Prisoners of War: Iraq's Horror Picture Show

Saddam parades allied captives before TV cameras, but the propaganda ploy merely underscores his contempt for accepted behavior

The images are only too familiar. The men stare straight ahead, their eyes glazed and puffy, their bodies rigid, unmoving. Their faces, lined with fatigue, show strain and distrust and are discolored by cuts and bruises. "How have you been shot down?" drills a harsh, disembodied voice. "What do you think about this aggression against Iraq?" The men respond woodenly, the rhythms of their speech halting and stilted. Some employ peculiar accents. One lapses into a singsong cadence. Another refuses -- or is unable -- to lift his head.

"I think this war is crazy and should never have happened," says...

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