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Politics : Stop the War! -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Karen Lawrence who wrote (2623)	3/25/2003 12:40:02 AM
From: Karen Lawrence	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 21614

Al Jazeera draws U.S. flak over images of war Camp As Sayliyah, Qatar \|By Mohammed Almezel \| 25-03-2003 Print friendly format \| Email to Friend gulf-news.com The U.S. military have reacted angrily to the pictures of its dead and captured servicemen, shown for the second day in a row yesterday on the Qatari satellite channel Al Jazeera, saying the images were "disgusting and disturbing" and asked TV network to refrain from further showing similar films. But, at this camp, which is the home of General Tommy Franks, the commander of the U.S. war against Iraq, journalists say it was fair for the Iraqis to show those pictures since the Americans themselves touted images of surrendering Iraqis on TV screens around the world. American officials said the gruesome images of dead U.S. soldiers and others who were being interviewed by an Iraqi TV journalists were "a clear violation of the Geneva Convention", which protects prisoners of war against humiliation. "I am disappointed with Al Jazeera," said Lt Gen John Abizaid, Franks' deputy, during a briefing late Sunday. "The pictures were disturbing," he said, adding the decision to air them was "unacceptable". A statement issued by the U.S. Defence Department said it had requested news organisations "not air or publish recognisable images or audio recording that identify POWs". It said the request was "out of respect for the families and consistent with the principles of the Geneva Conventions." "What about the Iraqi POWs… Don't they have families?" said Jean Claude Ramija, a reporter for the German TV. "They should have thought about that when they gave out the pictures of Iraqi soldiers lying on the ground after their capture," in the first two days of the war, he told Gulf News. He said that doesn't give the Iraqi officials the right to do the same, "but the Americans should remember the Geneva Convention applies both ways". A source in Al Jazeera told Gulf News the station has shown similar images during previous conflicts and no one has objected, including the Americans. "We showed images of dead people in Palestine, Afghanistan and even during the U.S. "Desert Fox" attack on Iraq in 1998," he said. "The Americans always like to deal with all issues on double standards; one for them and their allies and the other for the rest of the world." Al Jazeera was not the first station to air Sunday's images, the source said. It seems Al Jazeera has taken notice of the American position; the faces of a couple of captured U.S. soldiers could not be recognised when the pictures were picked up from Iraqi TV. The Americans said they would not take any action against the Qatari station, which is located just a 10-minute drive from Camp As Sayliyah. "I don't regard Al Jazeera as hostile," Gen Abizaid told reporters. But the station should have known better, he added. He said the images would not affect the morale of the U.S. forces or the psychology of the American people. "We are pretty tough people," he stressed, noting the nature of the pictures will serve as "another example of the brutality of Saddam Hussain's regime". However, a sole image of an American soldier dragged in the streets of Somalia in 1993 changed the course of the military campaign in the African country, acknowledged Mary Claude Foster, of ABC's Nightline. "I don't know what is going to happen this time but the Iraqis sure wanted to influence American public opinion," she said. If such images keep coming, a senior Qatari media official said, the Iraqi government will risk losing the sympathy of public opinion in Europe and other parts of the world. "They should not have humiliated the prisoners. You cannot interrogate helpless prisoners and expect the world to cheer on," said Ahmed Al Hamar, Editor in Chief of the Qatari News Agency, QNA. Most of Europe is against the war on Iraq, he noted. "Why would you want to alienate them?"

To: Karen Lawrence who wrote (2623)	3/25/2003 12:50:35 AM
From: Just_Observing	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 21614

Karen, it's already a quagmire. All 32 attacking Apache helicopters suffered damage. And the search for excuses has begun. The Russians are claiming that Dubya is trying to blame them for the coalition's problems (using the term coalition loosely). Others are claiming that the coalition troop strength is not enough. Battle for Baghdad begins · Republican Guard bunkers bombed · Fears over too few coalition troops · Blair and Bush to meet in Washington Rory McCarthy in Camp As Sayliyah, Qatar, Julian Borger in Washington and Stuart Millar Tuesday March 25, 2003 The Guardian US and British warplanes, guided by special forces soldiers on the ground, began an intense bombardment of Republican Guard bunkers outside Baghdad yesterday to prepare the way for an assault on the Iraqi capital. Troops from the US army 5th Corps have formed a frontline just north of Kerbala, only 50 miles south of Baghdad. Vast convoys of tanks and ground forces are racing up from Kuwait to join them for the battle that will ultimately decide the war in Iraq. "This is the start of the push towards Baghdad," a senior British military source said last night. Ahead of them are 36,000 elite Iraqi soldiers, from three divisions, who represent half of the total Republican Guard force. Protected in sprawling bunkers 30 miles outside Baghdad, the armoured divisions are equipped with the best weapons in the Iraqi military, including Russian-built T-72 tanks and heavy artillery. "Before we start moving forward, these people have got to capitulate or be destroyed," the source said. As a total of 19 British soldiers were listed as dead or missing on the war's fifth day, it was revealed last night that Tony Blair is to meet President George Bush for talks on the progress of the war. One unnamed US official said Mr Blair had asked for the meeting. "I think Blair feels he needs this consultation," the official said. The meeting is expected to take place at the Camp David presidential retreat on Wednesday or Thursday. Mr Blair told MPs that coalition forces would shortly encounter the Medina division of the Republican Guard, who are positioned north of the frontline to defend the route to Baghdad. "This will be a crucial moment," the prime minister said. Promising "certain victory" for coalition forces, he added: "The vital goal is to reach Baghdad as swiftly as possible, thus bringing the end of the regime closer." But there were stark reminders yesterday of how perilous the assault on Baghdad will be. A night assault by 32 Apache attack helicopters on the Medina division's second armoured brigade north of Kerbala ended with at least one helicopter being downed and the rest being forced to withdraw in the face of fierce resistance from Iraqi forces, armed mainly with small arms and rocket propelled grenades more at guardian.co.uk With a hail of small arms fire and rocket-propelled grenades, Iraqi forces downed one Apache helicopter today and forced 30 other helicopters in its brigade back to their base. One two-member crew was unaccounted for. Iraqi state television broadcast images of one downed helicopter, which appeared largely intact, and jubilant men dancing around it. All 32 helicopters sustained some damage, occasionally slight, Army officials said, in what was a significant setback for the allies. nytimes.com