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It pains me to "defend" Saddam Hussein and/or the Iraqi military, but in a case like this it may be impossible to determine if these executions were carried out by Iraqi military forces or by random "civilians."

It's not as if it hadn't happened before. Allied pilots who bailed out of their planes behind enemy lines in World War II used to make every effort to avoid being caught by civilians because their chances of survival were often diminished if the person who caught them was a civilian.

The famous story of "Save one for Mainz" comes to mind. During WWII, an Allied B-17 crew bailed out over Meinz but were killed by the local German citizens. They were stoned to death.

From then on, Allied bombers would save one bomb from each bombing mission, return over Mainz and drop it on the city. In a few months, what was once a large German city became dust.

It pains me to "defend" Saddam Hussein and/or the Iraqi military, but in a case like this it may be impossible to determine if these executions were carried out by Iraqi military forces or by random "civilians." It's not as if it hadn't happened before. Allied pilots who bailed out of their planes behind enemy lines in World War II used to make every effort to avoid being caught by civilians because their chances of survival were often diminished if the person who caught them was a civilian. Well, judging by the Iraqi government's record, I think it's safe to say that they did it. If not the regular military, then probably the Fayeed Saddam irregular forces. Of course there is no proof of this as of right now, but I would bet dollars to donuts that the Saddam regime pulled off this cowardly act. Remember what happened to POWs back in the first Gulf War? They weren't killed, but all were terribly brutalized, and they were only there for several days. Saddam generally doesn't pay much attention to the Geneva Convention, or international law in general. Sure, it could have been a few crazed Iraqi citizens, but chances are it was Saddam's thugs.

It pains me to "defend" Saddam Hussein and/or the Iraqi military, but in a case like this it may be impossible to determine if these executions were carried out by Iraqi military forces or by random "civilians."

This morning, Rita Cosby reported that Jessica was taken captive by the Fedayeen and they are known to be wild, undisciplined men. Sources had told her that that made Jessica's plight much more dangerous. They are speculating that she's alive because she was injured and taken to a hospital where caring Iraqi's reported her presence to the Marines. Anyway, Rita's report seems to confirm your belief--there is a difference between regular Iraqi soldiers and these paramilitary groups. She said that the two pilots shown on TV were in the hands of the regulars and did not appear to be harmed. Huge difference. I hope she's right.