The All-Too Familiar POW Horror : Iraq wants the world to know that it is proud of its cruelty

Saddam Hussein has shown that he intends to observe the Third Geneva Convention, which deals with the treatment of prisoners of war, with the same respect that he has given to other international agreements: He will ignore it. Such scorn should come as no surprise to anyone who has monitored the Iraqi regime’s grisly behavior over the past decade and more. This is a regime that flouts its contempt for humane values by murdering its own citizens and those of Kuwait in the thousands. This is a regime that has reintroduced poison gas as a battlefield weapon, and as a weapon against its own helpless civilians. This is a regime that uses its terror missiles against another civilian population in a desperate effort to transform Israel from a noncombatant into a belligerent.

The treatment of American and other captured airmen from the anti-Iraq coalition is unsurprising, but it nonetheless remains shocking. Iraqi television has shown the world men who are under obvious duress, being forced to mouth the stilted phrases scripted for them by their captors. It has shown, with no effort at disguise, the evidence that at least two of the three Americans who were brought before the camera had been beaten severely about the face. These overt indications of abuse could not have been anything but intentional. Iraq wants the world to know that it is proud of its cruelty.

The mumbled statements of regret and condemnation spoken by the POWs evoke memories of other prisoners in other wars, of Vietnam and Korea. Will anyone believe these extorted statements coming out of Baghdad? The level of political credulity in much of the Arab world is high, and those ready--or, more accurately, eager--to believe that Iraq’s Scuds have set Israel aflame or that its air defenses have shot down hundreds of attackers are probably ready to believe anything they hear from Baghdad. Most of the rest of the world will probably dismiss this frightful nonsense for what it is.

President Bush’s immediate response was cold anger at the mistreatment of the POWs and the utter disregard Iraq is showing for the Geneva Convention. Most Americans no doubt share that emotion. But more important than anger, more important even than the American people’s deepest sympathy for the ordeal the prisoners and their families are going through, is understanding. The POWs are being forced to say things they don’t believe. From the obvious signs of ill treatment, some may have resisted before giving in. No one--beginning first of all with the armed services to which these men belong--should blame them for what they are being forced to say. It is unfair and unnecessary to ask men to suffer prolonged physical and psychological torture simply to avoid saying things whose evident falsity will be apparent to everyone in the civilized world.

It is imperative now that all civilized states, singly and through the United Nations, unite in condemning Iraq’s violations of the Geneva Convention. War prisoners are entitled to humane treatment, safe confinement, protection against insults and public curiosity. “No physical or mental torture, nor any other form of coercion, may be inflicted on prisoners of war to secure from them information of any kind whatever.” Will international protests do any good? Iraq must go on living in the world after this war is over. Saddam Hussein may view the future only in terms of personal martyrdom. But there may be others in Iraq of somewhat wider vision, who will appreciate the value of treating the POWs decently.

At the same time, the anti-Iraq coalition must make sure that its own hands stay clean by scrupulously observing the requirements of the Geneva Convention. Saudi Arabia will have physical custody of Iraqi war prisoners. It should act quickly to invite international human rights groups to oversee its compliance.