Soldiers' Disappearance May Bring New Pressures

June 18, 2006 — -- The U.S. military says it is going all-out to learn the fate of two American soldiers missing since a deadly ambush south of Baghdad Friday in an area known as "the triangle of death" -- amid new reasons to believe the men might be in enemy hands.

If they have been taken hostage on the battlefield, that could present policymakers with agonizing decisions.

"Everything we now say or do can affect the lives of these two individuals," said David Gergen of Harvard University's Kennedy School of Government. "They've become very precious lives."

And it could put troops under an emotional strain.

"If they had been killed it would have been just another incident," said retired Army Maj. Gen. William Nash, an ABC News military consultant. "The capture is different. It does cause a reaction of sorts within the minds of all soldiers and commanders."

Witnesses told the Associated Press that heavily armed gunmen swarmed three Humvees at a checkpoint. Two of the vehicles chased them and that's when the third, lone, Humvee came under attack by another wave of insurgents.

Witnesses said the driver was killed and the other two soldiers were taken captive.

The military is confirming none of the locals' account.

But if the Iraqis' account of abduction is true, Nash said, it fits "a classic guerilla tactic from the days of the Indian wars in the American West to Vietnam -- where there is a diversion, the force splits and then the smaller element of the remaining force is then attacked."

The military will only say the soldiers are listed as "whereabouts unknown" and that they could be hiding, missing, captured or dead.

"We want to keep everything as closely held as possible," Nash said, "in order for the insurgents not to have, or other insurgents not to have the advantage of information about these people."

The general in charge of finding two missing soldiers in Iraq said, "We will never leave a fallen comrade." And coalition leaders in Baghdad put out a statement saying forces are searching relentlessly -- in "coordinated and continuous day and night operations." They said they're blanketing the area, going door-to-door despite "harassing attacks" from insurgents.

President Bush spent the weekend in Crawford, Texas, where the White House said he was kept up-to-date on the search in Iraq. For the administration, the fact that two soldiers are unaccounted for is difficult enough. But the prospect of having them resurface as hostages is especially grave.

The president's press secretary said American resolve will not be shaken by the apparent hostage-taking, and that the United States will not be fearful or defensive.

The concern is that insurgents will use the soldiers as tools of propaganda, much as they did when a U.S. chopper was shot down near Yusufiya in April. The aftermath was videotaped and released on insurgent Web sites.

Hostage-taking in Iraq has become a familiar ritual: In the past, there has been videos of hostages, some of the clearly frightened, and pleas from anguished and frustrated families.

Army Sgt. Matt Maupin was taken in Iraq April 9, 2004.

"What they're doing ain't working," said his father, Keith Maupin, " 'cause it's been two years and they haven't found hide nor hair. I would like to know exactly what they're doing to find Matt."

The frustration can go well beyond the families.

"On one hand, it saddens people, but it also makes them angry," Gergen said. "And a lot of people are going to want to prosecute the war even harder if anything happens to these young soldiers."

The challenge for leaders in Washington and Iraq is to keep their emotions in check.

"It's damn hard," Nash said. "The fact of the matter is the pressure's on a commander, the pressure's on the civilian leadership. Very, very difficult."

ABC News' John Yang in Washington and Miguel Marquez in Baghdad reported this story for "World News Tonight."