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PoWs on parade

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Old 23rd Mar 2003, 22:37
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PoWs on parade

Living abroad as I do, I do not have access to BBC/ITV/SKY etc. at home so have to get by with BBC World TV and CNN. On neither of those channels have I seen any footage of the US PoWs being paraded by the Iraqis.

Have I missed this or has there been an outbreak of the good taste and decency that was sadly lacking when John Nichol made his unscheduled appearance in GW1? I recall at the time being surprised that the pictures were shown - although in retrospect I suppose that they added to the coalition sense of detrmination (as I suspect it will do this time).

I'm not asking for those pics to be shown - just in case anyone gets the wrong idea - just wondering if they had.

PS - has anyone heard anymore on the accidental bombing/Tomahawk-ing of Iran the other day? All seems to have gone quiet on that story?

PPS - must go out and buy a SKY dish soon..............
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Old 23rd Mar 2003, 22:56
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Fox News showed one still pic....no faces...no graphic wounds....fair bit of blood ....the commentary was strained.....they had viewed the video and were repulsed by what they saw it seems. They reported US DOD viewers of the video were also visibly bothered by what they saw. American public opinion will be affected by this....and not in Iraq's favor one bit.
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Old 23rd Mar 2003, 22:57
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Moggie,

I think that Sky had no such inhibitions earlier. I had the misfortune to catch part of the 'display' thanks to finger trouble with the Sky remote, but didn't dwell.

I don't know whether or not Sky are still showing the item.

The Iran story isn't clear here - as far as I can tell from the variety of report, 'rockets' have fallen in their territory, but there's been no confirmation whether these were coalition or Iraqi rockets as far as I can tell. Others will probably know better than I on this one.

[edited in the light of SASless beating me to it]

From what you say, SASless, unless the thing's staged for the benefit of Saddam's sympathisers rather than aimed at reducing US public support, it looks like another great blunder on Saddam's part.

We can only hope that the PoWs are released swiftly, and my thoughts are with them and their families.
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Old 23rd Mar 2003, 23:39
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While I hope for their swift and safe return, I cannot help but wonder whether the Geneva convention that is quoted by Mr. Rumsfeld does not equally apply to the scores of Iraqi POWs that can be seen on the networks.
I would think they have the same human and combattant's rights as the coalition troops and should not be shown recognisable on western tv either. Just imagine what may happen to their families if the Iraqi secret service sees them giving up.. These are the same people we're claiming to liberate.
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Old 23rd Mar 2003, 23:39
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CNN have just shown some bcause they said it "was part of the war in Iraq". Credit to them they only showed 4 people giving name, rank number and no more.

They chose not to show any footage of dead soldiers, but did show one "still" which they said "showed no detail of wounds or any identifying marks on the bodies".

However, they also said that it looked like some of the dead had received "gunshot wounds to the forehead" (but did not show those pics). Again, all credit, they did not speculate on how those wounds were inflicted (and neither shall I).

Rather like blitzing civilian targets in WW2, I can not see this doing anything to dampen morale and determination - quite the reverse.

We got the PoWs back last time - so fingers crossed they all come home safe this time. My thoughts go out to the families of those Pows, but at least they know they were taken alive, not killed in action.
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Old 24th Mar 2003, 00:04
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I was watching Sky News as they showed the live feed from Al Jazeera. The luvvie director had no problem letting us see one soldier being questioned by someone in very broken and illogical english. The soldier was very polite and was making the point that he didn't understand the questions. The rest of the media pack appeared to be throwing questikns in Arabic.

The package then cut to an injured soldier who was lying down on a bed in bloodstained clothes and in obvious pain and discomfort. The sodomising Baath party t@sser holding a microphone then held the soldier by the head and was forcing him to face the camera while he shoved the mic into his face.

At this point the feed was cut as someone slightly less 'luvvie' than the tw@t who was directing the news at that point realised that the families of these POW's probably didn't know that their loved ones were even captured. The anchors then fluffed about and cut to other packages. They eventually mentione that they wouldn't show the footage until the families had been informed.

S76Heavy, I will repeat what I wrote on a similar thread on Jet Blast to one dipstick:
there is a substantial difference between shots of soldiers surrendering or being taken off to a POW camp and placing individuals in front of a camera and bombarding them with stupid questions from some Baath party sodomiser or grabbiong hold of the head of an injured POW who is lying downand forcing him to face the camera whilst he is in shock and pain. I hope that those Batth party swine are strung up by their testicles for that kind of treatment. Unfortunately for some on here who are so rabidly anti-American that they are prepared to overlook the differences mentioned above.
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Old 24th Mar 2003, 01:07
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The Geneva Convention is hugely irritating and inconvenient, but it's there for a reason and should be strictly adhered to. Any breaches should be punished, depending on the severity of the breach. People should recognise that US/UK breaches tend to be minor and technical in nature and that Iraqi PoWs are being treated with extraordinary kindness, care and even dignity, while Iraq's breaches have been major, and these US PoWs appear to be receiving extremely harsh treatment.

Even more worrying to me, though, are the reports that US prisoners may have been shot after surrendering, while the footage of a mob shooting the reed beds beside the Euphrates (suspecting that they might hide a downed allied airman) was shocking and worrying. The impression last time was that allied aircrew could expect decent treatment until they fell into the hands of what Danny refers to as the 'sodomisers', it now looks like they will be in danger from semi-organised lynch mobs from the moment they hit the ground. Let's hope that anyone involved is prosecuted/punished post war.

I hope to god that no more aircrew (following the Tornado loss yesterday) are even injured, let alone killed or forced to bail out over enemy territory. Let's all hope that the spotters count you all back.....
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Old 24th Mar 2003, 01:33
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Unhappy

Capt. Pprune,

I am NOT rabidly anti-American. I am, however, a critical and independent thinker. Like some Americans are.

I have no love for the Iraqi dictatorship. I do feel that this war was inevitable. I am not sure about the timing, but then, when is a good time to go to war. Also, I am well aware of the human cost of war.

While I support the troops in theatre, I do not have to agree with the politics that brought them there. Especially the "if you're not for us, you're against us" rethoric is not very becoming for a state that claims to be a true democracy. What ever happened to freedom of speech, then let the majority decide? Why all these knee-jerk reactions to other viewpoints?

What I am saying, is that with this Iraqi dictatorial regime still in power, I feel it is not in the interest of the Iraqi POWs, nor in the interest of their families behind enemy lines, to be shown recognisable in the media. If this war is meant to be a liberation of the people of Iraq, and by God, they deserve it, why jeopardise these families unnecessarily? Just so we at home can endulge in a few moments of feelings of superiority? What's the point and who benefits from it?
Remember, the war is just the start of the process. After the war is over, Iraq needs to be rebuilt. WW1 sowed the seeds for WW2 and we should not repeat that mistake, it has cost the world dearly.

I don't intend to enter a p1ssing contest about who is the best soldier and therefore has the right to post here and what is banned because of not conforming with the view of the governments involved or the moderators. But if there is no more room for critical thoughts, then that's the end of democracy, no matter how you call it.

And if this post gets me banned, so be it.
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Old 24th Mar 2003, 04:25
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I have to say there is a hint of hypocrisy over the US reaction to the showing of these POWs on TV. The western TV channels have been showing Iraqi POWs since day one, and sight of their faces is likely to have severe consequences for their families back in Iraqi/Sadaam controlled territory. At what distance does the cameraman have to be for it to be within the terms of the Geneva Convention? I am sure that if I personally knew some of those Iraqi POWs I could have recognmised them from some of the western coverage.

As for the coverage of the dead bodies. Apart from the lack of respect showed to the dead (commented on my muslim colleagues incidentally), does anyone recall the coverage of the road of death in Gulf War 1? I suppose you could say that even their mothers wouldn't have recognised them from their burnt away skulls.

Lets start talking Geneva Convention when serious breaches and mistreatment starts occurring - which, unfortunately, probably will happen in the not too distant future.

By the way, I am not pro-Iraq. I support the war against Sadaam's regime and have nothing but admiration for our people involved, and especially their treatment of EPOWs as they are being called on the US networks.
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Old 24th Mar 2003, 06:13
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Gentlemen yesterday 23/03/03 Qatar based Al Jasira TV showed repetedly footage of an Iraqi morgue with about 10-12 dead US servicemen on the floor. I was amased to see that all close ups showed execution style wounds to the head.
In particular one dead US serviceman who was closely examined by the camera had a wound to the abdomen and his uniform was covered in blood around the wound. The man also had a bullet hole on the right temple.
Obviously this US service man was severly wounded in battle (abdomen wound) and when the Iraqi's approached him decided to finish the job by a brutal and inhumane execution.
This gentlemen is the reality of the Iraqi regime and Iraqi militari. As for Al Jasira TV who re-played the video for a good two hours I have one thing to say. YOU ARE NO BETTER THAN THE IRAQIS AND YOU BELONG IN THE STONEAGE. The repeted footage of this macabre spectacle was intended by Al Jasira to "satisfy" their arab "brothers" around the world.
The hatered is mindboggling.

To those of you who speak about the Geneva Convention, please realize that these "animals" have no respect for anything and above all human life.
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Old 24th Mar 2003, 06:27
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Big Mistake

In one swift move they have just pissed off 250000 heavily armed American, British and Australian troops. Not the best move they could have made.

for info Sky are still showing the pictures but with the faces pixelated out. To$$ers

Edited to ask people more educated than me if there is any mileage in cutting off Al Jazera at its point of origin. I can get it but I will have to pay a subscription...YGBSM

Last edited by Man-on-the-fence; 24th Mar 2003 at 06:39.
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Old 24th Mar 2003, 06:45
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Ali Barber

Are you deliberately trying to be thick?

Iraqi POW's are NOT - repeat NOT - treated in front of TV cameras in the same way that the US POW's are. The Iraqi POW's are shown as walking prisoners - just that and nothing more. There is nothing wrong with that and does not contravene the GC.

The Iraqis on the other hand are deliberately, and without any regard to the GC, are showing and questioning wounded prisoners. This is what is wrong. In the same way that that so called soldiers were DELIBERATELY trying to seek and kill "downed aviators" in the Tigris. Fortunately, it seems that their kill kill instincts were not satisfied.

Get your facts right please. This is an example of GW1 all over again, and the fact that the Iraqi's seem to enjoy doing this is all the more sickening.

I note on TV this morning that the faces of the US POW's have been 'pixelated.' Still wrong to show it though.
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Old 24th Mar 2003, 06:58
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TVNZ showed what sounds, from the description, a lot like what Danny saw. It was a video attributed to Al-Jazeera.

One female prisoner, four males. One of the men had his head lifted up from a bed - if you could call it that - where a moment earlier he had been briefly shown lying with what I would describe as a grimace of pain.

All the individuals were clearly identifiable, as were their injuries.

The accompanying soundtrack was in Arabic, with questions being asked of the prisoners as a microphone was thrust in their faces. Answers were drowned out by music and subtitles in Arabic appeared.

The footage then showed the bodies of some dead service people. It was not the most graphic I have ever seen, but it was bad enough. There were no close up views of execution style wounds.

The coverage ended with the TVNZ anchor stating that the rest of the video was too graphic to broadcast. The US-based British journalist to whom he spoke next, commented that what we had seen was a great deal more detailed and explicit than anything being broadcast in the US.
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Old 24th Mar 2003, 07:09
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TP,

I never said that they were treated in the same way as the Iraqi POWs. In fact, I can get both Al-Jazeera and Iraqi TV on my satellite, although I can't understand a word of what they're saying, and I have seen the full coverage of the US dead and POWs. To say it was horrific and barbaric is an understatement. It was also in dircet contravention of the Geneva Convention on the treatment of POWs, injured and dead combatants.

My objection was the apparent hobby horse that the media got on about the Geneva Convention, especially with Sky who went with the flow and rebroadcast the Al-Jazeera coverage until they finally thought better of it. They then proceeded to talk about the GC and how they film Iraqi POWs from further away and that makes it all right for them in terms of the GC.

I do not doubt for one minute that the Iraqis are in breach of the GC with what they did and then showed on their TV. My point is that so are the western media, although to a lesser degree. The Iraqi POWs are recognisable to those who know them which, considering the risk to their families when accusations of Kamikazi missions being ordered under threat of torture to the families of the pilots are also being bandied about on the media, is either "outrages upon personal dignity, in particular humiliating and degrading treatment" or not being "treated humanely".

We started this war with the moral high ground. Lets stay there. Maybe the media are too close to all this and we (the military) no longer have much say in what is being broadcast.
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Old 24th Mar 2003, 08:21
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I haven't seen these pictures and further more I do not wish to see them. If an Arab TV station wishes to show them that is their prerogative, perhaps the West TV stations have the right NOT to show them and the viewer has the right NOT to watch them. Are the West TV Stations trying to whip up some kind of hatred by showing them.

When showing these pictures have the West TV Stations issued a warning to viewers in advance of the stress this may cause?

I find the whole conflict an absolute mess, and whilst it appears that the things are going relatively OK for the coalition, I do feel that a whole load of 'nasties' are yet to come, I just hope that someone gets SH before the CF enter the streets of Baghdad.
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Old 24th Mar 2003, 08:37
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Danny the Journo Bint Hater

I hope that those Batth party swine are strung up by their testicles for that kind of treatment. Unfortunately for some on here who are so rabidly anti-American that they are prepared to overlook the differences mentioned above.

Guantanamo Bay & Bagram are OK then ?
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Old 24th Mar 2003, 08:51
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Vizsla

You would appear to be beyond help.

Looking at the demenour and the faces of the one girl and four guys who had been taken prisoner it was fairly obvious that they had recently witnessed the summary execution of their fellow soldiers whose bodies were present and feared the same fate for themselves, a scare tactic not uncommon within Iraq.

When you have irrefutable evidence of summary executions at Guantanamo Bay and Bagram please be sure to post it here.

Feel free, at any time, to say something good about the coalitions efforts to rid the world of the murderous regime of Saddam Hussein.
 
Old 24th Mar 2003, 09:43
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I see Sky are now pixellating faces of Iraqi POWs - clearly they have been told their own footage of these is breaching the GC - however minor a breach, it is a breach and no doubt has embarassed HMG and the US.

What I really do not understand is the level of surprise. The Iraqis did this before, it should have been expected. Doesn't half make the military spokesmen look stupid when they say 'nonsense' when asked if the Iraqis have POWs, only to be presented with video tape of them minutes later. Similarly with the AH-64 loss today, denied until the video tape of it is shown.

Al J is showing a lot of things not appearing on Western news channels, including extremely graphic images of what was said to be civvy casualties of air raids. I do worry that our media is glossing over anything nasty we may have caused on the basis of 'taste and decency' yet were quite happy to show gruesome images of dead civvies killed by Saddam's troops before the war started to try and prove to the public what a nasty bloke Saddam was.

This does not do the PR effort any good at all - it's looking like the BBC, Sky etc. are simply government mouthpieces revelling in all those gosh-wow explosions in Baghdad. Imagine how that looks to the rest of the Arab world. Al Qaeda must be struggling to cope with the amount of new volunteers at the moment

And then the scum at Sky etc. repeatedly show 'what may be the moment when an RAF Tornado was shot down'. Well cheers, I bet the families and friends of the crew are delighted to see that bit of footage played repeatedly. Beggars belief, it really does. I don't think there's an ounce of human decency among these sods.
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Old 24th Mar 2003, 10:18
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Sky’s coverage was appalling. I will not be surprised if they find themselves on the end of a multi million dollar lawsuit from the families of those soldiers for the stress caused by this disgusting one up man ship. Indeed I hope this is the case. It really is about time these people are held accountable for their actions.

Well done to those TV stations that decided not to show this footage.
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Old 24th Mar 2003, 10:19
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Lightbulb Geneva Convention

Gentlemen, the Geneva Convention applies to those States who are signatories.

It does not apply to private corporations or private TV networks.

Iraqi TV is State TV, not a private Corporation, so they SHALL comply with the Geneva Convention.

CNN, FOX News, ABC, CBS, NBC, Sky News, etc. are private corporations. They are not held to the Geneva Convention. However, they typically only show POW's walking down a road, or being searched by soldiers. They do not INTERVIEW them, they do not TORTURE them, they do not ROLL dead soldiers around for a better view. They do not STICK MICROPHONES in their faces!!!!
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