mass graves in Iraq

[theist]

"Quagmire-Free News: 300,000 Iraqis Believed to Be Buried in Mass Graves"

 

Posted by Cinnamon Stillwell

Wednesday, November 12, 2003

 

 

Critics of the war in Iraq have paid little attention to the ongoing discovery of mass graves all over the country, preferring instead to debate endlessly the ''reasons for going to war.'' Accordingly, the mainstream media has done its best to ignore the mass graves filled with the bodies of men, women, and children. The topic is avoided because it hints at the possibility that this was, as President Bush has stated repeatedly, a just war after all.

 

The following Associated Press article--posted at the USAToday.com--describes how the U.S.-led administration is attempting to take stock of the horrors inflicted by Saddam Hussein’s regime.

 

Saddam Hussein's government is believed to have buried as many as 300,000 opponents in 263 mass graves that dot the Iraqi landscape, the top human rights official in the U.S.-led civilian administration said Saturday.

 

Sandy Hodgkinson said the administration has been sending forensic teams to investigate those grave sites reported to U.S. officials. So far, the existence of about 40 graves has been confirmed.

 

''We have found mass graves with women and children with bullet holes in their heads,'' she said.

 

President Bush has referred to Iraqi mass graves frequently in recent months, saying they provide evidence that the war to drive Saddam from power was justified.

 

The U.S.-led administration held a workshop Saturday to train dozens of Iraqis to find and protect the mass grave sites. Hodgkinson said the workers would be crucial in protecting the sites from desperate relatives trying to dig for evidence of their missing loved ones.

 

In the weeks after the U.S.-led war drove Saddam from power, relatives damaged some grave sites, using bulldozers that mangled bodies and scattering papers and clothing that could have been used to identify remains.

 

The largest mass grave discovered so far, a site near the southern town of Mahaweel believed to hold at least 3,115 bodies, was damaged by relatives searching for remains. But officials say most of the mass graves haven't been disturbed.

 

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.''

 

Iraqi Human Rights Minister Abdul-Basit Turki said that in addition to families' need to find the bodies of missing relatives, excavating mass graves is important in building criminal cases against members of the former regime.

 

International tribunals handle prosecutions for atrocities in the former Yugoslavia, where tens of thousands of missing are believed buried in mass graves, and Rwanda, in which many of the 500,000 victims of a 100-day killing spree in 1994 were buried in communal pits.

 

But for Iraq, the United States has insisted any trials be conducted by a new Iraqi legal system that is still being developed.

 

Neither Iraq nor the United States are signatories to the International Criminal Court and it would take a vote of the U.N. Security Council to create a special tribunal for Iraq, which is considered unlikely.

 

Hodgkinson said the majority of people buried in the mass graves are believed to be Kurds killed by Saddam in the 1980s after rebelling against the government and Shiites killed after an uprising following the 1991 Gulf War.

 

Hodgkinson said the investigation process would be similar to that used in Bosnia after its 1992-95 war. But she cautioned that if Bosnia is any indication, the process in Iraq will be long and complicated.

 

In Bosnia, she said, it has taken nine years to unearth 8,000 of the 30,000 bodies believed buried in mass graves.

 

In Iraq, some international teams that were hoping to begin their work before winter have delayed their arrival because of violence, including the bombing of the U.N. headquarters in Baghdad.

 

At a donor conference last month, more than $100 million was requested for uncovering mass graves. The donations, which are expected to come in the form of equipment and personnel, would be used over five years, Hodgkinson said.

 

 

[Kulapavana]

"Hodgkinson said the majority of people buried in the mass graves are believed to be Kurds killed by Saddam in the 1980s after rebelling against the government and Shiites killed after an uprising following the 1991 Gulf War"

 

In 1980's US govt. strongly supported Saddam (Iraq was used as a counterbalance to Iran), supplying him with weapons and turning blind eye to his crimes. And the Shia uprising after Gulf War was directly incited by US, who conveniently backed out of the deal when the uprising started.

 

when asuras fight among themselves it's best to stay clear and chant Hare Krishna...

[theist]

Did I say the US or anyone else was blameless?

 

May I ask why you are commenting if you think it best to stay back and chant?

[Kulapavana]

"May I ask why you are commenting if you think it best to stay back and chant?"

 

It is important for devotees to see things in perspective, and I was trying to provide it. The objective of this article is to provide another bogus justification for war US started in Iraq. By showing dirty machinations of US leaders over several administrations in this area, a devotee may indeed be inspired to stay back and chant instead of supporting another set of war mongering asuras pretending to be "good guys". Is that reason enough for you to justify myself?

[Kulapavana]

"Did I say the US or anyone else was blameless?"

 

No, you did not say that directly (as you did not post any of your own words), but that's what this propaganda article suggests. Whenever there is a problem, a blame game begins.

 

I wanted to make a point that part of the blame for these mass killings rests on the shoulders of US government. Anybody who believes US decided to remove Saddam from power for humanitarian reasons (or WMD threat for that matter) should study the facts of the case more closely.

 

[theist]

If you really think it best to stay back and chant I wonder why you are also expressing your political opinion.

 

That was my point.

 

As for myself I have finally, hopefully learned that these types of arguements go nowhere. So I will occasionally post some article or short comment but decline to debate the subject.

 

Hare Krsna

[theist]

"Critics of the war in Iraq have paid little attention to the ongoing discovery of mass graves all over the country, preferring instead to debate endlessly the ''reasons for going to war.'' Accordingly, the mainstream media has done its best to ignore the mass graves filled with the bodies of men, women, and children. The topic is avoided because it hints at the possibility that this was, as President Bush has stated repeatedly, a just war after all. "

 

 

[Guest guest]

In defending Kulapavana…

 

I'd like to say he's not participating by offering a differing opinion. This "rational voice" is supposed to be built into democracy. He is complaining about injustice and death in the "name of freedom."

 

There are definately power struggles threatening the world all in the name of freedom and democracy.

 

But the game has been exposed as "big brother" tactics.

 

I thought everyone knew this by now.

 

These arguments go nowhere with people who are brainwashed, they work very well on me and I applaud the discerning eye!

[Kulapavana]

"If you really think it best to stay back and chant I wonder why you are also expressing your political opinion"

 

I said "stay back" not "ignore the issue". That means: "dont take sides" not "be ignorant". Ignorant people are easy to manipulate, and that's what asuras love: to manipulate people through ignorance and propaganda of lies and half truths. Arguments go nowhere only when people ignore facts.

[theist]

OK