[Jim March]

Now, I don't generally take WND all that seriously...I remember quite well their "top story" of 1999.

But if true...:neener:

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http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=31423

Iraqi soldiers wave white flag of surrender

Saddam's troops try to give themselves up to Brits practicing war exercises

Posted: March 9, 2003
3:15 a.m. Eastern

© 2003 WorldNetDaily.com

Terrified Iraqi soldiers who thought the war had already started, crossed the Kuwait border and tried to surrender to British forces, according to a report in the London Sunday Mirror.

The drama unfolded last Monday, when a dozen troops waved the white flag as British paratroopers tested mortars and artillery weapons to make sure they were working. The Iraqis found a way across the fortified border, which is sealed off with barbed-wire fencing, watchtowers and huge trenches.

The stunned troops were forced to tell the Iraqis they weren't firing at them, and ordered them back to their home country, telling them it was too early to surrender.

"The British guys on the front-line could not believe what was happening. They were on pre-war exercises when all of a sudden these Iraqis turned up out of nowhere, with their hands in the air, saying they wanted to surrender.

"They had heard firing and thought it was the start of the war,'' a British Army source in Kuwait told the Mirror.

''The Paras are a tough, battle-hardened lot but were moved by the plight of the Iraqis. There was nothing they could do other than send them back. ''They were a motley bunch and you could barely describe them as soldiers – they were poorly equipped and didn't even have proper boots. Their physical condition was dreadful and they had obviously not had a square meal for ages. No one has ever known a group of so-called soldiers surrender before a shot has been fired in anger,'' the source said.

[joebogey]

I hope theyat least afforded them a good hot meal before sending them back.

Not all of those folks will be fighting us because they want to. Only because they are forced to.

Even in war, there should be a little compassion.

[geekWithA.45]

They should have accepted their surrender, or arrested them for trespass, or something....

Those poor guys are gonna get KILLED when they get home, unless they can cover their butts sufficiently.

[Kingcreek]

Iraqi anti-war activists?
Maybe martyrdom isn't all its cracked up to be.

[Gary H]

WOW..

Jim ... What were you doing up at that hour on Sunday morning?

[Atticus]

We know that France provided the reactor...I wonder if they are supplying surplus white flags.

It seems that Saddam has become encouraged by the UN and wants economic sanctions dropped. I'm wondering if he'll require a formal surrender from France as well.

[Oleg Volk]

''The Paras are a tough, battle-hardened lot but were moved by the plight of the Iraqis. There was nothing they could do other than send them back. ''They were a motley bunch and you could barely describe them as soldiers – they were poorly equipped and didn't even have proper boots. Their physical condition was dreadful and they had obviously not had a square meal for ages. No one has ever known a group of so-called soldiers surrender before a shot has been fired in anger,'' the source said.


This mirrors very closely T.E. Lawrence's description of the Turkish troops in "Seven Pillars of Wisdom"...he said they were glad to surrender as they were better fed in captivity and their officers could no longer abuse them quite as badly as before. The picture he painted of the 1917 Turkish army was almost worse than the Russian army of 1987...maybe Iraq is like that as well. Wouldn't surprise me.

Yet another reason to gun for the head of state instead of the draftees. If the rule is truly autocratic, then removal of SH would have considerable effect.

[OF]

I hope theyat least afforded them a good hot meal before sending them back.Disagree. If you're going to accept them as POW's, then feed them. If you're going to send them back to their unit, send them back with nothing.

- Gabe

[2dogs]

Maybe they could be given "most favored surrenderer" status- a number or card that they could present to move to the front of the surrender line when it's really time to give up.:D

[Blackhawk]

geekWithA.45 nailed it. :(

[Waitone]

Poor guys are dead. At a minimum the Paras could have fed them a decent meal before returning them to their deaths.

I don't see the harm in encouraging defections before the shooting starts. It might mess up "The Plan" but so what.

We got into trouble last go around because of images of wholesale slaughter (which in reality didn't exist). So now we start round 2 by sending defectors back to their deaths because IT WASN'T TIME TO SURRENDER!

Funny but sad.

[Coronach]

So, technically speaking, they invaded Kuwait, right?

They should be taken into custody as POWs.

Actually, I'm not sure of the wisdom of returning them:

1. They're likely dead meat now. I know they're enemy combattants and all, but it is quite obvious that their heart is not in this fight. They're human too.

2. if they're not executed, they'll just be surrendering again. We could have processed and removed them by the time the real deluge starts, but hey, now they'll be adding their numbers to the flood. Great.

3. If we had taken them, it is overwhelmingly likley that even more Iraqis would just surrender before the war even starts. "What would happen if They held a war and nobody came?" indeed.

4. Worst case scenario: they are returned and they actually fight when this thing caps off. We just swelled the enemies ranks for him. Bad idea.

Still, quite funny.

Mike

[Jim March]

I agree that they should have been taken in. But if they snuck out, there's a decent chance they can sneak right back :) so I wouldn't say the poor guys are necessarily dead right now.

The good news is, if those guys made it back OK, they can spread the word that they'll be treated tolerably well if they do surrender. (Then again, there's a LOT of former prisoners from the first go-round ready to spread that news inside Iraq, so it's probably a non-issue.)

I agree completely that these guys aren't the problem, and it really is heartbreaking. When we get to Bagdad it's going to be a THREE way fight, with anti-Saddam guys probably fighting harder than our guys will have to.

If we do this right, it'll be precision bombing of the "head of the snake" and let everybody else surrender.

Oh ya, the London Mirror is reporting the same tale, so it seems to be true:

http://www.sundaymirror.co.uk/news/news/page.cfm?objectid=12715943&method=full&siteid=106694

[2dogs]

Now, I don't generally take WND all that seriously

Got to get over that Y2K thing.:scrutiny: :)

[Jim March]

It's only part of a pattern of sensationalism and distortion.

[Waitone]

IIRC most media organs were suckered in by the Y2K pimps. Seems to me a handfull of "experts" was responsible for the hype.

WND merely put glitter on it.

The Y2K fiasco pointed out to the the inherent laziness of our media. They would much rather has a compelling story hand delivered to them rather than PICKING UP THE FREAKING TELEPHONE AND ASKING PEOPLE WHO KNOW WHAT THEY ARE DOING BECAUSE THE MAKE A LIVING AT IT.

<Breathes deeply, focuses on a distant object>

[Drjones]

I too feel sorry for them.

As usual, the first reply nailed it.

They obviously know what they're in for, and they have the guts to do what their leader refuses to do, because his sick, scum-filled butt gets to cower behind real men like those poor troops.

[BigJake_old]

This was from the other thread, but i never got it to work, sums up the frenchs' effort in the war....

http://www.tehsug.com/images/googlefrench.jpg

[jbutenhoff]

I would have loved to see the reaction on the Brit's faces when they came up to them! First thought was probably that they were being attacked. Second thought was what the hell! Third thought was trying to hold in the laughs long enough that they did not start crying about how dang funny and pathetic this is!

Jamie

[Justin]

The stunned troops were forced to tell the Iraqis they weren't firing at them, and ordered them back to their home country, telling them it was too early to surrender. Why do I have this image in my head of a British soldier checking his watch, looking at the Iraqis and saying "Wot wot! Yer can't surrender now, right, it's not time. Just wouldn't be cricket, right, old chap."

[Phyphor]

In that position, I would have accepted their surrender.... Hell, at the LEAST, that eliminates a number of possible tangos one has to deal with.....

[Silver Bullet]

No one has ever known a group of so-called soldiers surrender before a shot has been fired
What about our anti-war protesters ? Oops, never mind; they're not soldiers.

[Ledbetter]

Why invade when you can just put up a sign:

"IRAQI SOLDIERS--

Free hot food. Surrenders now also being accepted here. Turn in ammo, if any, to the gentlemen in khaki.

Now serving #_______."

Look out, here come the American chuckwagons. Tie up the troops.:neener: