdad, military officials said.
Reuters quoted military officials as saying the Marine battalion spearheading the fight had suffered significant casualties in the battle.
A total of 11 U.S. soldiers were captured after taking a wrong turn, and 50 military personnel have been wounded in the massive firefight in Nassiriya, ABCNEWS reported Sunday.
According to the report, 11 soldiers, maintenance workers, had taken a wrong turn outside the city on a mission to carry out repair work. They were traveling in a column of vehicles that came under heavy fire, including from an Iraqi tank. The capture was observed by other forces nearby.
The firefight at Nassiriya blocked an advance by U.S. forces, who had earlier reported securing two key bridgeheads to enable them to cross the Euphrates and strike northwards toward the Iraqi capital.
Reuters said there was heavy U.S. helicopter traffic over the area, and that hundreds of U.S. military trucks and armored personnel carriers had stopped their advance.
Iraqi Information Minister Information Minister Mohammed Saeed al-Sahaf told a news conference in Baghdad that foreign invaders headed to Nassiriya had been "taught a lesson they will never forget." "We have placed them in a quagmire from which they can never emerge except dead," he said. (Albawaba.com)
Our soldiers are not fighting so that they can be paraded in front of cameras when captured, then shot through the back of the head, execution-style.
Askel despises George W. Bush, and, I suspect, despises this country. Her obsession with abortion bordered close to delusional, at times.
But, I'm sure she'll be back, after the war.
Chastened, hopefully. This is not the time to be bucking Jim Robinson's insistence that anti-Americanism will not be tolerated around here.
Free Republic My Mail | New posts to you | OperationFreedom -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Posts by PresterJohn Search Many US casualties in Nassiriya battle; Footage of POWs, including woman, shown on Iraqi TV ^ Posted by PresterJohn to DocJ69 On News/Activism ^ 03/23/2003 1:31 PM MST #96 of 124 ^ AS a Corpman with the Marines in 69/70, you are a sick SOB, We will win this and folks like you will whine when it is over. Thanks for the greeting. Since the best you can apparently do all grown-up in your mid-50s is to call other people names, I won't consider you a further threat to my integrity. USN - USS Intrepid CVS-11 1966-70 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Post Reply | Private Reply | To 93 | View Replies Many US casualties in Nassiriya battle; Footage of POWs, including woman, shown on Iraqi TV ^ Posted by PresterJohn to Chancellor Palpatine On News/Activism ^ 03/23/2003 1:24 PM MST #94 of 124 ^ "No confusion about it - it IS Hussein coddling." You just don't get it do you? You guys trot out the same tired drivel about "access to material, blah, blah, blah" that only those governing us have access to as if that was an airtight case. Do YOU have access to information that shows Hussein/Iraq was directly involved in 9/11, or are you just a another true believer marching in lockstep? Saddam Hussein and his sons, and any others holding power in that regime are evil, and that's not in dispute. Are they insane? Probably not - insane people don't last too long no matter what thery're doing. I'll refrain from lumping you into the "you people" since I don't know what else you believe. I've never kissed anyone's ass, but I've kicked a few. I don't suffer from pacifism, just common sense. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Post Reply | Private Reply | To 85 | View Replies Many US casualties in Nassiriya battle; Footage of POWs, including woman, shown on Iraqi TV ^ Posted by PresterJohn to EaglesUpForever On News/Activism ^ 03/23/2003 1:00 PM MST #83 of 124 ^ "All Saddam coddlers need to shut up, right now." Taking a stand against the war should not be confused with "Saddam Coddling", but your intellect probably has a hard time grasping this. "Let me ask you this: IF SADDAM HAD BEEN PAYING $25,000 TO THE FAMILY OF EVERY PILOT IN 9/11, WOULD THAT CHANGE YOUR MIND?" YES IT WOULD - can you show me that this is the case? "If not, you are a cruel heartless fool. If so, you are an anti-semitic bigot. " What was this, a condemnation in advance? -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Post Reply | Private Reply | To 81 | View Replies Many US casualties in Nassiriya battle; Footage of POWs, including woman, shown on Iraqi TV ^ Posted by PresterJohn to Jesse On News/Activism ^ 03/23/2003 12:46 PM MST #79 of 124 ^ "Well, of course some evidence is not the same as no evidence, now, is it? " I'm unaware of any evidence that hasn't been proven to be false connecting Iraq to 9/11. "1)What do you consider a credible threat? We know, for example, that the 9/11 hijackers left evidence all over the place, but until they carried out their plan, what evidence did we have that made them a 'Credible Threat'. " For Iraq to be a credible threat to the saftey of this country, they would have to have demonstrated the means, the resolve and the intent to harm us as a nation. There is no hard evidence of any of the above. We shouldn't be attacking other countries that haven't first attacked us in some fashion. Another test of credible threat: If we bomb Iraq, will they bomb us back? No? Not a credible threat. Anyone, including the Saudis, are a credible threat as terrorist financiers. Anyone with nuclear weapons, including Russia, for example, is a credible threat as a source of nuclear weapons. We would never consider creating a war with Saudi Arabia or Russia, as we're doing in Iraq, merely because they pose a theoretical threat. 2)It was in Afghanistan, a third world backward country, that the 9/11 plot was hatched with boxcutters and flying lessons, aided and abetted by the Taliban regime. " This isn't posed as a question but I'll address it. You're absolutely right that that was where the plot was hatched, and it was with the consent and knowlege of the Taliban Theocracy as far as we know. I was 100% fully supportive of our efforts to take care of the Taliban. However, it was in the United States of America that the 9/11 plot was developed and executed. I don't hold the government and the people of the United States responsible for it. It would appear from all we know that Iraq had as much to do with 9/11 as the government of the United States did. Can you dispute this with any real evidence and not just propaganda and innuendo? "How is it then you think that Saddam Hussein, who is known to use torture, chemical weapons, assassination(including funding plot to kill George Bush Senior),who is known to fund various terrorist organizations and harbor known terrorists (including a ringleader of the group who orchestrated the Achilli Laro hijacking and murder of an American citizen, a terrorist recently killed in Iraq) is not a threat? " One assasination attempt and one murder of an American tourist. Does this register on your scorecard as sufficient to engage the entire US military in a war with a sovereign country, as despicable as their leadership may be, with the outcome being thousands of people on both sides killed and wounded, and a budget deficit that your grandchildren will be paying off? "3)Say there is a 0.5% chance that Saddam Hussein is funding terrorists and providing them with anthrax or 100 lbs of radioactive isotopes like cobalt, strontium and iodine to to smuggle into the United States and disperse. Is that credible enough? " No. You haven't posited any evidence here, you've only indicated a probability. Further, what's the motive for Saddam Hussein, or any tinpot dictator, to initiate such an atttack on us? Will his power base be broadened? Will he become richer? Will Iraq be able to expand? Commission of something for the pure evil intent of it is the domain of idiots, and say what you will about Hussein, the fact that he is still in power after all these years argues against his idiocy. "...and what constitutes a credible threat in the face of all the information we have to the contrary. " Recap the information for me, will you? And don't include stuff that we know is not true. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Post Reply | Private Reply | To 55 | View Replies Many US casualties in Nassiriya battle; Footage of POWs, including woman, shown on Iraqi TV ^ Posted by PresterJohn to Jesse On News/Activism ^ 03/23/2003 11:25 AM MST #50 of 124 ^ "Self defense is a basic human right." At the source of most of the objections to this war is this argument. Those in favor of the war argue that we are defending ourselves by waging war with Iraq. Many (most?) of those opposed to the war, but NOT demonstrating, myself included, are NOT pacifists, but are unconvinced that Iraq poses a credible threat to US interests, and resent the propaganda coming from Washington trying to convince us of that. There is no evidence connecting Iraq with Islamic fundamentalist terrorists and 9/11 beyond the $25K suicide bomber bounty, which if analyzed, revels it to be more of an insult and affront to Israel rather than an inducement to become a martyr. God Bless the troops, but get them the hell out of there as fast as possible! PJ - USN, Vietnam Veteran, 1966-70 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Post Reply | Private Reply | To 27 | View Replies FOX NEWS: Major Garret Reports that POWS Were EXECUTED, by being SHOT in head ^ Posted by PresterJohn to HankReardon On News/Activism ^ 03/23/2003 10:44 AM MST #252 of 321 ^ "Do you deny the word of an honorable US 4 star general who is privy to ALL information? " ...who would do anything to serve his commander-in-chief and keep his job? Yes I would be suspicious. Have you learned nothing from the lies and deceipt of the administration and military command in the history of the Vietnam war? Or maybe you're too young to remember. Question Authority, or become a lemming, lemming. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Post Reply | Private Reply | To 213 | View Replies Bomb blasts 13th Century Iraq university ^ Posted by PresterJohn to atomic conspiracy On News/Activism ^ 03/23/2003 10:29 AM MST #22 of 27 ^ "Meanwhile BBC is positively gloating over "stiff resistance" from the Iraqis, "dozens of (American) casualties" (most of which are probably minor wounds), and captured Americans being paraded on TV. " It's probably more like they're trying to make it look like a real war and not the road-kill everybody knew it would be. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Post Reply | Private Reply | To 12 | View Replies Thousands rally at state Capitol to support U.S. troops [Minnesota-17,000 people!] ^ Posted by PresterJohn to Vigilanteman On News/Activism ^ 03/22/2003 7:27 PM MST #7 of 14 ^ "One real problem with these spoilt rich brats is they can keep running for office all their lives on inherited wealth." You have to tread softly on this one, GWB falls into this category too. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Post Reply | Private Reply | To 6 | View Replies An anti-war protester tried to hit me! ^ Posted by PresterJohn to Outraged On News/Activism ^ 03/22/2003 11:14 AM MST #74 of 102 ^ "I was out there tonight making intellectual minsmeat out of the Bush haters " How'd you do that? Confuse them with spelling errors? -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Post Reply | Private Reply | To 15 | View Replies Arabs seethe as TV brings Iraq destruction home ^ Posted by PresterJohn to Thane_Banquo On News/Activism ^ 03/22/2003 7:28 AM MST #23 of 26 ^ "Arab culture is almost purely emotional. Reason is a foreign concept to them. That's whay Saddam thought he could win. That's why they ALWAYS lose to Israel. " It's this kind of jingoistic nonsense that will continue to fuel hatred for America and drive terrorism for decades to come, whether or not it's actually sponsored by any state. Read about Arab history from a thousand years ago, and you will find that the Arabian culture kept alive the knowledge of Aristotle and other Greeks and saved it from being swept away by the "purely emotional" superstition and dogma of early Christianity. The demonstrators you see in the streets of Palestine celebrating any American demise are no more representative of Arab culture than the anti-war demonstrators are of American culture. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Post Reply | Private Reply | To 2 | View Replies It's the economy stupid ^ Posted by PresterJohn to meyer On News/Activism ^ 03/22/2003 6:52 AM MST #31 of 31 ^ "Democrats do that a lot - use partial information to create the impression that something false is true." C'mon - everybody does that, including the most right- leaning conservative. Everybody uses just the right amount of evidence to support their points, and not a bit more. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Post Reply | Private Reply | To 25 | View Replies Who is Smarter? (Gotta Read!!) ^ Posted by PresterJohn to Diddley On News/Activism ^ 03/21/2003 1:46 PM MST #61 of 62 ^ Intelligence is not a measure of knowledge. Intelligence is something you're born with, like it or not. It is an indicator of how quickly and how well you can learn or perceive something. Intelligence can be marginally improved by early, intense intervention, but tends to revert to former levels once the intervention stops. Knowledge is is a product of education - formal as well as real-life experiences. You don't have to be overly intelligent to be knowledgeable, but intelligent people tend to become knowledgeable with a lot less effort. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Post Reply | Private Reply | To 29 | View Replies Hollywood's Patriotism Questioned ^ Posted by PresterJohn to singletrack On News/Activism ^ 03/21/2003 7:51 AM MST #18 of 26 ^ That's known as stealing, and if you do it, you'll be known as a common thief. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Post Reply | Private Reply | To 13 | View Replies Our World-Historical Gamble ^ Posted by PresterJohn to jimmyBEEgood On News/Activism ^ 03/20/2003 6:56 AM MST #61 of 106 ^ "You remember , it's the economy stupip (sic)????? Now , it's 9/11 stupid !!! It's unreal how many people SEEM to have forgotten the sight of people holding hands and jumping from 50 floors up , I'll never forget !! " Jimmy, Jimmy, Jimmy, it's a lot easier to believe than it is to think, isn't it? There's no connection to Iraq and 9/11 - there never has been, but people like you just can't believe it, so you ignore all evidence to the contrary. As horrific as the site of people jumping from the 90th floor was, it doesn't implicate Iraq. We're attacking Iraq because of the policy direction change signalled by Bush and his chicken hawks last fall that said we will invade sovereign nations as a means of preventing further possible attacks. The bouncing rubble in Afghanistan wasn't satisfying enough so they decided to go after a country that might fight back a little harder. And by the way, the end of Bush II, in less than two years, WILL be because of the economy. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Post Reply | Private Reply | To 4 | View Replies Sheryl Crow Yanks Blog Entry From Her Site After Drudge Exposes Her Streisand-Level Stupidity!!! ^ Posted by PresterJohn to Eaker On News/Activism ^ 03/19/2003 8:05 AM MST #50 of 60 ^ As an armed citizen, what do you have to say about the fact that nearly ALL Iraqi households have at least one serviceable gun. Weren't dictatorships supposed to be impossible under this scenario? -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Post Reply | Private Reply | To 31 | View Replies Sheryl Crow Yanks Blog Entry From Her Site After Drudge Exposes Her Streisand-Level Stupidity!!! ^ Posted by PresterJohn to Lucky Lyn On News/Activism ^ 03/19/2003 8:02 AM MST #49 of 60 ^ Sorry, Lucky Lyn, BMW SUVs are manufactured in Spartanburg, SC. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Post Reply | Private Reply | To 41 | View Replies The draft as a deterrent: David Hackworth believes most Americans too disconnected from war ^ Posted by PresterJohn to KeyWest On News/Activism ^ 03/18/2003 6:45 AM MST #30 of 52 ^ "Nothing new here that has not been said before and dismissed. If you want body bags, bring back the draft. There is no way that the US is going to put the money into training a draftee compared to a volunteer. So the draftee will receive little training and end up on the short end of the stick. In any team, you are only as strong as your weakest member, and draftees will only drag the force down. " This is nonsense. Draftees are trained the same way as volunteers. While they for the most part don't remain as career soldiers and don't get additional advanced training in their field, the grunts up front in harms way ALL have the SAME training. I agree about the problem with no military experience in the political ranks. With chicken hawks like Bush, cheney and Ashcroft leading the fray, we're screwed. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Post Reply | Private Reply | To 14 | View Replies The draft as a deterrent: David Hackworth believes most Americans too disconnected from war ^ Posted by PresterJohn to Mad Dawgg On News/Activism ^ 03/18/2003 6:37 AM MST #29 of 52 ^ "In a related story: Most Americans consider David Hackworth a bloated sack of fecal matter and don't give an airborne rodents rectum what he says." Really, where's the poll? I'm an American veteran and I don't share that opinion. What did you think about the premise of the story? Did you serve your country too? -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Post Reply | Private Reply | To 2 | View Replies The draft as a deterrent: David Hackworth believes most Americans too disconnected from war ^ Posted by PresterJohn to JohnHuang2 On News/Activism ^ 03/18/2003 6:34 AM MST #28 of 52 ^ The draft should be reinstated to give these chicken-hawks some skin in the game. It's all too easy to send military forces into battle when they're composed of somebody elses children. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies BREAKING NEWS!!! SADDAM ATTACKING PREMPTIVELY??? ^ Posted by PresterJohn to GraniteStateConservative On News/Activism ^ 03/14/2003 6:26 AM MST #696 of 726 ^ Excuse me, but bombs that deliver enough of an EMP to 'knock out' electronics are hydrogen (fusion) bombs in the multi-tens of megaton range, exploded high in the atmosphere. Are you suggesting that that's what US forces will do? You're delusional -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Post Reply | Private Reply | To 692 | View Replies BREAKING NEWS!!! SADDAM ATTACKING PREMPTIVELY??? ^ Posted by PresterJohn to Alas Babylon! On News/Activism ^ 03/13/2003 7:25 PM MST #283 of 726 ^ Meanwhile, Saddam gets to move his forces to the border and have them dig in. This is getting rediculous (sic)! You have to consider that for now, at least, it's still his country... -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Post Reply | Private Reply | To 24 | View Replies Dixie Chick Explains Bush Slam At London Concert ^ Posted by PresterJohn to cerberus On News/Activism ^ 03/13/2003 4:53 PM MST #130 of 263 ^ You mean actions like stealing? -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Post Reply | Private Reply | To 49 | View Replies Reply to Jimmy Carter - "Just Cowardly - Or Just Stupid?" ^ Posted by PresterJohn to DocFarmer On News/Activism ^ 03/09/2003 10:22 AM MST #3 of 22 ^ Must be all the fluoride in the water supply sapping our precious bodily fluids. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies Chelsea's new job is high-power ^ Posted by PresterJohn to DeBug=int13 On News/Activism ^ 03/08/2003 8:48 AM MST #84 of 120 ^ One could make the same argument for GW. 25th percentile score on flight school admission test gets him a pass around 500 more qualified applicants. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Post Reply | Private Reply | To 31 | View Replies Unmitigated Disaster - Next Time, Ignore the U.N. (long but excellent) ^ Posted by PresterJohn to the_doc On News/Activism ^ 03/07/2003 4:02 PM MST #28 of 44 ^ doc Let's face it, the 'coalition of the willing' consists of the US and a small group of the best allies that money can buy. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Post Reply | Private Reply | To 24 | View Replies Broadcasting to the Enemy --- Sensitive Allied Military Information ^ Posted by PresterJohn to First_Salute On News/Activism ^ 03/06/2003 8:30 AM MST #11 of 16 ^ First Salute I read your first post - the topic of this thread, with interest but remained a bit confused by the contents. Others here appear to be confused over it as well. Your second post, however, made it abundantly clear that you're a delusional moron with nothing constructive to offer. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Post Reply | Private Reply | To 6 | View Replies Report: Lindh attacked by jail inmates ^ Posted by PresterJohn to ewing On News/Activism ^ 03/06/2003 8:21 AM MST #49 of 175 ^ What's a maroon? Is it anything like a moron? -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Post Reply | Private Reply | To 17 | View Replies Rosen identifies "Not My President" Teacher (Martha Swisher) ^ Posted by PresterJohn to Volunteer On News/Activism ^ 03/05/2003 7:43 PM MST #63 of 83 ^ "For the sake of ethical consistency, did she protest the last Gulf War?" The purpose of the 'last Gulf war' was to liberate Kuwait from Iraqi occupation. There was no ambiguity in the goal of this war, and no doubt that Iraq had crossed a line that required military action on the part of those countries able to do something about it. It enjoyed wide support both in this country as well as around the world - including all of the arab states. What the hell does 'ethical consistency' have to do with anything? Are you actually suggesting that anyone who is against this war should have been against GW1? -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Post Reply | Private Reply | To 43 | View Replies War with North Korea is very likely. ^ Posted by PresterJohn to Beck_isright On News/Activism ^ 03/03/2003 8:47 AM MST #43 of 68 ^ I always wondered where the hard core Birchers went when Communism collapsed under its own weight and left us without any credible enemies. Of course, here you are, inventing more right-wing fiction. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Post Reply | Private Reply | To 21 | View Replies
Behind every dark cloud there is a silver lining.
Raising my glass of wine in a hearty "Hear, hear!" to the moderator!!
Let's take a vote.
Poof!
If we vote, no she won't.
Just because she used $20 words in her screeds doesn't make her smart.
Someone "with a brain" wouldn't spout obvious lies then stamp their feet that they should be able to lie with impunity in the name of "free speech".
Sorry, but your's and Askel's premise is flat-out wrong, therefore all points taken from there would be wrong as well.
I speak in particular of your contention that we do not treat POWs in accordance with the Geneva Convention. That is an out and out lie.
My! Such low standards you set. You confuse verbosity with clarity of thought.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.