American Notes Combat

Were thousands of Iraqis buried alive during the allied operation against their front line last February? U.S. Army officers say that as tanks equipped with plows and bulldozers punched holes in the 70-mile-long Iraqi defense strip, enemy soldiers who refused to surrender were trapped under avalanches of sand. Colonel Anthony Moreno, commander of a unit that followed the initial U.S. breakthrough, recalls seeing arms protruding from the sand. "For all I know, we could have buried thousands," he told New York Newsday.

Pentagon officials concede that some men were suffocated but say it is impossible to provide an accurate tally of those who died in that grisly manner. Of the Iraqis stationed in the trenches, 2,000 surrendered. "The rest," said Pentagon spokesman Pete Williams, "chose to stay and fight." < Pointing out that the operation did not violate international rules of engagement, he added, "There is no nice way to kill somebody in war."