The U.S. armed forces in Iraq have turned to increasingly dubious means to capture wanted Iraqis. According to the Washington Post, the commander of the 4th Infantry's 2nd Brigade, Colonel David Hogg, decided not to waste time with the rules of conduct in order to apprehend a yet-to-be-named Iraqi lieutenant-general. Instead, he sent troops to the unnamed Iraqi's home and seized his wife and daughter. In their place, a note was left: "If you want your family released, turn yourself in."

Undoubtedly, no reference was made to the Geneva Convention's first protocol, Article 75, which prohibits hostage takings and ranks such acts right alongside forcing POWs into prostitution.

Hogg says these methods are becoming the norm as the U.S. scurries to clean up their mess. The lieutenant-general later showed up at a U.S. Army base, but Hogg insists the hostages would eventually have been released, regardless.

» Scott Saxon