Iran Hostage Back--but on the Iraqi Side

Charles W. Scott, one of 53 Americans held hostage in Iran, has returned for another look at that country--this time from an Iraqi observation post on the war-torn Iran-Iraq border.

Scott, who retired as an Army colonel after being freed in 1981, toured the battlefront in February at the invitation of the Iraqi government. He reported on the war and on Iraq in today’s Atlanta Journal and Constitution.

Scott, told that he was being given special treatment “as a friend and a former soldier,” still endured some uneasy moments. In one instance, his vehicle was showered with Iranian mortar shrapnel.

He said he found religious freedom and an improving living standard in Iraq. “There are many things for an American to like,” he wrote. “We share many common interests and similar hopes and dreams. The Iraqi people are more like us than most of us realize.”