Iraqis surrendering during the Persian Gulf War because they knew they would be treated better by the Americans if they did…
Fast forward almost 2 decades later and we find out our soldiers were torturing Iraqi prisoners and others! Spit. So infuriating!
From the Washington Post:
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The remains of a U.S. Navy pilot have been found and positively identified, more than 18 years after he was shot down over Iraq and became the first U.S. casualty of the first Gulf War, the U.S. Defense Department said on Sunday.
The Pentagon’s announcement resolved questions about the fate of Captain Michael Scott Speicher, who some believed had survived his shoot-down and been taken prisoner by Iraq.
Bone fragments and skeletal remains were recovered in the desert last week by U.S. Marines stationed in Iraq’s Anbar province, thanks to a tip from an Iraqi citizen, the department said. It said they were identified as Speicher’s by the Armed Forces Institute of Pathology.
I remember when the Persian Gulf War started. My sister and I were sitting in a booth eating at Cole Farms in Gray, Maine when all of a sudden one of the waitresses came running out of the kitchen screaming, “The war has started!!!!!!”. We had two cousins in this war (Scotty was in the Army and Phil was in the Air Force on an aircraft carrier in the Gulf) in addition to my mother’s cousin too (Navy). It was a surreal moment. The whole place erupted in disbelief and then went silent. The silence was almost deafening, because it was as if we all were thinking of how war always ends up with dead people on both sides and no clear winner. We sat in silence crossing our fingers that the war wouldn’t go on too long. Or at least it felt that way. It was one of those moments when you just didn’t know what the future was going to hold.
Nice to know years later the first casualty of this war has been found and his family notified. I’m sure all this time they wondered if he was in a prison somewhere in Iraq or dead. I’m glad they now have some closure.
Glad for his family.
Can the troops come home now???
Exactly Chris. They’ve been in Iraq long enough! Even the Iraqis want us to leave. *sigh* BRING THE TROOPS HOME NOW, PRESIDENT OBAMA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
It is believed Speicher’s body was found, possibly by nomadic Bedouins, and buried. These are often uneducated simple folk who wander the M.E. to find food for their herds of goats and sheep. They would have done so out of respect not necessarily knowing who the pilot was. The pictures I have seen of Speicher make him appear to have swarthy features, possibly even could pass for an Arab. See below:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090802/ap_on_go_ca_st_pe/us_gulf_war_missing_pilot
His cause was also on the list of “reasons” to go after Saddam Hussein as he was believed to have been taken prisoner and held by the Baathists. Supposedly his initials “MSS” were found carved in an Iraqi prison, “proof” that he had been taken prisoner.
Appears he died from the crash, Grant. Do you agree or do you think maybe he was killed in prison and then thrown out in the desert where nomads eventually found him? I think he died with his plane, but you know, the latter could be true too. I guess we’ll never know. I’m just glad for the family to finally have some type of closure
I think if the Baathists had killed him they would have buried him to hide any evidence. Plus, wasn’t it found near the crash scene?
Yep. His bones were found near his plane.
The Iraqi prisoners were treated as humanely as possible during Desert Storm,
By the end of the first day we just gave then a MRE and bottle of water and pointed them toward pick up points so many were surrendering.
The only Iraqi’s we were concerned about was the republican guard, the only real professional soldiers Saddam had back then, and even they surrendered as fast as they could after they realized they couldn’t beat us.
We didn’t need to torture them after what they had been through.
Both from weeks of aerial bombardment, which they could do little to defend themselves from but hide in holes they dug in the ground,
And the lack of adequate food or water, because anything that moved in Iraq or Kuwait got hit.
By the time we invaded they were starving, broken and just wanted to live.
Almost all of the prisoners ended up being housed in an Saudi soccer stadium, and after the war the Saudis repatriated those who wanted to return to Iraq, and allowed those that didn’t to remain in Saudi Arabia.
Seems the Saudis treated the prisoners they held much better then we did during this war.
I remember the Iraqis surrendering back during the Gulf War, Clif, and then I think of how we treated them over the last six or so years. Embarrassing and devastating to think about how we treated them today! I think part of my sadness on George Bush’s first day of killing Iraqis is that…..he was KILLING IRAQIS! I mean, really, can we leave these people alone for once? They have a right to live and not suffer for crying out loud! President Obama needs to get our troops out of there and on home, because the Iraqis don’t even want us there! Can we blame them?