Happy Holiday From Baghdad : Iraq continues to insist that all is well with all the hostages

Iraqi officials profess indignation over reports that the hostages they seized after invading Kuwait are being mistreated. Information Minister Latif Jassim notes, “We are Arabs, Arab Muslims . . . Our guests are very important to us,” as if merely invoking a tradition of hospitality is proof that it is being honored. Recently freed French hostages, now safely back home, tell a far grimmer story. They report that Western detainees, especially American and British, are in many cases being subjected to consistent and sadistic physical and psychological abuse. Some are said to be near the breaking point.

An official in Baghdad says his country is prepared to allow the families of the hostages to visit them over the Christmas and New Year’s holiday. For those suddenly cut off by Iraq’s aggression from contact with loved ones, the putative offer holds out the hope of joyful reunions. Others, less emotionally involved, will look on it as yet another cynical ploy to try to manipulate public opinion in the West and portray Saddam Hussein’s murderous regime as benign, humane, caring--the exact opposites of what its record in fact shows it to be.

Note first of all that the Iraqi spokesman who raised the prospect of family visits insisted on anonymity. There are thus no fingerprints on this supposed invitation, nothing whatever to tie it to government policy. As things stand now, it is a retractable, ignorable, deniable proposal.

Note, too, that the holidays are still nearly two months away. That’s a long time for the hostages, for their families, for the development of events. Naturally, the separated family members who now think they may be able to see their loved ones can be expected to exert all the pressures they can to forestall any actions that might jeopardize their chances of going to Baghdad.

The condition of the hostages, to say nothing of their fate, is assuming ever greater importance, political as well as emotional. President Bush--whether he was speaking offhandedly or calculatedly--warns that his patience is near an end. Iraqi officials respond that Bush is looking for a pretext to take military action. A pretext is a false reason for doing something. But there’s nothing artificial about Bush’s reminder that one of his responsibilities is to protect the lives of Americans abroad.

Iraq continues to insist that all is well with all the hostages. Prove it. The Red Cross stands ready to inquire into their safety, to determine whether they are being fed, sheltered and medicated. There is evidence that some are not, that they are instead forced to live in squalid, even life-threatening circumstances. Iraq denies this, although Wednesday it said it would be releasing four sick and elderly Americans. But the only sure way to really learn the facts is to permit objective international observers to see for themselves.