All of the networks said they would not show video of what was said to be an Iraqi morgue containing American bodies, saying the material was neither newsworthy nor appropriate for airing.
A snippet of the POW footage was shown on CBS, shortly after it was received from Al-Jazeera, while Rumsfeld was being interviewed on "Face the Nation." The network held off from showing it again after the Pentagon asked for time to contact the families of the soldiers involved.
In the Iraqi television footage, at least five prisoners, including one woman, were interviewed separately. Two were bandaged. They all looked terrified, with one captive who said he was from Kansas answering his questions in a shaky voice, his eyes darting back and forth between his interviewer and another person.
ABC News President David Westin said the network was giving the Pentagon "a reasonable period of time" to contact the families of the POWs before airing the tape.
"I always appreciate hearing Secretary Rumsfeld's viewpoint or that of any government official that we take into account," Westin said. "But we'd make our own judgment as to whether it was newsworthy."
At the same time, some of the U.S.-based networks have aired video of captured or surrendering Iraqi soldiers.
"The difference here is that these are Americans," NBC News spokeswoman Allison Gollust said.
