Stardate 20030328.2351

(On Screen): A couple of days ago, we apparently decided we didn't want to let Saddam keep using his main TV station in Baghdad to spread government propaganda, so we bombed it.

In response, we were accused of a war crime. Seems that this would qualify as "censorship".

I read an article today which I'm afraid I cannot now locate which was a profile of one American soldier. He was a military lawyer, attached to the headquarters of one of the ground units which is in combat now. And when they run into situations which might be questionable, they consult him before acting to find out whether their plan would be a warcrime. For example, there was an artillery piece which had been giving them trouble, and it was set up in the middle of a stadium associated with a school. He concluded it was OK to attack it, so they called in an airstrike which used laser-guided bombs to destroy it, fortunately doing minimal damage to anything nearby. And even with this kind of care, it seems like everyone out there who can possibly find a reason to do so is tossing around accusations of war crime.

But they're only flinging those accusations at us. In response to absolutely clear and blatant war crimes by Iraq, there has been a notable silence.

In some of the fighting in the last couple of days, members of the Fedayeen have been herding civilians in front of them as they move towards our troops, to use them as "human shields". That's a blatant violation of the Geneva Convention, but I sure as hell haven't heard any massive international outrage about it, or denunciations and condemnations of Iraq.

And this report says that the British have captured a Children's Health Center in Az Zubayr. You might wonder why they even tried; after all, just how dangerous are healthy children to British soldiers?

Enough children’s medicine for 10,000 treatments was found unopened next to rooms packed with rocket-propelled grenades, AK47 rifles and ammunition. ...

Intelligence suggests an al-Qaeda cell might be operating in the town, and yesterday one prisoner told British officers suicide attacks were being planned on aid convoys. Troops have also been warned militiamen are targeting tank and Warrior commanders by stretching cheesewire across streets at head height.

Lieutenant Colonel Kevin Beaton, senior medical officer for the British battle group, said the clinic contained medical equipment and hundreds of unopened boxes of medicine. He said: "There are kids with chest infections and thread worms that need this stuff now. I think it is a crime it has just been sitting here."

You betcha. Remember all those tens of thousands of children we've been told had died because of the sanctions? The medicine they need is there, but they aren't getting it.

(By the way, you know that connection between Saddam and al Qaeda that doesn't exist? You remember that...)

It is highly questionable whether bombing a TV station is actually a war crime. But there is no doubt whatever that using hospitals to store weapons is one, and this is far from the only one that the Iraqis have committed in this war.

So where is all the outrage? Let's go take a look at the hope page for Amnesty International, shall we? And as I look at the front page right now, here's what I see as actual releases by AI itself:

Iraq: Risk to civilians if landmines and cluster bombs used in which they plead with everyone to not use "inherently indiscriminate" weapons.

Iraq: Bombing of Iraqi state television where they, too, caution that America may have committed a war crime.

Iraq: Respecting International Humanitarian Law where they offer a balanced warning to both sides to play nice.

Shall we take a look at their press release containing a weekly roundup of Iraq?

War Crimes during military operation

Reports that war crimes may have been committed by both sides in the recent fighting, are still a concern to Amnesty International.

"The bombing of a television station simply because it is being used for the purposes of propaganda is unacceptable. It is a civilian object, and thus protected under international humanitarian law," said Claudio Cordone, Senior Director for International Law at Amnesty International.

"Attacking a civilian object and carrying out a disproportionate attack are war crimes. The onus is on the Coalition forces to demonstrate the military use of the TV station and, if that is indeed the case, to show that the attack took into account the risk to civilian lives."

There have been reports that Iraqi forces, have deliberately shelled civilians in Basra and to placing military objectives in close proximity to civilians and civilian objects.

Respect for all POWs

Amnesty Intern