IRAQ: 300,000 in Saddam's Mass Graves
Charles Farley
Full article follows:
Associated Press
November 8, 2003
300,000 Iraqis May Be in Mass Graves
By Bassem Mroue
BAGHDAD, Iraq -- As many as 300,000 Iraqis killed during Saddam
Hussein's 23-year dictatorship are believed to be buried in more than
250 mass graves found so far around the country, the top human rights
official in the U.S.-led civilian administration said Saturday.
Sandy Hodgkinson spoke at workshop to train dozens of Iraqis to find
and protect mass grave sites that many fear could be destroyed by
desperate relatives trying to dig for evidence of their missing loved
ones.
Mass graves have been found throughout the country since the U.S.-led
coalition deposed the dictator in April.
Mass graves "tell the story of missing loved ones such as where, when
and how they were killed," Hodgkinson said. "Truth and proper burial
is the first step toward reconciliation."
The process of recovering and identifying the bodies, however, could
take years.
Hodgkinson said the majority of people buried in mass graves were
Kurds murdered by Saddam in the 1980s after rebelling against the
government, and Shiites killed after their 1991 uprising.
Iraqi Human Rights Minister Abdul-Basit Turki said that uncovering
mass graves is important "first to identify the missing in addition to
using them as criminal evidence against the former regime."
Hodgkinson said that more than $100 million was requested during a
donor conference held last month for uncovering mass graves. That
money would be used over five years and the donations were expected in
equipment and trained personnel and not cash.
Hania Mufti, London director of Human Rights Watch, said there was
optimism that international forensic teams would come to begin
investigations before winter but their arrival was delayed because of
violence.
"A Danish team was supposed to come at the end of August but because
of deteriorating security, including the Aug. 19 bombing of (U.N.
headquarters at) Qanal Hotel delayed indefinitely," she said. "A
Finnish team was also supposed to come but didn't."
Near the southern town of Mahaweel, one of the biggest mass graves was
found in May including the remains of 3,115 bodies, most of them shot
in the head.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,1280,-3364322,00.html
abracadabra
"Charles Farley" <cha...@farley.net> wrote in message
news:j5gqqvodji168nkcl...@4ax.com...
>
> Full article follows:
>
>
> Associated Press
> November 8, 2003
>
> 300,000 Iraqis May Be in Mass Graves
>
> By Bassem Mroue
>
> BAGHDAD, Iraq -- As many as 300,000 Iraqis killed during Saddam
> Hussein's 23-year dictatorship are believed to be buried in more than
> 250 mass graves found so far around the country, the top human rights
> official in the U.S.-led civilian administration said Saturday.
What do you mean bby "300,000 Iraqis killed during Saddam Hussein's 23-year
dictatorship"?
I mean, how many of those were killed in the Iraq-Iran war? You seem to
imply that Saddam murdered all those people, while you don't explain how
many you think Saddam had murdered vs how many died because of the idiotic
US embargo, or the US supported Iraq-Iran war.
SteveL
<cha...@farley.net> wrote:
>
300,000?
A couple of months ago the Right were screaming 1,000,000!!!
That figure's dropping faster than the estimates from 9/11 did.
I can account for 200,000 of that right now. The mass slaughter of
Saddam's Army in 1991 by the US. They were buried in mass graves. Or
don't they count?
Oh and how about the 1,000,000 (including 1/2 million children) or so
people alleged by Unicef to have died because of US imposed sanctions?
When it comes to killing Iraqis Saddam still can't hold a candle to
Washington.
Raymond
***************
Thank you Steve L. for the above information. These "chazer"
conservatives want us to believe that these graves are the graves of
people that Saddam is responsible for killing. Yet, the United States
alone may be (IS) responsible for the deaths of 1.5 million Iraqis and
we are not to suspect that these are among the people now being
unearthed??? Are the Iraqi people the US killed buried in Iraq, or did
we vaporize their bodies like we did to the unsuspecting people
(civilians) in Hiroshima? (Truman called it a military target).
"There are similarities between Hitler invading Poland and Bush
invading Iraq.
Hitler only invaded Poland ONCE, and killed less Poles than did DAD
BUSH killed Iraquis ( DAD KILLED 200,000, in the war. 1.5 million with
sanctions. (UNICEF).
See. BUSH KILLS MORE MILLIONS
http://www.grenadier2.dreamwater.com/wwwboard/2431.html
"When the rich make war it's the poor that die."
--- Jean Paul Sarte
IF THIS CRAZY BUNCH OF NEOCONS are not soon removed from control,
we will not have anything left of a democracy that deserves respect
from anyone in the world, including most pragmatic, decent, well
informed Americans.
"Democracy used to be a good thing, but now it has gotton into the
hands of the wrong people."
--- Jesse Helms
IMPEACH BUSH
Bluer...@aol.com
***************