[Bubba]

Good 'ole Uncle Sam ?

http://www.guardian.co.uk/comment/story/0,3604,921192,00.html

Not to mention the "Highway of Death", from the last gulf war, etc, etc.

[dave]

Thats probably all true, but nothing will ever come of it, just like nothing will happen to the iraqis who mistreated UK and US prisoners in the last gulf war.

[Bubba]

It just pisses me off how the Yanks go on about how badly the Iraquis are treating their captured prisoners by showing them on tv when over the weekend I saw hours of footage of Iraqui prisoners being captured. Those people have families too.

But you're right, it's just what happens in any war.....

[dave]

I think you are allowed to show prisoners on TV provided the camera is kept a respectfull distance and prisoners are not being singled out. To be fair to the yanks what the iraqis do is singular close-up public humiliation on TV (just like they did with downed RAF pilots in '91), but i hardly think the same can be said of matter-of-fact current-affairs broadcasting that we see on BBC etc.

[Bubba]

It depends upon how you read the convention I suppose.

Article 13 states:
Likewise, prisoners of war must at all times be protected, particularly against acts of violence or intimidation and against insults and public curiosity.

Article 14 states:
Prisoners of war are entitled in all circumstances to respect for their persons and their honour

It's all just bullshit anyway - what we see on tv is only one carefully screened version of the facts. I was reading yesterday about how ITN crews were taking lots of footage that they new would never get shown, but just for the record.

[Bubba]

I should clarify that - the ITN crew were filming dead Iraqis who had been fried by the US (whilst retreating - again, against the Geneva Convention). The tv crew knew this would never get shown in the UK as it was too politically sensitive.

[Paz]

Is there a difference between retreat (i.e. rout, is this what you mean) and withdrawal.  Iraq does contain the historic homeland of the Parthians and their Shot.

[Bubba]

Sorry, I meant withdrawal. They were withdrawing from Kuwait in line with the UN resolution.

[Bubba]

On a lighter note (if there is one):

[Bubba]

And to bring you back down to earth with a bump - this is the reality of warfare - I advise against going there if you don't wanna feel ill:

http://www.thememoryhole.org/war/gulfwar2/

http://www.thememoryhole.org/war/thisiswar/

"In front of us a curious figure was standing a little crouched, legs straddled, arms held out from his sides. He had no eyes, and the whole of his body, nearly all of which was visible through the tatters of burned rags, was covered with a hard black crust speckled with yellow pus.... He had to stand because he was no longer covered with skin, but with a crust-like crackling which broke easily."