Arabic news channel Al-Jazeera showed footage Sunday of what it said were five U.S. prisoners, including one woman.
The station showed footage of the alleged soldiers being questioned by their captors and being asked things such as where they were from and their names. The tape that was broadcast was reportedly provided by Iraqi television and was edited.
President Bush, returning to the White House from Camp David on Sunday, said he did not have all the details, but expected that Iraq treat any prisoners "humanely, just like we'll treat any Iraqi prisoners."
Bush said anyone who mistreats Americans will be treated as war criminals.
Iraq's Defense Minister said Sunday that it wouldn't harm U.S. POWs.
"Iraq will not harm the captured prisoners of war," Sultan Hashim Ahmed told a news conference. "It will treat them in accordance with the Geneva Convention on prisoners of war."
Defense officials said they were analyzing the video. They said it appeared the people in the tape did in fact appear to be U.S. troops.
"This is the first we've seen of it -- it looks like Iraqi TV propaganda," said a U.S. Defense Department spokesperson. "What they're doing is wrong -- we're trying to get to the bottom of what we're seeing. We're investigating the tape now."
The footage violated the Geneva Convention, the International Committee of the Red Cross said.
"Article 13 of the Third Geneva Convention says clearly that prisoners of war must at all times be protected ... against insult and public curiosity," ICRC spokeswoman Nada Doumani told Reuters.
Three prisoners -- including the woman -- said they were from Texas, another was from New Jersey and another from Kansas. At least two of them identified themselves as being part of a maintenance unit.
"I come to shoot only if I am shot at … I wouldn't kill anybody … they don't bother me, I don't bother them," said the Kansas man. "I was told to come here," he said when asked why he came to Iraq.
One Texas man said: "I follow orders," when asked why he was there.
When asked how the Iraqi people have received him -- whether it be with "flowers or guns" -- the Texas man said "I don't understand … they're people of their own country."
The station said the prisoners were captured around Nasiriyah, a major crossing point over the Euphrates River northwest of Basra.
The British Ministry of Defense refused to comment about a BBC report that four were killed and 50 wounded during eight hours of fighting in Nasiriyah.
Al-Jazeera also showed at least one prisoner lying on a cot, appearing to be wounded. Two prisoners were bandaged. The woman said she was 30 years old. She had no shoes on.
One of the male prisoners, sitting up, was being interviewed by an unseen person holding a microphone labeled "Iraqi TV." The soldier spoke in English and at one point said: "I'm sorry. I don't understand you."
The station also showed a gruesome and disturbing video of bodies in uniform in an Iraqi morgue that it said were Americans.
"There's a real sickened feeling here" after seeing the tape, said Fox News' Mike Tobin at U.S. Central Command in Doha, Qatar.
While an Iraqi smiled at the camera over the bodies and shifted them to better display the wounds, the tape showed what is purported to be U.S. Marines in U.S. military attire lying on the floor with serious head and torso wounds -- many execution style.
At one point, Iraqis pulled out what appears to be a passport and other papers out of one deceased person's pocket. Soldiers' shirts were pulled up, and pants pulled down, to show the extent of the wounds.
Al-Jazeera also showed footage of what appeared to be a fuel or water carrier parked alongside a highway and a body in uniform with full gear and still wearing a helmet lying behind the carrier.
The U.S. Central Command had no comment.
U.S. military sources told Fox News that the maintenance and supply units are generally less protected than the combat units as they follow the combat troops a few miles behind.
What may have happened, U.S. Defense officials say, is that as coalition forces moved north --bypassing cities putting up resistance to reduce casualties -- Iraqis that supposedly laid down their arms Saturday may have attacked the supply forces.
"We fully expect Iraqi military forces to comply with the articles within the Geneva Convention relating to the treatment of prisoners of war," senior Defense officials told Fox News. "Any Iraqis who violate the convention will be considered war criminals and will be treated as such."
The official said the thousands of Iraqi prisoners of war are "all being treated humanely and in full accordance with the Geneva Convention. We fully expect the Iraqi military to do the same."
Adopted in Aug. 12, 1949 by the Diplomatic Conference for the Establishment of International Conventions for the Protection of Victims of War, in Geneva, the agreement says prisoners of war must at all times be humanely treated. Any unlawful act -- including death or injury -- committed by detainees "will be regarded as a serious breach of the present Convention," according to the agreement.
POWs should not be subjected to physical mutilation or to medical or scientific experiments and "at all times be protected, particularly against acts of violence or intimidation and against insults and public curiosity," it states.
"We will … get these men and women out of there -- there's no question in my mind," Fox News military analyst Maj. Gen Burton Moore said Sunday.
Referring to the tape showing the dead bodies, Moore said: "Make no mistake about it ... if in fact it is our people, the execution of these people is against the Geneva Convention."
"This is an outrage -- it's an outage to all Americans and it will continue to shore up our resolve" to win war," Moore continued. "This is Saddam Hussein through and through -- this is no surprise they would do this … this is still a terrible tragedy."
Former Air Force Secretary F. Whitten Peters told Fox News Sunday that if in fact the prisoners are part of a U.S. military unit, "this is going to be a real worry as the supply line gets longer" and supply troops will need better protection.
As Iraqi troops surrender to coalition forces, allied troops apprehend, search, then safeguard the Iraqis, as well as provide medical care if needed.
Fox News' Greg Kelly -- embedded with the U.S. Army 3rd Infantry unit -- asked Lt. Eric Wesley how he felt after hearing the news about the possibility that U.S. troops have been captured and killed.
"I think it's deplorable - it's not surprising coming from this regime," Wesley said. "However, I feel confident it won't be long … we will not falter, we will not fail. We will be successful."
Fox News' David Lee Miller, Major Garrett and Bret Baier and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
