Major Find for American Forces

Wednesday, March 26, 2003

And now the most absorbing two minutes in television, the latest from the wartime grapevine:

FOX Fans: Missed the Grapevine? Watch it in the Screening Room!

Forces' Finding
When American forces went into a hospital in the Southern Iraqi city of Nasiriya, after some intense fighting, they found 3,000 chemical suits, 200 weapons, stockpiles of ammunition and one tank inside the building. One hundred seventy Iraqi paramilitary soldiers from inside the hospital were taken into custody. Navy Captain Frank Thorp said the Marines who took control of the complex used loudspeakers to encourage any patients and doctors to come out before they went in. The hospital was being used as a staging ground for Iraqi forces in Nasiriya, which fell to about 4,000 Marines after a two-day battle. Marines found themselves at times up against apparent civilians who turned out to have weapons hidden under their robes.

Taken for a Ride
Some Americans who went to Iraq to act as human shields have been emerging from the country with a new view. Kenneth Joseph, an American pastor, said Iraqis he talked with "told me they would commit suicide if American bombing didn't start. They were willing to see their homes demolished to gain their freedom from Saddam's bloody tyranny. They convinced me that Saddam was a monster the likes of which the world had not seen since Stalin and Hitler." Similarly, 23-year-old Daniel Pepper says he was shocked when an Iraqi taxi driver in Baghdad told him "how all of Iraq's oil money went to Saddam's pocket and that if you opposed him politically he would kill your whole family." The taxi driver told Pepper, "All Iraqi people want this war."

Related

Prisoner Praise
Meanwhile, Iraqi soldiers taken prisoner were relieved to find out they were not going to be injected with poison by coalition forces when captured -- as they had been told by Saddam's regime. An Arab-speaking allied army dentist told the Sydney Morning Herald that once one older Iraqi prisoner realized he was not going to be executed, the prisoner said, "We have been waiting for you for a long time, we have been expecting you." The dentist continued, "By the time they went, they were thanking us."

No Returns or Exchanges
Two reporters covering the New York Stock Exchange for Arab TV Network Al Jazeera are no longer allowed into the Stock Exchange. Al Jazeera says the move is due to its coverage of the war in Iraq. Al Jazeera has shown over and over gruesome images from Iraqi TV of American prisoners who had apparently been executed, as well as POW interviews. But Exchange spokesman Ray Pellechia insists the move was for "security reasons." He told the Associated Press that access had been limited to networks that focus "on responsible business coverage."

See Political Grapevine Archive

ADVERTISEMENT

FOX NEWS VIDEOS



uASK|uREPORT

INTERVIEW

Blog Postings


  • Lies, spies and .summits
    Seven Democratic members of the Intelligence Committee wrote CIA director Leon Panetta a letter to ask him to “publicly correct” a statement he made saying that it is not ” the policy or practice of the agency to mislead Congress.” The Democrats say Panetta told Congress that senior CIA officials concealed actions and misled lawmakers [...]

    read post
  • Stimulus the sequel, public option, Palin 2012??, and .the direction of media coverage
    In an interview with Fox News, President Obama said a second stimuluscould still be an option—Major Garrett sat down with the President today in Moscow. President Obama said that he was aware that given the economic crisis recovery would prove to be difficult no matter what, but that unemployment was nearing 10% and he was [...]

    read post
  • Agreements, protests turned deadly andcomedian turned politican (finally)
    President Obama met with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev today in Moscow and both menpledged they were on a path to “reset” ties between the United States and Russia. The two leaders signed a statement to reduceeach country’snuclear arsenals. President Obama and President Medvedev held a joint news conference in which Medvedev said his talks with [...]

    read post
twitter
ADVERTISEMENT