October 13, 2004

Iraq's Killing Fields: Mostly Women and Children

Washington Times:

Investigators have unearthed a mass grave in northern Iraq containing hundreds of bodies of women and children believed killed in the 1980s.

"It is my personal opinion that this is a killing field," Greg Kehoe, a U.S. investigator working with the Iraqi Special Tribunal, told reporters in Hatra, south of the city of Mosul.

Nine trenches have been located containing hundreds of bodies believed to be Kurds executed and then bulldozed into trenches during Saddam Hussein's repression of 1987-88.

"Someone used this field on significant occasions over time to take bodies up there, and to take people up there and execute them," Kehoe said.

The body of one woman was found still clutching a baby. The infant had been shot in the back of the head and the woman in the face, the BBC reported.

Iraq's human rights ministry has reportedly identified 40 possible mass graves across the country.

Note to uninformed readers who think the US was a major backer of Iraq in the 1980s:

Imported weapons to Iraq (IRQ) in 1973-2002

Country $MM USD 1990 % Total
USSR 25145 57.26
France 5595 12.74
China 5192 11.82
Czechoslovakia 2880 6.56
Poland 1681 3.83
Brazil 724 1.65
Egypt 568 1.29
Romania 524 1.19
Denmark 226 0.51
Libya 200 0.46
USA 200 0.46

(Source: Parapundit--I have verified these numbers)

By Rusty Shackleford, Ph.D. at 08:24 AM | |