U.S. Forces are now reported to have captured more than 4,000 Iraqi prisoners of war. Carol Pearson reports on how the Allies are treating enemy POWs.
Once they capture Iraqi soldiers, American and British forces provide medical assistance to the very men who were trying to kill them only a short time ago. Sometimes, the Iraqi wounded are barely alive.
BRETT STENNET, U.S. NAVY CORPSMAN
“They’ve been there for hours or sometimes, more than twenty-four hours, and we’re finding them as we search farther and farther into the area where they were dug in.”
The International Committee of the Red Cross and Allied forces have asked the media not to show faces of those captured, in line with the Geneva Convention.
LT. COL. TREVOR JONES, MEDICAL OFFICER
“What we’ve had here today is an enemy prisoner of war that was brought in from a current operation that’s going on. He had multiple injuries to his left knee, his right shoulder, left wrist, multiple lacerations. It looks like it probably was some sort of blast injury rather than a gunshot wound. He was fairly stable when he came in. What we’ve done is we’ve just stabilized him for the fractures, given him something for the pain, and then sent him on his way, back down to the dressing station.”
If American marines have no Arabic speakers among them, they use a machine to communicate.
LT. SCOTT WILLIAMSON, U.S. MARINE CORPS
“This is a Phrase-o-later. I’m gonna try to find something here. I can ask him if he has any other wounds.
Iraqi POWs with severe injuries are flown to a hospital ship in the Gulf and despite concerns from the Pentagon that Iraq has executed some American Prisoners of War and accusations from British Prime Minister Tony Blair that two dead British soldiers shown on Arabic television had been "executed,"—allegations Iraq denies—the Allies say medical treatment is the same whether the injured are allied forces or Iraqi POWs.