Mass grave link to Chemical Ali

The Sunday Times ^ | February 6, 2005 | Adam Nathan

[MadIvan]

A GRAVE holding 30 bodies has been found in the garden of an opulent villa where sadistic parties are said to have been hosted by the Iraqi general known as Chemical Ali, writes Adam Nathan.

Police who found the grave say General Ali Hassan alMajid, a cousin of Saddam Hussein who got his nickname from the gas attacks he mounted on the Kurds of northern Iraq, used to entertain house guests with a “party game” that involved shooting prisoners tied to metal posts in the garden.

Major Jasin Hamed Taleb, 43, a police intelligence officer, said local farmers had witnessed several such killings and had shown him a site in the garden where they had seen bodies being buried.

“We had not noticed the site and it was not until you were on it that you could smell the bodies,” he said.

Photographs of the mass grave have been sent to prosecutors in Baghdad to be used as evidence in al-Majid’s trial, which is expected to begin in May. Iraqi sources in Baghdad said the former general would face charges in connection with the suppression of the Shi’ite uprising in southern Iraq in 1991 as well as the gassing of the Kurds in Halabja, in the north, in 1988.

It has emerged that tapes of al-Majid threatening in his distinctive high-pitched voice to cut up his victims “like cucumbers” are likely to be broadcast in court.

The tapes, which record al-Majid’s foul-mouthed tirades at Ba’ath party meetings, are part of a large body of evidence handed to prosecutors.

Al-Majid, number two in America’s pack of cards depicting the most-wanted members of Saddam’s regime, is heard vowing to swamp Kurdish villages with clouds of poison gas. He says so many will die that troops will have to “bury them with bulldozers”.

[SwatTeam]

I reread the article and I understand it to say the bodies were in the back yard of one of his houses and that they were shot during "parties." That would seem to be a different thing from his gassing the Kurds. But like you, I believe he might have used gas at other times too. The "parties" could have been as recent as the week before we got there.

[spinestein]

[he's still a piker compared to Stalin, Mao and Pol Pot - and the far left had no problem apologizing away those misdeeds.]

The Pacifism As A Policy crowd will ALWAYS wash its hands of genocide.

[denydenydeny]

Al-Majid, number two in America’s pack of cards depicting the most-wanted members of Saddam’s regime, is heard vowing to swamp Kurdish villages with clouds of poison gas. He says so many will die that troops will have to “bury them with bulldozers”.

Yeah, right. As we all know from the news media, there never were any WMDs in Iraq. It was all a Bush lie.

[McGavin999]

I fully expect that the first order of business for the new Iraqi parliment will be to order the trials to begin.

[SIRTRIS]

"Police who found the grave say General Ali Hassan alMajid, a cousin of Saddam Hussein who got his nickname from the gas attacks he mounted on the Kurds of northern Iraq, used to entertain house guests with a “party game” that involved shooting prisoners tied to metal posts in the garden." What chemical weapons? he had a shooting gallery in the backyard.

[Recovering Ex-hippie]

Let's all be peaceful and loving.....let's sing "Kum-bay-ya, Kum-by-ya.." as the chemical gas wafts over us.

I guess the left is still waiting for the fantasy of that Utopian communist state. The only true communists were the monasteries and nunneries....and they had a hard time with everyone getting along peacefully with just one small community at a time!

I say to the liberals....."Get thee to a nunnery!"

[gov_bean_ counter]

Stand corrected. Will go back to sleep now.

[Deetes]

Go on, DUmmies, tell us again why Iraq was so bloody wonderful before we invaded.

And don't forget Sadams great free DU healthcare plan. Yippy!!!

[ProudVet77]

In my goulish mind, I think his victims would enjoy him being there. Particularly buried alive. Make sure he see's their bones.

[gov_bean_ counter]

Probably shouldn't only read every other paragraph.

[Concentrate]

You got this from the New York Times,right? NOT!

[foreshadowed at waco]

I have noticed over the years that the typical older white liberal NYC female tends to ultimately believe (when pressed during an argument) that abortion is necessary to prevent too many poor people from having alot of children. They view abortion as almost a mercy killing--a way to get rid of imperfect offspring they don't want or to prevent eventual child neglect that they imagine poor children experience.

[GW and Twins Pawpaw]

I have no lefty friends nor do I desire any. They are unworthy of my friendship.

[JudyinCanada]

Al-Majid, number two in America’s pack of cards depicting the most-wanted members of Saddam’s regime, is heard vowing to swamp Kurdish villages with clouds of poison gas. He says so many will die that troops will have to “bury them with bulldozers”. Is it just me, or does this sound an awful lot like a WMD? Naaa...couldn't be.

[digger48]

Gee, and I thought it was an "oasis" until we ruined it.

[Dolphy]

They are unworthy of my friendship.

I consider it good for their hearts and souls and that's good enough for me :)

[GW and Twins Pawpaw]

To each his own. You have my sympathies!!:-)

[rdl6989]

wood chipper. By the way, I like your tagline.

[cookcounty]

Uday and Husay had racks in their "pleasure garden" for this, as well. My son (who was there) has pictures of them.

[GVnana]

I can't wait for this sick b*st*rd's trial.