TIME: Desert Storm - The War in the Persian Gulf/TIME: Desert Storm - The War in the Persian Gulf.iso/time3_04/cm040041.t08

Text File | 1991-06-27 | 7.5 KB | 169 lines

DATE: FEB. 22, 1991     16:24  REPORT:
TO: SPL
FOR: BIRNBA
CC:
BUREAU: CAIRO
BY: LARA MARLOWE
IN: RIYADH
SLUG: INTERROGATION

 Many of the Iraqi defectors who have braved minefields
and threats of execution to flee to Saudi Arabia are
identified only by the prisoner serial numbers given by
their captors. Their former senior officers in Kuwait and
Iraq convinced them that spies in the Saudi army will
relay their names to Baghdad and the men refuse even to
reveal their names and rank to their interrogators.
Correctly or not, they believe that back in Iraq, the
families of other defectors have already been executed.

 At week's end, the coalition partners held some 1,900
Iraqi prisoners of war. Under the 1949 Geneva Convention,
no distinction is made between deserters and those
captured in combat, but military sources say
approximately 25 per cent of the men are deserters. Some
have told chilling stories of seeing colleagues who tried
to cross over to allied lines left to hang in the desert
as an example.

 Prisoners captured this week said their commanding
officers were being held directly accountable for
desertion and that all troops were being forced to sign
an oath promising not to desert, according to US Marine
Corps General Richard Neal. The same prisoners told their
American interrogators that Iraqi troops are using
Kuwaiti civilian vehicles such as garbage trucks and
station wagons - a move which US officers interpreted as
an attempt protect military supply operations by using
civilian cover.

 Most of the prisoners are conscripts or enlisted men of
low rank, with little knowledge of Iraqi strategy or
planning. About five per cent are low ranking officers.
Their average age is about 25 and they appear to be
generally fit. An Iraqi infantry Lt Colonel captured in a
US helicopter attack on Iraqi bunkers this week is so far
the highest ranking prisoner. No Republican Guards have
been captured.

 The majority of Iraqi prisoners talk willingly to their
captors - any form of pressure or coercion is forbidden.
Their limited knowledge is mainly useful for what it
reveals about fuel and food supplies and morale.
"Essentially the trooper on the line doesn't know too
much except what's going on to his right or to his left,
and maybe within the platoon he's a member of," said
General Neal.

 Through Iraqi deserters, the Americans have learned that
Iraqi troops have been forced to dig deep into the
supplies built up before the air war to survive in the
desert. General Neal said debriefings showed that "in his
rush to get even more forces down in to the Kuwaiti
theater of operations" Saddam Hussein sent many soldiers
who were "ill-prepared, ill-armed and ill-trained."

 Not all of the prisoners are cowed defeatists. "We find
some really incorrigible hi-ball types," said a senior
American officer. "We were very impressed by the tenacity
of the Iraqis who fought at Khafji."

 But because the least motivated troops are the most
likely to surrender, the information they provide is
suspect. "These guys were not in the war for the long
haul," said an American officer. "Some have had as little
as six weeks military training. Others are veterans of
the Iran-Iraq war." The veterans are particularly war
weary.

 "Collecting information from prisoners is a winnowing
process," said an American officer. The US rates
prisoners to indicate their value as a source of
information - A to C for the value of their knowledge, 1
to 3 for their willingness to talk. Kuwaiti volunteers in
army uniforms often act as interpretors for the
interrogation of Iraqi prisoners.

 Morale among prisoners varies. "You find some who say,
'Thank God I'm away from the bombs' and some who are
sullen and ashamed to have been taken prisoner," said
Jean Rigopoulo, head of the International Committee of
the Red Cross in Riyadh. "Most are worried about their
families."

 British and French commanders have agreed to transfer
the prisoners they take to American 'processing centers'
before turning them over to Saudi custody. But the Saudis
will not let Iraqis captured by Arab troops be
interrogated by the Americans - a move which the
Americans say deprives them of potentially valuable
information. "In the early stages of a campaign, there
are always some administrative problems," said a senior
American officer, tacitly acknowledging the problem.

 King Fahd has said that all of the prisoners are 'Hajis'
- religious pilgrims to the cities of Mecca and Medina -
and promised to treat them with the respect due to
pilgrims.

 The Saudis allow the Americans to submit written
questions for the Iraqi prisoners, but the Americans
claim the Saudi interrogators fail to ask follow-up
questions and are slow in providing transcripts of their
interviews with prisoners. If left unresolved, the
problem could become more serious with the onslaught of a
ground offensive when upwards of 100,000 prisoners may be
taken. Most of the prisoners captured during the first
five weeks of the war were from front line troops. "Only
when you get more senior soldiers from the rear lines
will you get really useful intelligence," said an allied
officer.

 Red Cross delegate Rigopoulo has already visited dozens
of Iraqi prisoners. The prisoners did not mistake the
Swiss relief workers for western officers. "The first
thing they say is, 'By the way, my bother never came back
from Iran. Do you have any news of him?' said Rigopoulo,
who was in charge of the repatriation of Iraqi prisoners
of war after Iraq made peace with Iran last autumn.

 Through their experience of the Iran-Iraq war, the
prisoners are also familiar with the Red Cross system of
sending letter to families via Geneva. The prisoner
writes on the first part of the form letter, and the
family writes back on the second part. By the time a
letter is censored by Saudi and Iraqi officials six
months may pass before the prisoner receives news of his
family. "Whenever I go into a camp, they jump up and say
'I want to send a message'," said Rigopoulo. "Many of
them have had no communication with their families for
months while they were out in the desert. They have heard
about the bombing of Baghdad and they are very worried."
Deserters are often afraid to write to their families for
fear of notifying the Iraqi authorities.

 "Quite obviously, the prisoners do not fear the
Americans," said Rigopoulo. He has only one objection to
the way prisoners have been treated. Prisoners captured
at sea in the Gulf and 400 Iraqi soldiers captured at
Khafji were filmed by western television crews in
violation of article 13 of the Geneva Convention. While
the filming of Iraqi prisoners cannot be compared to the
forced television appearances of allied pilots captured
in Iraq, the Red Cross has asked that prisoners be kept
away from the press. "A prisoner is not a criminal who
needs to be punished," said Rigopoulo. "A prisoner is
someone who has done his duty and has to be removed from
the combat zone."

 The Saudis are preparing two large camps capable of
accomodating as many as 200,000 prisoners of war. There
will be a third camp for Iraqi officers. All prisoners
are provided with tents, showers toilets and clothing
commensurate with that of their allied counterparts. "I
would even say they get better treatment," said
Rigopoulo. "The prisoners are given fresh food that they
cook themselves - chicken, beef, vegetables and rice. The
poor Americans have to eat MREs (Meals Ready to Eat)."