‘America Is Angry,’ Bush Says

President Bush today condemned Iraq’s “brutal treatment” of allied prisoners of war and vowed “it’s not going to make a difference in the prosecution of the war.”

Asked whether Saddam Hussein would be held accountable for the treatment of POWs, Bush replied, “You can count on it.”

“America is angry,” Bush said upon his return from Camp David, Md., “and I think (so is) the rest of the world.” He issued “the strongest appeal” for allied prisoners to be treated properly under the Geneva Convention covering POWs.

Much of America awoke today to videotape broadcasts of captured American pilots making statements criticizing the allied war effort. White House spokesman Marlin Fitzwater said the President had seen the broadcast.

“His reaction is what you saw,” the spokesman said.

It was a grim-faced President who vowed three times that any abuse of prisoners was “not going to make a difference” in the conduct of the war.

Speaking of the Iraqi leader, Bush said, “If he thought this brutal treatment of pilots was a way to muster world support, he is dead wrong.”

Bush spoke several hours after Iraq said it had scattered its prisoners at “civilian, economic, education and other targets” of the massive Desert Storm air bombardment. Baghdad says it holds more than 20 allied troops. The United States lists 21 allied servicemen as missing in the war, 12 of them Americans.

Fitzwater said the President had spoken to seven allied leaders in the past two days, including the leaders of Italy, Spain and Turkey before leaving Camp David today.

Italian officials reported from Rome that Bush told Premier Giulio Andreotti that the world should move to resolve the fate of Palestinians once Iraq has been forced from Kuwait.

Bush refused in pre-war diplomatic maneuvering to link the Palestinian question to Iraq’s withdrawal from Kuwait.

Fitzwater told reporters that overall, the President feels the war effort is “going very well.”

Iraq has broadcast interviews with men--identifying themselves as missing American pilots--criticizing the war effort. Experts and former prisoners of war from Vietnam say the recordings probably have been made under duress.

“Let me just say a quick word about the brutal parading of these allied pilots,” Bush said. “It is very clear that this is a direct violation of every convention that protects prisoners.”

He said the International Red Cross had certified to that earlier in the day.