The following is an archived copy of a message sent to a Discussion List run by the Campaign Against Sanctions on Iraq.

Views expressed in this archived message are those of the author, not of the Campaign Against Sanctions on Iraq.

[Main archive index/search] [List information] [Campaign Against Sanctions on Iraq Homepage]


[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next][Date Index][Thread Index]

Re: question re halabja and the UN Security Council



Hi Peter,
In April 1990 I was in London. I read, then,  in the International Herald
Tribune
(International addition) about Halabja. The Article was quoting CIA sources
to the effect that it was the Iranians who gassed the people of Halabja
thinking that the Iraqi army was occupying the city. After that when they
found out it was the civilians they called the press and Accused the Iraqis.
I had a photocopy of the article but, stupid me, I lost it, can any one look
into this. Some one told me that "Janis defense ?" had similar info.
Regards
Ghazwan Al-Mukhtar
Baghdad, Iraq.

----- Original Message -----
From: "peter" <peter@uk2.net>
To: <johncsmith@btinternet.com>
Cc: "richard byrne" <richardbyrne98@yahoo.com>;
<soc-casi-discuss@lists.cam.ac.uk>
Sent: Monday, February 26, 2001 5:30 AM
Subject: Re: question re halabja and the UN Security Council


> 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



--
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
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


[Campaign Against Sanctions on Iraq Homepage]