Mass grave tells of Saddam’s last purge

The Times ^ | April 24, 2003 | Catherine Philp

[MadIvan]

AMERICAN military officials were investigating last night the discovery of a mass grave believed to contain the bodies of the victims of a political purge carried out in the last hours of Saddam Hussein’s regime.

American soldiers sealed off the grounds of the Abu Ghraib prison outside Baghdad after coming across a large patch of recently dug earth with the limbs and hands of bodies jutting out of it. “We believe what we have here is a war crimes site,” Major Crawford, the National Guard commander guarding the site, said.

As news of the discovery spread, families of the recently disappeared crowded round the prison gates, wailing to be allowed in to discover whether their loved ones were among those buried in the grave.

Behind the coils of barbed wire, soldiers struggled to hold back the emotional crowds. “You are worse than Saddam, let us take our relatives home,” one man sobbed, wiping his tears on his filthy shirt.

Relatives who managed to get access to the prison ground before it was sealed off said that they had discovered the bodies of two missing people, their hands bound behind their backs. They had been killed with a shot to the head.

The men were among several dozen arrested in raids on Sufi mosques in Baghdad since the beginning of the war after the regime apparently uncovered plans for an uprising by members of the persecuted minority. Relatives fear that the grave could contain the bodies of dozens of Sufi followers still missing.

Sufi leaders in Baghdad confirmed that they had been plotting with groups in the Kurdish-controlled north to try to overthrow the regime and that the discovery of their activities had prompted a nationwide sweep of Sufi mosques.

Several of those arrested were found in possession of satellite phones used to contact their allies in the north. At least 40 men had been taken to Abu Ghraib from the Kasnazan mosque in Baghdad, half of whom have yet to be accounted for.

As night fell, the victims of Saddam’s final purge still lay in their graves as anxious relatives waited by the gate for a decision on who would seek justice for them and when they would be able to rebury their dead. A young man seeking his brother brushed away tears. “Please, they are gone now; just give them back to us, that is all we ask.”

[MadIvan]

Perhaps the leftists ought to tell us again why this regime should have been allowed to live?

Regards, Ivan

[MadIvan]

Bump!

[Jean S]

You might be interested in this related article:

On the Trail of the Missing: A Green Book Holds Secrets of Some of Saddam's Disappeared

[prairiebreeze]

We are correct to preserve the site until forensics and crime scene analysis can gather evidence about it. Then, the remains should be returned to the understandably grieving families.

Prairie

[Humidston]

“You are worse than Saddam, let us take our relatives home,” one man sobbed, wiping his tears on his filthy shirt.

I'm reeeeally getting tired of hearing them criticize the Coalition.

[Ursus arctos horribilis]

Amen, to that.

[AFPhys]

You are right, of course. The poor families are understandably upset about this situation, though, and I hope someone is able to satisfactorily explain to them the importance that they wait for a little while.

[cars for sale]

man you got that right....IF, they do bitch endlessly AFTER
they were freed...it puzzles the mind

[NTegraT]

"I'm reeeeally getting tired of hearing them criticize the Coalition. "

You and me both. I'm losing faith in humanity, what with the French, German, Russians and Canadians, along with all the Islamist countries.

[Joe Boucher]

What kind of person would do the work to determine who what how when ? Don't know that I could be a forensic pathologist for something like this.
Hopefully whoever did it will be caught and punished.
Just about the first class you go through in the U.S. Army is one that explains what is a war crime and also an illegal order. You are told to never follow an illegal order for fear of prosecution. From not only U.S. courts but international courts.What constitutes a war crime should be reasoned by any rational human.

[Vets_Husband_and_Wife]

Very sad. We need to understand the grief of the families. There is no closure. Hopefully we can document this tragedy and allow the families the right to bury their dead with honor and based on their religous beliefs and SOON!!

I can't imagine having to know your loved one is buried in that manner, and you can't bury them properly.

Hopefully we are letting these grieving families know why they need to let us document this and treat it as a crime scene. Because the animals who did this must face justice when found. The proof will need to be documented,... but these poor people don't understand justice yet. The young ones have never known it. The older ones, have probably never known how a judicial system works either. At least not a fair one, one that treated human life with respect.

Very sad situation. I hope we have trained personnel on sight that can help them understand that we are not being cruel.. but making sure their family members did not die in vain.

All those who died helping the North to free the Iraqi people are hero's in my book. May God rest their eternal souls.

[Sunshine Sister]

Excellent point. Mr. Daschle, Lieberman, Kennedy. Ms Boxer, Feinstein, Clinton, Snow, Murray.......tell us why. Explain those shredding machines again........come on, tell us why this hideous (sp) regime should be allowed to remain in place.

[GailA]

btt

[WaterDragon]

That is simply their grief speaking. Enormous grief in that nation. So much grieving to be done, to now finally be allowed.

[TruthShallSetYouFree]

Perhaps the leftists ought to tell us again why this regime should have been allowed to live?

Some of the leftists use this tired old bromide:

"They have their way of doing things and we have ours. Who are we to say that our way is superior?"

(Answer--Our way doesn't involve raping, torturing, or murdering innocent people.)

It's the same mentality that promotes the idea that each culture is as "valid" as every other. To the left, this makes the scratchings of an Aborigine on a rock the equivalent of The Complete Works of Shakespeare. I'll probably be called an Anglophile, or worse, but I really have got to give the edge to Shakespeare in that contest.