There seems to be a large debate going on as to whether or not videotape of the American POWs in Iraq should be broadcast. Al-Jazeera showed it yesterday, and CBS picked up on it in the morning before yanking it. The Red Cross says that broadcasting videotape of POWs violates the Geneva Convention, yet western news media has broadcast tape of Iraqi prisoners. Where do you stand on this issue?
AL Jazeera is one of the USA's biggest enemies in the middle east. It is an all anti American propaganda channel. I have no respect for Al Jazeera. DD
DD....you didn't answer the question. Should videotape of POWs (both sides in the Iraq conflict) be broadcast or not, and why?
Wasn't it the Geneva Convention that first coined the biggest oxymoron since jumbo shrimp: War Crimes. I'd like to think that if I was a US soldier fighting on foreign soil, I'd uphold the code of honor that was instilled in me....although I think it's tough to truly assess how we would react to an imminent death situation. Nevertheless, if another country was to invade the US, and I found myself defending my country, my land, my family, etc.......I would torture the children of the invaders if I thought I even had a remote chance of gaining valuable information from them. I use that example because I can't really think of anything more horrific....but if you can, let me know, and I'll add that to my repertoire. The point I'm trying to make is this: I'd do ANYTHING to defend myself, my family, and my country/land. Televised propaganda is chump change compared to what I'd be in favor of. Or to put it yet another way: **** the Geneva Convention.
Eventually this tape will make the rounds, unfortunately. The government has asked news outlets not to show the video which for now is the right thing to do. The government could had easily asked our media to show the video in order to manipulate public opinion to sway their way using this as a propaganda ploy as to why we fight. But they haven't and this is why I have a new found respect for those in charge. For me personally, I don't need this video to prove to myself the Iraqi regime is run by animals.
One thing I don't understand this is, if the rule of not filming POW's is an accurate interpretation of the Geneva Convention, how do I reconcile that with the many instances of video and photographic demonstrations I have seen of all the Iraqi POW's. This is a serious question, not a snide aside...I have seen, and saw in the last Persian Gulf War, several hundreds of examples of shots of the POW's in those temporary wire enclosures...being escorted by soldiers in file, actually in the act of lying face down in front of the soldiers...would that not be construed as being as humiliating?
I am sure the actual interpretation of the rule is highly debatable. Maybe someone can find a link to the specifics? However, I have to say the rule probably has more to do with "explotation" of POWs rather than filming in general. Either way, I dont think one can compare our treament of their POWs to their treatment of ours. We tend to their wounded. We give them water and food. They parade ours on world wide TV and ask things like "did you come to shoot Iraqis"? There are obviously soldiers of ours who need medical attention and for sure arent getting it. On a side note, I am VERY VERY proud of one of those soldier's answers when questioned about coming to shoot Iraqis. He said: "I follow orders". I dont know about any of you, but that made my heart swell up with pride.
To read the whole section you can go here: http://193.194.138.190/html/menu3/b/91.htm warning though it is long and tedious. I'm not saying that no one breaks these parts of the convention. Because I am pretty sure that the US interrogates POWs for more info than the convention allows. However, we don't put them on television while we ar edoing it.
Ok people, we beat the crap out of our own criminals to get information. Are we being foolish to think that we don't do the same thing to terrorist leaders and enemy leaders alike. I'd be willing to bet that we do. Their is too much at stake.
I understood that the tapes of photos could not show the prisoners in an attempt to humiliate them. I saw those 15 seconds on CBS Sunday and don't feel like the moments viewed did that. I understood that they were pulled so as to be able to contact the affected families first.
I have yet to see the videotape, so am only going on what has been seen on television, but I have seen several reports that some of the soldiers were bandaged. Isn't that wounded being tended to? And has there been some info that our soldiers aren't being given food and water? I ask this openly, as I haven't heard anything.
Pole, something we actually agree on, War Crimes is the dumbest thing I ever heard of, as you said, lets see, these guys come in bombing my city, killing innocent people, I capture them, I'm angry as hell, but I don't do anything, because some people in Geneva, the same people invading my home, have defined how I should act, during war, when there is killing going on all around me. Its the most ludicrous concept I have ever heard of. And again, I'm not justifying these guys actions, but the whole concept is silly.
I actually think that in war, there is no such thing as fair play. I think it is probably not proper for them to show it, but I don't see how we can criticize them for showing POW's when we do it all the time. DD
They were discussing this on NPR yesterday morning. The Geneva Convention forbids public humiliation of a POW and shields them from being objects of public curiosity. Most experts believe that showing individual, identifiable POWs being questioned crosses this line. However, if the POWs are shown from a distance or are in a group and cannot be individually identified, then that is in keeping with the rules. Obviously, it's all pretty nebulous at best.
Maybe we do, maybe we don't, I'm guessing that the U.S. does or has done it, but we'll never know because the U.S. isn't stupid enough to film it and show it to people like Iraq did. So basically we're assuming that the U.S. does it while Iraq has shown for a fact that they do it.
I don't think we should show it... It's bad enough they are executed/torturing our men, but to sensationalize it... This type of action justifies our bombing and combat to come...
I'm not saying that it doesn't happen from time to time if someone gets out of control, but come on we certainly don't do it like the Iraqi's do at any point in time. I think the biggest complaint from the terrorists we have captured has been that we don't feed them what they want to eat, right? I haven't heard any accusations of torture by American soldiers. Have you guys?
My parents saw it, they watched it on Iraqi Tv, off of their satelite dish. They said it was horrible. They showed like 3 soldiers aroudn 20 yrs old with bullet holes in their foreheads, 2 others with holes in the side of their heads, and then 3 others who were still alive. the Iraqi soldiers were laughing and pulling the clothes off of the US soldiers. It was horrible they said, and sounds like it. So sad to hear about this... All the POW's the usa has are given food and water, and our soldiers are given a bullet! Pisses me off. so much. ....my dad is an expat working in saudi for an oil company, that is how they saw it. I dont think anything like this should be broadcasted on tv.
By the way, ArabNews, the Saudi's propaganda machine, has still photos from US POW videotape on their website: http://www.arabnews.com/WebExclusives.htm
