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]
Dear Daithi, About Churchill, whether or not he used gas against Kurds & others. This not a new topic, but, as you rightly point out, historic evidence & reliable sources are called for. It would seem the facts go against 'Man of the Century'(or similar), Winston Churchill. And, some would say, "notorious" bomber of Dresden, Sir Arthur "Bomber" Harris and others. From Geoff Simon's 'Iraq: From Sumer to Saddam', St. Martin's Press, 1994, referred to in 'British Use of Chemical Weapons in Iraq', on this site: http://iraqwar.org/chemical.htm "Churchill himself was keen to argue that gas, fired from ground-based guns or dropped from aircraft, would cause 'only discomfort or illness, but not death to dissident tribespeople'...Wing-Commander Sir Arthur Harris...was happy to emphasise that "The Arab & Kurd now know what real bombing means in casualties & damage. Within 45 mins. a full-size village can be practically wiped out & a third of its inhabitants killed or injured"...The ministry drew up a list of possible weapons, some of them the forerunners of napalm & air-to-air ground missiles: Phosphorus bombs, war rockets, metal crowsfeet (to maim livestock), man-killing shrapnel, liquid fire, delay-action bombs. Many of these weapons were first used in Kurdistan." Hopefully, this (from the colonial rule of Britain in Iraq) would have answered some of your questions. Greetings, Bert Gedin (Birmingham, U.K.). >From: "Daithi O hArgain" <daithiohargain@excite.com> >Reply-To: daithiohargain@excite.com >To: casi-discuss@lists.casi.org.uk >Subject: [casi] Churchill, gas and the Kurds >Date: Thu, 2 Jan 2003 07:16:23 -0500 (EST) > > >[ Presenting plain-text part of multi-format email ] > > It's often said that Churchill contemplated (and supported) using gas >against 'uncivilised peoples' such as Kurdish and Afghan tribesmen during >the 1920's. Is there any hard historical evidence or reliable source for >this? Did the RAF actually use chemical weapons after WW1? Apologies if >this has already been discussed. I couldn't find anything in the archives. >Well done all for an excellent discussion site and hoping for a peaceful >resolution. Daithi O hArgain > >_______________________________________________ >Join Excite! - http://www.excite.com >The most personalized portal on the Web! > >_______________________________________________ >Sent via the discussion list of the Campaign Against Sanctions on Iraq. >To unsubscribe, visit >http://lists.casi.org.uk/mailman/listinfo/casi-discuss >To contact the list manager, email casi-discuss-admin@lists.casi.org.uk >All postings are archived on CASI's website: http://www.casi.org.uk _________________________________________________________________ MSN 8 with e-mail virus protection service: 2 months FREE* http://join.msn.com/?page=features/virus _______________________________________________ Sent via the discussion list of the Campaign Against Sanctions on Iraq. To unsubscribe, visit http://lists.casi.org.uk/mailman/listinfo/casi-discuss To contact the list manager, email casi-discuss-admin@lists.casi.org.uk All postings are archived on CASI's website: http://www.casi.org.uk