Page "Highway of Death" Paragraph 11

The offensive action for which Highway 80 is infamous became a controversial point, with some commentators alleging that the use of force was disproportionate, as the Iraqi forces were retreating from Kuwait ( and thus leaving the country in compliance with the UN Resolution 660 of August 2, 1990 ), and the column included Kuwaiti captives ( apparently to be used as hostages ) as well as some civilian refugees including women and children ( mostly family members of pro-Iraqi Palestine Liberation Organization militants and Kuwaiti collaborators who had fled shortly before a wholesale Palestinian expulsion from Kuwait in early March ).

Liberal activist and former United States Attorney General Ramsey Clark alleged that these attacks violated the Third Geneva Convention, common article 3, which outlaws the killing of soldiers who " are out of combat.

" It was also alleged that the American combat vehicles opened fire on a large group of more than 350 disarmed Iraqi soldiers who had surrendered at a U. S. military checkpoint after fleeing the devastation on Highway 8 on February 27 ; these allegations were publicised by Seymour Hersh.