The following is an archived copy of a message sent to a Discussion List run by the Campaign Against Sanctions on Iraq.
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I would like to join others in expressing gratitude to Glen for his posting on Halabja. It is undeniable that the massacre of thousands of civilians in that Kurdish town was not just a heinous crime but also an event of major significance, not just for what happened there, but for what it represented. In this sense, Halabja is an epitome, like My Lai or Deir Yassin. In this case, however, the crime was not committed directly by the imperialists themselves, but by their local ally and proxy. Halabja is important not just for what it confirms about the character of the Saddam regime, but also for what it reveals about his western sponsors. The US and UK acted to cover up the Halabja atrocity, to protect Saddam from UN censure, and - as the Scott enquiry revealed - the UK government sent David Mellor to Baghdad to negotiate a major arms contract while the bodies were still lying in the street. Ghazwan asks ask "WHO IS WORST SH or the WEST?" We could rephrase this question: "Who is worst, the sadistic henchman or the mafia boss?" This exactly describes the essence of the relationship which existed (until they fell out with each other) between SH and the imperialists in London and Washington. We should not equivocate in stating that the governments of the imperialist nations are qualitatively more evil than their hireling. We need to know the truth about Halabja because the apologists for imperialist war on Iraq constantly cite this atrocity as a justification for their war crimes. I cannot think of ANYTHING more cynical and more nauseating! They also bear culpability for this crime!! Evasion of the truth is harmful to our cause; pretending that we are not sure who committed this act is sure to damage our credibility and to let the US and UK war cri minals off the hook. Greetings to all, 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 CASI's website - www.casi.org.uk - includes an archive of all postings.