>>The "problem" seems to be in the showing of POWs at all. The U.S. authorities seem to think that showing POWs is a contravention of the Geneva Conventions, and that being the case I say that I've seen Iraqi POWs shown on TV and that their circumstances were less than idyllic (like being pressed into the sand with a foot on his back, like being confined in a group surrounded by razor-wire, like being made to lay in the sand with something covering them).
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>There are some important differences here. First, while you described this as being less than idyllic, they are prisoners who have to be searched. So searching a recently captured soldier for weapons by putting a boot on his back doesn't sound like a bad idea, especially with reports of Iraqis pretending to surrender, then firing on U.S. troops. Second, this is shown by U.S. and other news organizations, not the U.S. government. Iraqi TV is state owned. Third, apparently the Iraqi videotape shows the prisoners being interrogated on TV.

You will remember, Chris, that I said that I personally didn't see any mistreatment of Iraqi POWs.
The point I'm making above is who's to say what is insulting, degrading, and displaying for public curiousity?!?! So it is the SHOWING that seems to be problematic for the U.S. I know full well that they have to be searched, and later confined, but SHOWING that on TV **IS** insulting and degrading and showing it on U.S. (and other) TV **IS** to satiate public curiousity. There's no two ways about it!
The minor fact that U.S. (and most other) stations showing the Iraqi POWs versus the U.S. POWs being shown on STATE TV has NOTHING to do with permissibility under the Geneva Conventions or anything else, especially when the American stations honoured the governmental 'request'. Do you not think that CNN or Fox or NBC or CBS or ABC weren't dying to be there to get the images of the U.S. POWs??? You bet your sweet A** they were!
I've now seen momentary clips of 3 "interrogations". They were asked their names, by a TV reporter. I can't in all earnestness call that "interrogation". I'm sure Wolf Blitzer would have been only too pleased to do exactly the same thing.

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>>I have NOT seen the video that is so appalling to U.S. authorities. But I can't blame anyone for seeing (another) double-standard here, where U.S. TV CAN show Iraqi POWs but NO TV should show coalition prisoners.
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>>And one can't help but ask ones self WHY it is so appalling to show the FULL UGLINESS of war? ... In a free and democratic society? There must be some reason, don't you think?
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>There are plenty of violent images that U.S. news stations do not show. Images that are totally unrelated to the war.

Sure. But IN THIS WAR it is decidedly one-sided. And remember, it was the U.S. government that asked them not to show these images. Sure the networks said it was their own decision, but it never would have been an issue if the government had stayed silent on the matter.