Michael Bluth
03-23-2003, 06:44 PM
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. military said on Sunday that some of its soldiers could have been captured during the fighting in Iraq and about 10 service personnel were missing.
U.S. Air Force Gen. Richard Myers, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said no more than 10 soldiers were unaccounted for in southern Iraq, but a defense official said the exact numbers were unclear.
The defense official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the missing American personnel probably were members of a maintenance unit that was part of U.S. forces in southern Iraq. The official declined to be more specific.
"The numbers were rough. We don't know whether it was 10, 11, 12, eight, nine," the official told reporters.
Appearing on NBC's "Meet the Press," Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld was asked if he believed there were any American prisoners of war. "There could be," he said.
Iraqi television has shown footage of what it said were four dead U.S. soldiers and five prisoners who said they were American.
Rumsfeld said on CBS' "Face the Nation" that showing pictures of the prisoners violated the Geneva Convention.
On the "Fox News Sunday" program, Myers said Central Command was searching for the missing American soldiers.
"They are trying to account for the soldiers that are reported missing and beyond that we don't know," Myers said.
Asked how many soldiers were missing, and from where, he added, "Less than 10 we think."
"Somewhere in southern Iraq," Myers said.
Rumsfeld said he had heard that an allied aircraft was missing, but he had no information about claims by Iraq that two Western pilots had been forced to abandon their aircraft over Baghdad.
Asked whether any Western planes are missing, he said "There has been a report of an aircraft that's missing."
Rumsfeld did not clarify if he was referring to a U.S. or British plane.
British officials confirmed on Sunday that one of their Tornado strike aircraft was downed by a U.S. missile near the Kuwait border and that the two-man crew was missing.
The U.S. military said later that it had no reports that any Western warplanes were missing over Iraq.
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/nm/20030323/pl_nm/iraq_usa_rumsfeld_dc_2
U.S. Air Force Gen. Richard Myers, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said no more than 10 soldiers were unaccounted for in southern Iraq, but a defense official said the exact numbers were unclear.
The defense official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the missing American personnel probably were members of a maintenance unit that was part of U.S. forces in southern Iraq. The official declined to be more specific.
"The numbers were rough. We don't know whether it was 10, 11, 12, eight, nine," the official told reporters.
Appearing on NBC's "Meet the Press," Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld was asked if he believed there were any American prisoners of war. "There could be," he said.
Iraqi television has shown footage of what it said were four dead U.S. soldiers and five prisoners who said they were American.
Rumsfeld said on CBS' "Face the Nation" that showing pictures of the prisoners violated the Geneva Convention.
On the "Fox News Sunday" program, Myers said Central Command was searching for the missing American soldiers.
"They are trying to account for the soldiers that are reported missing and beyond that we don't know," Myers said.
Asked how many soldiers were missing, and from where, he added, "Less than 10 we think."
"Somewhere in southern Iraq," Myers said.
Rumsfeld said he had heard that an allied aircraft was missing, but he had no information about claims by Iraq that two Western pilots had been forced to abandon their aircraft over Baghdad.
Asked whether any Western planes are missing, he said "There has been a report of an aircraft that's missing."
Rumsfeld did not clarify if he was referring to a U.S. or British plane.
British officials confirmed on Sunday that one of their Tornado strike aircraft was downed by a U.S. missile near the Kuwait border and that the two-man crew was missing.
The U.S. military said later that it had no reports that any Western warplanes were missing over Iraq.
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/nm/20030323/pl_nm/iraq_usa_rumsfeld_dc_2