The Boston Herald March 23, 2003
Coalition leaflets spur Iraqis to yield
By Kay Lazar
As U.S. troops push toward Baghdad, thousands of overwhelmed Iraqi soldiers have laid down their weapons, playing right into the American military's strategy to avoid casualties, officials say.
In his first briefing of the war, Army Gen. Tommy Franks, chief of U.S. Central Command, said 1,000 to 2,000 Iraqis had surrendered and were in custody, and "thousands" had put down their weapons and gone home.
"And we have with certain knowledge . . . that . . . in fact about 700 Iraqis lined up in a way that they were instructed by way of leaflets and radio broadcasts to line up if they chose not to be engaged," Franks said yesterday.
In the weeks before the war, millions of leaflets with specific surrender procedures were dropped by U.S. aircraft on Iraqi forces, something that was done a decade ago in the first Gulf War, but not to this extent.
"It's human nature for people to fear the unknown," said Army Maj. Ted Wadsworth, a Pentagon spokesman. "If we make it clear that we will treat them in a fair and humane way, it's more likely they will (surrender)."
The leaflets instruct Iraqis to move away from their vehicles, display white flags and not approach coalition forces.
Wadsworth said advancing U.S. troops were slowed by thousands of surrendering Iraqis during the Gulf War 12 years ago.
This time, he said, military planners devised the leaflets and strategies to allow U.S. troops to quickly bypass Iraqi forces deemed to no longer pose a threat.
"We do know," Wadsworth said, "that in very few months, or perhaps a year or so, we will be reversing this process and working with these people (to rebuild Iraq)."
He said military police units behind the allied forces also might round up and transport Iraqi soldiers to detention centers, where they will receive food and medical treatment while being monitored by the International Red Cross.
"Every soldier on the battlefield would rather take prisoners than have to fight man-to-man," said Army Lt. Col. Arthur DeGroat, a Gulf War commander who now heads the military science department at Kansas State University.
DeGroat said that his company took in about 150 surrendering Iraqi soldiers in the Gulf War, and the risks involved in the process were "always" on his mind.
"At any time during the surrender it could be a ruse and they could do damage to you," DeGroat said.
He said his company on several occasions had the unsettling experience of seeing part of a platoon of Iraqi soldiers clearly organizing to surrender while others were still ready to fight.
He said he often instructed his men to shoot machine guns above or to the side of the Iraqis, giving them a chance to surrender.
"It needs to be done in a split-second because the Iraqi army possesses weapons that are very lethal - not as lethal as ours, but you have to make a decision and you have to protect your force," DeGroat said.
While U.S. soldiers are trained for combat, they also receive instructions for taking prisoners.
They are taught to search enemy soldiers for weapons and to confiscate any intelligence information, maps or codes, but to return any personal artifacts, such as family pictures.
Still, DeGroat said, he was not prepared for what he saw his men doing when they encountered surrendering Iraqi soldiers who were clearly hungry and hurting.
"My soldiers were giving all their combat rations over to them," he said. "It was causing logistics problems for me because my soldiers were out of food, water and bandages because they were giving them all away."
Ensuring safe surrender
This is text of one of the leaflets the U.S. military dropped over Iraq, explaining to Iraqi forces how to surrender. Leaflets are in Arabic and include pictures:
FOR YOUR SAFETY FOLLOW THESE COALITION GUIDELINES
Park vehicles in squares, no larger than battalion size.
Stow artillery and air-defense artillery systems in travel configuration.
Display white flags on vehicles.
No visible manned portable air-defense systems (shoulder rockets).
Personnel must gather in groups, a minimum of 1 kilometer away from their vehicles.
Officers may retain their sidearms; others must disarm.
Do not approach Coalition forces.
Wait for further instructions.
Source: GlobalSecurity.org
Caption: IN CUSTODY: Members of the Army's 3rd Infantry Division blindfold an Iraqi soldier who surrendered at An Nasiriyah, northwest of Basra, in southern Iraq yesterday. AP photo
Copyright © 2003, Boston Herald Inc.
