US hostage Thomas Hamill well treated by captors

[Iceburg]

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=540&ncid=716&e=1&u=/ap/20040503/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iraq_hamill
snip
The Mississippi man told soldiers he'd been well treated by his captors, who gave him a rudimentary medical kit, a box of cookies and an oil lamp.

more ...

[belladonna]

1. Compare the way the Iraqi's were treated

Doesn't look good, does it?

[Iceburg]

2. Pentagon will try to keep it quiet.

[daleo]

3. Maybe they should give Bushco a flashlight and an anatomy text

It might help them tell the difference between their *ss from a hole in the ground.

[markses]

24. LOL

I often type LOL if I find something funny, but this time I actually did Laugh Out Loud! Well done.

[daleo]

4. Sounds like they let him go

An unguarded hut, a half-hearted bar over the door, nobody around except a couple of hapless farmers in a field. They were arrested - I wonder if they will be treated half as well as he was - seems doubtful.

Interesting story, even if it is still probably not the whole truth.

[progressivebydesign]

8. I read that they were killed when the US came back to the house. N/T

[daleo]

13. Story says they were arrested, but killed wouldn't be a surprise

"Troops arrested two Iraqis farming in a field near the shack, Merrill said."

If they did kill them, they are playing it down now. But it would be in line with past behavior.

[pinniped]

34. Either way they will never be seen or heard from again...

Just like if they were to fall off the planet.

[NNN0LHI]

30. It was just women and kids in the house

http://www.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0405/03/ltm.05.html

News Conference on the Recovery of Thomas Hamill; Campaign Themes; The Teen Brain

<snip>QUESTION: (UNINTELLIGIBLE) from Reuters. So can I just to be clear? He came running out of the house. And he's shouting, "I'm an American, I'm an American," can you just confirm that?

And then can you describe, was he scared? You know, you said he fell over. Was he running very fast? Can you just described what a bit more of the scene was like?

And did any of you have your guns on him? Because you thought he was an Iraqi farmer running towards you, did everyone have sort of guns, sort of their weapons unarmed?

And also, when you went back to the house, what were the people doing? Were they sitting around with an AK-47? Were they running off to him? What were they doing?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The AK-47 was outside the building over in the grass. And when we got to the building and went past the building, and when he came up to us, realized he was an American and realized he was a hostage, we immediately took the platoon back and swept back through the area that he was in.

The AK was found outside. And from where it was laying, we assessed that from what he had told us that someone was watching him. They probably saw us coming and decided that 40 on one wasn't going to be a good day for him. So he probably ran off. That's why we found just the weapon. He probably walked off.

The other detainees were just walking in the area. There was no other men in the house. It was just women and children.

more

[KoKo]

5. What if it wasn't the Iraqi's who captured him. I just had a creepy

thought about this. Something is missing from this story. Bush needed some good news this weekend and Hamill escapes from his captors?

I don't know. They guy seemed okay to me. I was glad he's still alive, though.

[progressivebydesign]

6. I believe it was reported that the US went back and killed the captors..

.. so they treated him fairly, and we killed them. I suppose those involved in the torture, humiliation, and beatings, and deaths of Iraqi prisoners will be reprimanded. Ironic, isn't it?

[Wind Dancer]

7. Interesting!

"Hamill's cousin, Jason Higginbotham, told CNN that Hamill had tried to escape before but went back to his captors, apparently unnoticed, after finding himself in the desert without food or water.

"He escaped one time about three days earlier and he was out in the middle of the desert. A helicopter came over and he tried to flag it down, but they evidently didn't see him," Higginbotham said. "They were taking fairly good care of him, so he went and put himself back in captivity without them knowing."

[progressivebydesign]

10. That is certainly an interesting part of the story!

When I saw the photo of the soldier with him, with the upturned thumb.. I realized, after hearing of the abuse photos, how sick I've grown of seeing the "thumbs up" when it comes to anything in Iraq.

Glad this guy's okay. He was a truck driver there, who needed money to pay for his wife's heart surgery, after the family farm went belly up. He's a victim of Bush's economy.

[Wind Dancer]

11. Agree Caliphoto

I bet the cousin will never mention what happened again.

[mbperrin]

9. Cookies? This definitely proves that the Girl Scouts

are al-Quaeda!

[Sequoia]

Stop, I can't laugh at work!

When I'm down and blue I can always count on DU! (Not that I'm that today of course)

I wondered what happened to this guy after seeing him on TV when he was first captured. I do find it interesting that he went back to his captors who treated him well. Wonder what story he'll be telling now. The WH hates it I bet that he wasn't tortured or anything. How does that look to the rest of the world after what the USA is doing to Iraqi prisoners?

[leesa]

28. I knew it! Glad he's safe, sorry our misguided military had to murder

his captors. I guess we can't let those humane POW guards show us up.

[KansDem]

12. This reminds me of how German POWs were treated in US camps...

As I recall the story, the US took action to make certain that German POWs were treated as humanely as possible. After weeding out the fanatics (SS) and sending them to a camp in Oklahoma, the remaining camps worked to give the POWs many privileges including their own camp stores that sold basic consumer goods, ie, cigarettes, beer, wine. This was bought with money earned on work detail in which the POWs were taken out to work (for example, POW camps in the midwest allowed its German prisoners to work on American farms. Since many of the POWs were from farms in Germany, they jumped at the chance to do so here). A punishment for them was to deny them the opportunity for work detail outside the camp.

The reason was to give the German POW something to write home about: American "kindness and hospitality." When the Germans at home read that their loved ones were being treated so humanely, (it is believed) this helped to end the war in Europe sooner. If the US brutalized German POWs, then the citizens back home would fight on longer--to the death--as they would have little to lose.

In order to provide articles not issued by the United States Army or the Red Cross, canteens were established in base camps, branch camps, and hospitals designated exclusively for prisoners of war. The canteens were authorized to purchase commodities from the nearest Army exchange on a ninety-day credit basis but were separated from any army exchange and maintained separate sets of books and records. Usually, the canteens were operated by prisoner personnel and were responsible for all revenue-producing activities within the prisoner compound. Canteens could only stock articles that were included in the restricted list.<36> In August, 1945, beer (3.2 percent alcohol) , cookies, crackers, and soft drinks were removed from this list of items.

Only coupons could be used to purchase merchandise from prisoner canteens. They were redeemable only at the camp of issuance and were valid for a period of two calendar months after the end of the payroll month. New series of coupons were printed on different colored paper and were issued on or about July 25 and January 25 of each year. All dividends from canteen profits were transferred periodically to the local prisoner fund.<37>

During internment the prisoners could participate in educational classes, lectures, studies, and discussion groups within the camp and enroll in correspondence courses from fourteen educational institutions in the United States. The educational programs sponsored by each camp usually emphasized such basic courses as reading, writing, geography, mathematics, languages, music, arts, history, and literature. These courses were usually taught by the prisoners and assisted by civilians who were approved by the camp commander and the Provost Marshal General.<38>

Prisoners of war could participate in sports and athletic contests. Prisoner funds could be utilized for the purchase or rent of recreational equipment, handicraft tools, motion picture films and projectors, public address systems, fine arts, and theatrical accessories. The prisoners could also maintain a library and reading room, which could only contain censored reading material. Plays and musical concerts could be performed by the prisoners with the approval of the camp commander. Prisoners could attend censored motion pictures and possess and operate a standard radio receiver that was incapable of shortwave reception. Prisoners were also allowed to attend religious services within the camp and were permitted to receive visitors twice a month who were related to the prisoner as wife, child, parent, brother, sister, grandparent, uncle, or aunt.<39>

(more)
http://www.rootsweb.com/~txrober2/TissingI.htm

I forgot the name of the American officer who devised this strategy, but he received a lot of flack in the beginning about pandering to the POWs needs. It appears though his plan worked.

So now we have stories about humane treatment of an American in the custody of the Iraqis to be contrasted by the inhumane treatment of Iraqis at the hands of Americans. Which scenario do you think will be the best effective weapon in ending the war?

[aquart]

14. There are reasons we were the light of the world back then.

I inherited, in my dad's books, a guide to Japan published by the US Army. It was written for Occupation troops with information on Japanese customs, tradition, food, language, as well as maps. And I especially remember it reminding the troops that the Japanese people had no say in their leaders, who were the real criminals and were being prosecuted. It also insisted that we would be in Japan only as long as it took to get a democracy up and running. And we kept our word.

Is this what George thinks he was doing?

[Zhade]

26. "And we kept our word."

Well, yeah, if you overlook Okinawa and the abuses that have happened there over the decades.

Seems we started with good intentions, though - unlike now, where the Iraqis know firsthand that US/UK soldiers are not to be trusted (even though some of them are trustworthy). It sets a horrific and dangerous precedent.

[Sequoia]

16. My mother told me about a German POW

who worked near her house when she was growing up. They had a piano in the house and he'd play Chopin for them which got my mom interested in Classical music and the piano which she played rather well.

[murielm99]

32. My father told me a similar story.

He grew up on a farm, in a German-speaking community in Minnesota. They had two German POWs working on the farm for them. They lived in a barracks nearby and were well-treated.

[Turbineguy]

18. I figured they would do something like that in Guantanimo

Unless we really are interested in recruiting Terrorists.

[Dr Fate]

31. Thank you for this informative post...n/t

n/t

[mouse7]

15. What, no electically operated frat pranks?

Isn't it rush week when you capture opposition forces?

[Jacobin]

17. That's how you win a war.

Moral high ground

[prodigal_green]

19. That's how you win the peace afterwards

which ultimately is more important.

[rocktivity]

20. LOL--this story has more gaps in it than Britney Spears' wardrobe!

Hamill was sitting in a mud shack with a bullet wound festering in his arm when he heard the rumble of Army Humvees and made a break for it...
With no concern there might be (armed) guards outside?

(He) told soldiers he believed a single guard was nearby, but out of sight...The door to Hamill's room was a piece of sheet metal propped up by a board...he knocked over the sheet metal, pried open the doors of the shack and ran about 300 yards toward the convoy.
He did all that with a bum arm? And the troops DIDN'T assume he was an insurgent, shot first, asked questions later?

Hamill escorted the platoon back to the shack, which was empty. Soldiers found an abandoned AK-47.
And an abandoned hostage, too, methinks.

Hamill's cousin...told CNN that Hamill had tried to escape before but went back to his captors, apparently unnoticed, after finding himself in the desert without food or water..."They were taking fairly good care of him, so he went and put himself back in captivity without them knowing."
Well, if they didn't go looking for him when they realized he'd escaped, then maybe they they INTENDED for him to!

...Hamill was disoriented but in good health. He had just one bottle of water and didn't know exactly where he was.
But he was oriented enough to escape, return to them without them knowing it, realize he was unguarded, escape again, travel 300 yards toward his platoon, and lead them back to where he'd been held? Stop it, you guys--you're killing me!


rocknation

[jdj]

21. The first story I read said that the captors were arrested.

If anyone has links that say they were killed, please post. It's very likely now that they are saying that the "hut" was abandoned, and all they found was a weapon.

"The unit surrounded the house and capture two Iraqis with an automatic weapon said the military spokesman Maj. Neal O'Brien."

http://www.bradenton.com.mld/bradenton/news/local/8573124.htm

edit: this in an AP story, too.

[Zhade]

27. This story has always smelled.

I would not be the least bit surprised if this was staged, with an unwitting Hamill playing the part in a US PSYOP script. There's no question in my mind that Hamill believed he was captured by men he believed might kill him - I could hear the fear in his voice in the clip where he gives his name.

But overall, this story has too many holes - kind of like the yellow dates photographed during Saddam's "capture".

[Cocoa]

22. I'm confused...

the "enemies of civilization" treated their captives well, and the "liberators" tortured their
captives?

:wtf:

[MidwestMomma]

23. Just saw his wife on Countdown

Showed her talking to her husband. Remember how it was reported that he was 'ready to go back to work'? Hamill's wife was talking on the phone to him and telling him about his homecoming parade and she told him "There's no going back. Understand?" Good for her!

Glad to hear he's okay. Hopefully they'll be lots of Americans coming home from Iraq soon.

Bush must go...

Or to paraphrase a Middle East newspaper article: America must wake from it's coma.

[riverwalker]

25. He had a mattress

and blanket and a pillow. Said he could have left a few days before but but didn't have a map, so he stayed.

[Aidoneus]

29. you mean he WASN'T stripped naked, hooded, and hooked to electrical wires?

Those crazy Iraqis!

At any rate, the "escape" story reeks of typical propaganda. Those who held the Halliburton agent captive said they would not release him unless the brutal siege on al-Fallujah was lifted. It was, relatively speaking, lifted, now suddenly he's loose. That's not a coincidence to me, but apparently the media bosses and Generals think people will just swallow whatever line they put out.

[truthisfreedom]

33. or forced to form a naked human pyramid with himself?

[saracat]

35. Jessica Lynch

Redeaux

[rebellious woman]

36. I don't believe this man and want the

truth! What REALLY happened, will we ever know? Another
trumped up lie.

[Judi Lynn]

37. He looks fairly hardy in this photo, not too beaten down at all.

From the leading article posted by Iceburg:

[ghola]

38. Proves that Muslims are not savages. Neocon propaganda

NeoCon Nazis like Michael "wiener" Savage spit out Islam hatered all over their shows, but the good treatment of Thomas Hamill shows that muslims are consciencous people and masters. I don't have to mention the recent pictures that came out showing abuse of Iraqi prisoners of War (illigal war).

I know plenty of muslims and always thought they were polite, well mannered, multicultural people. People of all backgrounds come be muslim. I mean, how savage can those captors be if they barely had Mr. Hamill locked up, all he had to do was knock down a shack-door.

Dont listen to NeoCon lies about the inhumanity of Islam.