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Greetings Saddam never denied his ruthlessness and always admitted and justified mass killing with the exception of Halabja, which he denied utterly. This is why I tend to believe him on this matter. Does anyone has solid prove that the Iraqi regime was responsible for Halabja? I am very interested to know Peter In message <3A997929.4010202@btinternet.com>, John Smith <johncsmith@btinternet.com> writes > Re: Halabja > > Richard Byrne's question concerning the UN Security Council's lack > of response to the poison gassing of Halabja is an important one, > considering how prominently Halabja has figured in the > imperialists' war propaganda since 1990. The utter cynicism, > nauseating hypocrisy, and infinite evil of the governments of > London and Washington is highlighted by their defence and > protection of Saddam when he committed this atrocity. > The despicable nature of our so-called "free press" is also brought > into sharp relief. If journalists and interviewers had given due > attention to their predecessors' complicity in this attack, Cook, > Blair et al. would not have been able to so freely use Halabja to > manipulate public opinion. > > I haven't got any references to UN Security Council shenanigans > concerning Halabja. The story in my mind was that the US prevented > discussion on the Security Council, not that they vetoed a > resolution condemning Iraq. > > Andrew & Patrick Cockburn, in "Out of the Ashes - the Resurrection > of Saddam Hussein", have some interesting things to say: > > "Prior to the invasion of Kuwait... Saddam's murderous regime > evoked few complaints in the outside world. Even when he took to > gassing his Kurdish subjects, governments in Washington, London, > and other western capitals stayed mute, grateful that he was > fighting the Islamic Republic of Iran. A strictly enforced rule... > forbade any U.S. government official from meeting with any of the > exiled Iraqi opposition groups." (p12) > > "...the March 1988 gassing of five thousand Kurds in the city of > Halabja in a single afternoon was greeted by a thunderous silence > from Western governments..." (p49) > > "... when Iraqi warplanes showered sarin, tabun and mustard gas on > the inhabitants of Halabja in March 1988, the world's governments > stayed mute. No one, including the government of Sweden, wished to > discommode Saddam Hussein, the hammer of the ayatollahs. [Rolf] > Ekeus [attending a UN Conference on Disarmemament in Geneva] found > this outrageous and informed his foreign minister that, whatever > the policy, he was going to make a speech to the conference > denuncing this barbarism - which he duly did. He was the only > official representative of any government in the world, apart from > the Iranians, to do so." (p97) > > Saïd K Aburish, in "A Brutal Friendship - The West and the Arab > Elite", says > "During the Iran-Iraq war the Iraqi use of chemical weapons against > the town of Halabja and the ensuing death of five thousand Kurds > found the United States, then in the busines of befriending Saddam, > determined to put the blame on the unfriendly Iranians [an endnote, > inserted at this point, cites as source: "Interview with filmmaker > Gwyn Roberts, who produced conclusive evidence that the chemical > attack was an Iraqi one"] " > > It would be most interesting to go to the March 1988 newspapers, to > see what and how Halabja was reported at the time. I'll do this > when time permits, unless someone manages to get there first... > > > Greetings from Sheffield > > John S -- -- ----------------------------------------------------------------------- This is a discussion list run by the Campaign Against Sanctions on Iraq For removal from list, email soc-casi-discuss-request@lists.cam.ac.uk Full details of CASI's various lists can be found on the CASI website: http://www.casi.org.uk