Saddam Govt. May Be Holding More POWs

[thedrifter]

Saddam Govt. May Be Holding More POWs
By NICOLE WINFIELD, Associated Press Writer

CAMP AS SAYLIYAH, Qatar - Blood stains and bullet holes marked some of the uniforms found by U.S. Marines of what were believed to be recent American prisoners of war, a military source said Wednesday.



The Marines discovered the uniforms at the Rasheed military prison, which they seized Tuesday after taking control of the Rasheed military airport in eastern Baghdad, said Brig. Gen. Vincent Brooks, deputy director of operations.


He said some of the uniforms had names on them, but declined to identify them. The Pentagon (news - web sites) has said that seven American servicemen have been captured by the Iraqis and eight others were missing.


A military source, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the uniforms were believed to belong to the POWs from the current conflict.


The source said some of the uniforms had bloodstains on them and some had bullet holes through them.


"We were not surprised we found some things, some remnants of their presence," at the Rasheed prison, the source said.


Brooks said the prison had a history of being used to hold military prisoners and that part of the reason for securing the nearby airfield was to get there.


"We did not find any prisoners of war or any human remains in that location. There are some reports of having found some uniforms. They were U.S. uniforms. And there were names on some," he said.


He stressed that coalition forces still don't know where the POWs are.


"We remain concerned about those who are remaining unaccounted for, and we hold the regime, whatever remains of it or whoever might have our prisoners of war in possession, accountable and responsible for anything that happens to them at this point," Brooks said.


Marines of the 3rd Battalion, 7th Marines made the discovery, and said the items found included U.S. army uniforms and chemical protection suits.


Jessica Lynch is the only known POW to be rescued from the war. The 19-year-old supply clerk from Palestine, W.Va., was captured March 23 when Iraqis ambushed her 507th Maintenance Company convoy in the southern city of Nasiriyah.


U.S. commandos rescued her April 1 from an Iraqi hospital, and she was airlifted to Germany, where she is recovering from wounds that include a serious back injury, multiple fractures and a head laceration.


Another American serviceman, Lt. Cmdr. Scott Speicher, was shot down over Iraq (news - web sites) on the first night of the 1991 Gulf War (news - web sites) and has been unaccounted for ever since.


The Pentagon declared him killed in action but a decade later changed his status to POW after an Iraqi defector and others reported that an American was being held in Saddam Hussein (news - web sites)'s prison system. Speicher is the only case still unaccounted for from that war.


Sempers,

Roger

[Boats]

Roger,

What if we don't find any prisoner's? I don't like this one bit and if we don't find them - who do we hold accountable? These are some rotten SOB's and I don't put anything past them. Lynch's buds were taken out in the basement who would know about our POW's?

[1IDVET]

The info will get out as soon as the Iraqis are more comfortable with the coalition.
Once they start singing, we'll find them.