The Reuthers report that you posted on the kidnapped Egyptians who supposedly escaped on their own from the trunk of a car is not accurate. I know, because my son and his platoon freed them and captured two (not one per the Reuthers report) of their kidnappers. The Egyptians may be slow to give credit to the U. S. Military for rescuing its citizens. The truth is that a hostage was not freed by the kidnappers. An article describing it appears in today's Knoxville News Sentinel.

It began when my son, leading a patrol, saw a suspicious car. They pulled it over, captured two of the three kidnappers and found two Egyptians bound and gagged in the trunk. Interrogation of the two prisoners let to intel re the location of the other two hostages and another US unit raided that location and freed them.

There is much more to this story, but I wanted you to know that they were not "released" but were rescued as a result of a heads-up effort by U.S. soldiers.

Here is what went unreported. I asked my son why they had not just shot the two who ran away (one of whom was chased down and captured). I thought that perhaps the Rules of Engagement prevented them from shooting them, since they had not been shot at first. He told me, however, that the ROE did permit them to shoot, but he never gave them a "fire" command because the street was too crowded and he was worried that they might hit civilians. So, instead, they chased them down. As a result of that decision, civilian lives were spared and all 4 hostages were rescued. It's a great example of good decision-making, good fire discipline, and concern for the people. But, not the sort of thing the media seems to want to report.

John Lucas
Knoxville, TN