Images of captured prisoners a ploy in propaganda battle

[MORTARDUDE]

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article...621900,00.html

Images of captured prisoners a ploy in propaganda battle
From Nicholas Blanford in Beirut



IT MADE chilling television. The corpses of four troops said to be American or possibly British lay half-stripped and splattered in dried blood on the floor of a hospital.
A grinning orderly straightened one of the bodies for the benefit of the camera, turning a blood-caked face towards the lens.

The pictures of dead and captured coalition soldiers were broadcast by al-Jazeera, the satellite channel based in Qatar, using a feed from Iraqi state television. A commentator said that the soldiers were killed in fierce fighting on the outskirts of Nasiriya, 100 miles south of Baghdad.

Some of the bodies had been stripped to their underwear, with shirts pulled up to show bruise-coloured bullet-holes in their chests. The camera paused for several seconds on a bullet-hole in the forehead of an African-American soldier. Dog tags and personal papers smeared in blood were placed on the chests of some of the corpses.

A segment, filmed from a distance, showed the body of a fully clothed American soldier lying on the road yards away from a military transport truck, the passenger door open and covered in blood.

Then the prisoners were paraded individually before the camera and asked questions in broken English. ?Why do you come?? the interrogator asked.

?Because I was told to come here. I just follow orders,? replied an ashen-faced soldier in a T-shirt, his eyes darting behind steel-rimmed glasses.

?You come to kill Iraqi people?? he was asked.

?No, I come fix broke stuff. I told to shoot only if I shot at. They shot at me first so I shoot back. I don?t want to kill anybody,? the soldier replied.

?How are you see Iraqi army people?? ?They don?t bother me, I don?t bother them.?

?Where do you come from?? ?Kansas.? ?Kansas?? the interrogator repeated.

?What?s your name?? ?PFC Miller.? ?PSP Miller?? ?Private First Class Miller.?

?Yes. Why do you come to Iraq?? ?I was told to come here.?

Then it was the turn of another soldier. ?What?s your name?? ?Specialist Joseph Hudson, 585650287,? he said staring directly into the camera lens. ?Where do you come from?? ?From El Paso, Texas.?

?Why do you come from Texas to Iraq?? ?I follow orders.?

?How many officer with you?? ?I do not know, sir.?

?Why?? ?I do not know.?

?If Iraqi people greeted you with flowers or guns . . ?? ?I?m sorry? I can?t hear you. I?m sorry?? Hudson said. ?How do you view the Iraqi people?? ?I?m sorry?? ?How do you view the Iraqi people? The Iraqi people.?

?I don?t understand.?

The camera switched to a dark-haired soldier with a crew cut lying on a bed, apparently wounded.

?What?s your name?? ?Edgar,? he said, as a bystander sat him upright.

?Edgar? From what country?? ?What do you mean? I?m Edgar from United States. My name is Edgar from United States.?

?From a city in the United States?? ?From Texas.?

?Texas city?? ?Yes.?

?Now you have come from an Arab country.?

?Me?? ?Yes.?

?From Kuwait.?

Another soldier, slim and gaunt-faced. His shoulders trembled as he answered the questions.

?What?s your name?? ?Sergeant James Riley.?

?What?s your name?? the interrogator repeated.

?Sergeant James Riley.?

?From any country? From United States?? ?Yes. United States.?

?City?? ?New Jersey.?

?Age of you.?

?Thirty-one.?

?From where your unit? From where your unit in the army?? ?Oh, 507 Maintenance Company.?

The final prisoner was an African-American woman.

?What?s your name??, ?Shona,? she said calmly.

?From where are you come from?? ?Texas.?

?You come from Texas?? She nodded. ?How old are you?? ?Thirty.? ?From any unit in American army?? ?507 Maintenance.? ?Yes?? ?507 Maintenance,? she repeated slowly.

[nang]

Dear Lord, Please protect these dear souls. Keep your arms around them. Bring them home safe.