NYT Will Report Captives were Executed

The Command Post ^ | March 26, 2003

[Mr. Mulliner]

12:06 AM | NYT will report captives were executed

CNN - aaron brown is saying the NYT tomorrow will have a report that some of the POWs were summarily executed, probably publicly.

"When this word gets out, it's hard to control the troops." Gen. Wesley Clark.

Brown said the story will change things. "People will be outraged."

[Poincare]

My uncle was captured in Italy in WWII and told he me years ago that the Gestapo conducted a short arm inspection of the POWs and executed the ones that were circumcised, presumably Jews. My Swedish-Irish (100 percent American) uncle survived.

With regard to the POWs on the Al Jizeera tape on has to ask, "why were only some of the prisoners executed?" The pants were obviously pulled down. It is known that the Iraqi TV has told the Iraqi people that the are being invaded by Americans and Israelis.

If the Red Cross can get to the surviving POWs they must follow this line of investigation. Why is it that the American public can't be shown violence and sex without Hollywood getting the proceeds?

Yes, Muslims are also circumcised, but that doesn't negate the idea that they could pull down pants to find Jews. And they may be unaware how widespread circumscision is among Americans.

[Mr. Mulliner]

I'm wondering if the ones still alive were made to watch the executions. I'm guessing so. Nothing is beyond the pale with these Iraqi bastards.

[Servant of the Nine]

NO QUARTER.
We know how to play that game too.
When there are no more Iraqis, there will be no Iraqi problem.
Ever.

Play the Deguello

So9

[j.havenfarm]

In the beauty of the lilies,
Christ was born across the sea.
With a glory in his bosom,
That transfigures you and me.
As he died to make men holy,
Let us die to make men free.
While God is marching on.

Stand down, soldiers. We'll take it from here.

[WaterDragon]

American Jews in the military are "100% American" GIs. It doesn't matter to American Marines whatever the religion is of our troops who were captured and shot. Those who were shot, those who are being tortured will be avenged.

[Servant of the Nine]

NO QUARTER
We know how to play that game too.
And we can play it better.
When there are no more Iraqis, there will be no Iraqi problem.
Ever.

Play the Deguello

So9

[ambrose]

No doubt whatsoever.

Guess you've never been to the democraticunderground...

[rattrap]

ASHINGTON, March 25 — Some of the Army mechanics captured on Sunday after they took a wrong turn in the Iraqi town of Nasiriya were apparently executed by their captors, probably in front of townspeople, American officials charged tonight.

The officials cautioned that the information was based on one source, apparently a communications intercept, and that they were seeking corroborating evidence. It is unclear how many of the seven soldiers were executed, rather than killed in fighting, as the Iraqis contend. Five other Americans were taken prisoner and at least three were still missing.

The accusations came a few days after a videotape of the prisoners and the dead soldiers was broadcast on Al Jazeera, the Arab satellite television network. It showed images of at least four bodies; some appeared to have bullet wounds to the head.

"When the full story comes out, people will be outraged," said one senior military official.

The accusations came at the end of a day in which senior White House and Pentagon officials accused the Iraqis of a number of war crimes, including feigning surrender and then shooting at American forces, and using a hospital as a staging area for military operations.

The White House also said that Iraqi paramilitary forces were preventing relief supplies from reaching Basra in southern Iraq.

At the Pentagon today, Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld and the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen. Richard B. Myers, repeatedly defended their war plan against criticism that it had stretched ground forces too thin, leaving their rear areas vulnerable to guerrilla attacks by paramilitary forces.

"It's a good plan, and it is a plan that in four and a half or five days has moved ground forces to within a short distance of Baghdad," said Mr. Rumsfeld, after repeated exchanges with reporters. "And forces increase in the country every minute and every hour of every day," he said.

General Myers called the war plan "brilliant," saying any setbacks were due to Iraqi violations of the Geneva Convention. "It's a plan that's on track," he said. "It's a plan everybody had input to. It's a plan everybody agrees to."

A senior administration official who was deeply involved in war planning said in an interview today that President Saddam Hussein's loyalists "fight like terrorists," and attributed the absence of a welcome for American troops to "a reign of terror in some of these cities, with these paramilitary and special security organizations enforcing the same brutal terror they have been enforcing for years."

"We haven't encountered large segments of the Iraqi population yet," the official cautioned.

The official said that Mr. Bush had decided to assume the Iraqi government "is still functioning." But the official compared the first six days of this war to the invasion of Afghanistan in 2001, saying, "the surprise is the speed of our advance."

Despite the optimism at the Pentagon and the White House, today was the first day the administration found itself somewhat on the defensive about its strategy.

The cause appeared to be the combination of unexpectedly fierce resistance around Basra, the lost convoy, and the effectiveness of the Republican Guard in warding off Apache attack helicopters with a curtain of small-arms fire.

Mr. Bush tried to show optimism this morning, when he traveled to the Pentagon for a briefing, but he cautioned: "We're fighting an enemy that knows no rules of law, that will wear civilian uniforms, that is willing to kill in order to continue the reign of fear of Saddam Hussein."

Later, his spokesman, Ari Fleischer, said that the delay in getting aid to southern Iraq was the fault of the Iraqi authorities. "We didn't expect the Iraqis to cease caring about their own people, to cease feeding their own people, to put up impediments to this humanitarian relief supplies," he said.

The White House also used Mr. Bush's visit to press Congress to pass a $74.7 billion appropriation to finance the war and reconstruction. The Office of Management and Budget made it clear that it was profitable for nations to be members of Mr. Bush's "coalition of the willing," even if some were only reluctantly willing.

Turkey, which denied American access to its bases to open a northern front against Iraq, would receive $1 billion in economic aid under Mr. Bush's plan, allowing it to get up to $8.5 billion loans or loan guarantees.

Israel would also get $1 billion in direct military assistance and $9 billion in loan guarantees. Jordan would receive $700 million in economic aid, and Egypt $300 million in grants, allowing it to obtain up to $2 billion in loan guarantees.

President Bush's greatest ally in the war, Prime Minister Tony Blair, prepared to come to Washington on Wednesday for a summit meeting that the British leader said would focus not only on war strategy, but on "how we get America and Europe working again together as partners and not as rivals."

The disputes that marked the battle over a second resolution at the United Nations authorizing war — an effort the United States, Britain and Spain abandoned — have now given way to a new dispute over how to administer Iraq after the war.

The president's national security adviser, Condoleezza Rice, flew to New York yesterday to discuss that subject and Iraq's relief needs with Secretary General Kofi Annan.

The visit came as sharp disputes were arising among the members of an expert committee designated to shape a Security Council resolution reconstituting the oil-for-food program that was suspended on March 17 when the United Nations personnel were withdrawn from Iraq.

The dispute has delayed the authorization of new mechanisms for the distribution of relief aid, including about $2.4 billion worth of food and other supplies being sent to Iraq.

The diplomatic struggle, pitting Russia and Syria against the United States and Britain, focuses on control over contracting authority in the program and on whether the resolution would legitimize the military action after the fact.

[Kadric]

For those that have not surrendered. You will find more kindness in the hearts of the Israelis than those that are on their way for you now.

To those that did and ordered this. These deaths will never be forgotten and you will believe that Saddam was a gentleman when you are caught, not if but when.

[Don'tMessWithTexas]

He has sounded out the trumpet That shall never sound retreat;

He is sifting out the hearts of men

Before His judgment seat;

Be swift my soul to follow him

Be jubilant my feet;

Our God is marching on.

As they say in my neck of the woods, they is gonna be a whole lot of siftin' goin' on out there in the next coupla days.

[Bogey78O]

blood begins to congele after death.

As the heart stops beating and oxygen no longer fuses with the hemoglobin. platelets and other clotting materials begin to clump together. This is why organ donations can't be taken from a body that's been dead for a considerable but short amount of time.

With a headshot (unless it's a clean kill) the heart doesn't stop instantly. As a result a few pints get pumped through the skull. If the bodies were shot on the field and dragged there they'd be drained of most of the blood and the only stains should be from their clothing and residual loss.

I saw a video of a guy committing suicide with a gun to the head. Very gruesome. It detailed though the effects quite well.

Sorry if this sounds morbid.

[EternalVigilance]

FReepers and our troops have both been smart enough to know since the first hour the videos came out that our POWs had been tortured, mutilated and executed.

Anyone with a brain knew that from watching the tape.

Which, of course, is exactly why the NY Times is just now figuring it out.

-----------------------------------------

A Message for the Iraqis

"Yeah, I'm bleeding
But I'm still upright
But you'll be dead
By tomorrow night

The worst mistake
You ever made
Was to kill our guys
In such evil ways

Now we're pissed
Gonna kick your ass
And you can't stop us
It'll be a blast"

EV

[Centurion2000]

bump

[rolling_stone]

May God Bless these American soldiers, America and its Constitution and people, and may the inhumane perpetrators of these executions be sent to their just reward ASAP...

[STARWISE]

And that Klintoon-loving scum, Wesley Clark, thinks he's
paving his way (with CNN's magnanimous aid) to the candicacy
of United States president. He is a true piglet.

[Poincare]

American Jews in the military are "100% American" GIs.

OF COURSE THEY ARE.

Iraqis were told by their Gov. TV that Israelis were attacking with the Americans and it is old news that they will kill a Jew in a heartbeat. The Iraqis, even those we are trying to liberate, are full of hatred for Jews, especially Israelis.

[OperationFreedom]

I hate to say this.. but these men's fate will save many other lives. American lives. They gave their lives (unwillingly of course) and through it our country will pull together and stomp the evil one into the dirt. Grrrrrrrrr!

[wretchard]

I think the NYT is publishing this because it will be published anyway. Moreover, it gives them a chance to take the lead on the issue and set the tone. They might even try to stir up a frenzy of grief and outrage.

Coldly considered, any diversion of the war effort to reprisals is counterproductive. Even changing the ROE will be hard to do, as it means disseminating information, conducting briefings, etc. Troops who haven't slept for days don't have the time for this.

We should channel this energy into more snatch and grabs aimed at the Baath leadership and squeezing them to find out where the remaining POWs are, and at winning the war quickly. Focus.

[Starrgaizr]

"Fence sitters will jump off the fence pretty fast"

'fraid not. They lefties will simply say that this confirms the folly of going to war to "liberate" people who do not want to be liberated.

[McGavin999]

You mean the NYT finally figured that out? The rest of us knew about it the first day.