Terry Everett, March 31, 2003

As I write this column, seven American soldiers are being held prisoner of war by Saddam's regime in Iraq. It has also been reported that seven other Americans were executed by Saddam's forces after being taken captive. The United States takes very seriously the welfare of our military personnel who are held by the enemy, and we will hold Saddam and his military responsible for all unlawful acts committed against them.

Under the long established international rules governing prisoners of war, captives are required to receive humane treatment and also be protected against violence, intimidation, insults and public curiosity. In short, POWs are not to be physically abused or used as propaganda tools. And most certainly, they are not to be killed. Both Iraq and the United States are signatories of this international agreement known as the "Geneva Convention".

Over a week ago, Iraqi state television aired video that was also carried by the Arab news network Al-Jazeera showing the bodies of seven Americans who were ambushed by Saddam's thugs after taking a wrong turn near the southern Iraqi town of An Nasiriyah. All of these soldiers were members of the U.S. Army's 507th Maintenance Company. As we learned last week, one of those killed by the Iraqis was 21-year-old Pfc. Howard Johnson, Jr. of Mobile.

Iraqi TV also showed images of five American prisoners of war also from the 507th. The five were being interrogated on camera. Furthermore, a few days later Iraqi television aired video of two U.S. Army pilots who were taken prisoner after they hard landed their AH-64 D Apache attack helicopter. All seven U.S. prisoners of war have so far been denied access to International Red Cross inspection.

Saddam's regime has a track record of ignoring human rights and common decency, from gassing hundreds of thousands of his own people, to torture and murder of political enemies. His thugs have shown this disregard for humanity most recently in their shooting of innocent civilians fleeing from battle areas and threatening women and children with execution if the males in their families do not fight for Saddam's government. Reportedly one Iraqi woman was hanged by Saddam's thugs just for waving at Coalition forces. In contrast, Coalition forces liberating Iraq have rendered medical care, food, and shelter to their 3,500 Iraqi prisoners captured to date.

The United States is at war with Saddam and as President Bush said last week, the dictator's days are running short. The President also made crystal clear that anyone in Saddam's regime participating in the humiliation, torture, and death of American prisoners of war will be tried as war criminals. The video evidence is already before the world provided courtesy of Saddam's own regime.

Last Thursday, the U.S. House of Representatives unanimously passed a resolution warning Saddam Hussein and his regime of their obligation to treat prisoners of war humanely and abide by the rules of the Geneva Convention. Our goal is the swift and safe repatriation of all Coalition prisoners of war. Anyone who mistreats a prisoner of war will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of U.S. and international law.

Congressman Terry Everett represents the Seventh Congressional District of Alabama in the United States House of Representatives.