Iraq Bends, Bush Doesn’t : ‘Barbarism’ Charged; 4 to Be Freed

Iraq today promised to release four more American hostages soon and insisted that it is treating foreign captives well. President Bush again denounced the hostage-holding and vowed to drive Saddam Hussein from Kuwait.

“They have committed outrageous acts of barbarism,” Bush said of Hussein’s forces. “Brutality--I don’t believe that Adolf Hitler ever participated in anything of that nature.”

The Bush Administration responded angrily today to an offer by Iraq a day earlier to allow holiday visits by relatives of hostages. State Department spokeswoman Margaret Tutwiler called it “shameless . . . cruel and insensitive.”

Hussein, she said, “should not be discussing visits. He should be discussing the immediate release today of all those held against their will.”

Iraq again expressed fears that the United States will use reports of hostage maltreatment as a pretext to launch a military strike. Iraqi Information Minister Latif Jasim, announcing plans to free four sick and elderly Americans, denied that the captives are being treated badly.

“All the Americans at sites have complete freedom. They can watch TV, read books and read newspapers,” he told reporters in Baghdad. “They also enjoy the friendship of Iraqi forces.”

The official Iraqi News Agency identified the four to be freed as Randall Trinah, Dr. Abdul Kanji, Raymond Galles and Michael Barnes. It did not give their ages or hometowns, or say when they would be freed.

Bush, on a campaign swing in Burlington, Mass., made it clear that the plight of the hostages is much on his mind. He said the world community is “united in anger and outrage” at the treatment of the captives.

In his speech, Bush said he still hopes for a peaceful resolution but insisted that “there will be no compromise” in the demand that Iraq relinquish Kuwait.

The comments likening Hussein to Hitler were made at a subsequent stop. Presidential spokesman Marlin Fitzwater said that by using such strong rhetoric, the President is trying “to prepare the American people for any eventuality.”

“If we do have to take dramatic action, we want them to know why,” Fitzwater said without elaborating.

Despite Iraqi assurances about the captives’ welfare, letters smuggled from two American hostages and released by a U.S. official in Baghdad today painted a picture of fear and desperation.

In one, the author urged Americans not to forget their captive countrymen.

“I have been in the Iraqi gulag system for almost two months. We are virtually prisoners in Iraq,” the letter writer said.

The other wrote that he had been moved five times and was receiving no mail or messages. He said he had lost 35 pounds.

“Please do not forget the guest hostages,” the first letter writer pleaded. Iraq calls the detained foreigners guests.

Meanwhile, aboard the amphibious assault ship Iwo Jima, more than 1,000 American servicemen stood at attention on deck in a memorial ceremony honoring the 10 victims of Tuesday’s accident.

Servicemen sang the Navy hymn, a 21-gun salute was fired, and buglers played taps.