Let me say at the onset that I in NO way approve of abuses that have happened at Gitmo or Abu Ghraib…
But the items on Gitmo had me wondering…
Besides Matt Maupin (who I feel in my heart is dead) and the journalist from Italy who’s body guard was shot, and Jessica Lynch - are there any current POWs in custody by the “other” side, have more been released, or have almost all of those taken been executed?
I don’t recall hearing any other names of those being “held”. I do recall the beheadings, etc.
Again - I’m not trying to make comparisons - I’m just asking a question I can’t find answers on.
Simon - Matt Maupin is still currently listed MIA/POW - the Marines looked at his status when the year anniversary came around in April, and decided there was enough information to keep his case “active”.
But, I honestly think he was killed quite soon after he was captured - all the others taken at the same time were beheaded.
A living US soldier in insurgent holds far too much propaganda value to be kept silent.
Iraq is the battlefield of a highly sophisticated propaganda battle, being fought viciously by both sides in this conflict.
If he was alive, and for some improbale reason his capture had not yet been publicized, his captors would not have kept silent through the abu Ghraib scandal, and probably not through the razing of Fallujah, or either election.
They’d have filmed him being tortured–perhaps aping the abu Ghraib photos–and posted the pics on the web, reaping the PR bonanza.
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I think the opportunity would have been too good to miss. I wouldn’t bet on his being alive at any odds.
