Committee of the Missing (Saddam's victims may number eight million)

Newsweek via MSNBC.com ^ | 5/8/03 | Rod Nordland

[jalisco555]

Committee of the Missing

 

One local institution in Baghdad is up and running, documenting thousands of dead, and giving some small comfort to the living. It’s serious work, by serious men

May 8 —  The raised living room of the posh villa in Baghdad’s Kadhimiyah neighborhood has a splendid view of the Tigris, date palms on the opposite bank, narrow wooden boats plying against the lazy current. But the view is through a picture window that has been broken out, jagged shards of glass framing the scene.

IN THE SPACIOUS COURTYARD under the window, a procession of people file in, reading the lists posted on the insides of the garden walls. It’s a strangely quiet throng, although from time to time a woman wails or a man shouts in pain. The names on the lists: those known to have been executed by Saddam Hussein’s regime.

Under the window, a knot of people gathers to get the attention of the Committee for Missing Persons, convened now in that living room. One man holds up three black-and-white photos of young men. He doesn’t say anything. A woman named Saad Jaber Abadi clutches a picture of her brother, Atta, to her chest. “He was a brave son of Iraq, an athlete in international competitions, a runner. They just told us he’s been hanged, but we never got the body.”

[jalisco555]

I honestly don't care if we never find any WMD's.

[JennysCool]

Saddam WAS a WMD.

[AngrySpud]

Sadaam was Stalin-Light, but he had big, big ambitions to surpass his mentor.

[lelio]

The Committee of the Missing ...
NOT IN MY NAME!!! /idiotic anti-war rant

[backhoe]

Cross-link:

-When the Dungeon Doors Swing Open...--

[ImpotentRage]

I know it is a Left refrain aimed at negating the positive in Iraq, but how anyone can read articles like this and not say that finding WMD's is inconsequential is beyond me. Just the release of those young boys from the prison where they had been held for YEARS should have been enough to justify our actions in Iraq.

[jalisco555]

Keep in mind that this accounting of Saddam's victims doesn't even take into consideration the one million Iranians he killed, not to mention the thousands of Kuwaitis and others. To the Left this is merely a statistic, of no consequence.

[lelio]

Just the release of those young boys from the prison
I was shocked when I heard a report on NPR (!) about this. The orphan home had a name like "House of Mercy" and its primary purpose was to be a place where guards could torture kids. This was truely a sick regime.

[cgk]

Mothers of the Disappeared

Midnight, our sons and daughters
Were cut down and taken from us
Hear their heartbeat
We hear their heartbeat

In the wind we hear their laughter
In the rain we see their tears
Hear their heartbeat
We hear their heartbeat

Night hangs like a prisoner
Stretched over black and blue
Hear their heartbeat
We hear their heartbeat

In the trees our sons stand naked
Through the walls our daughters cry
See their tears in the rainfall

Dear Bono,

The atrocities commited in El Salvador that you sing about in your song "Mothers of the Disappeared" are no different than what happened in Iraq, except that Iraq's disappeared number into the millions. Are you going to write a song about them?

Sincerely,

A fan of your music, but not your mouth.

[Paradox]

They were hopeful that foreign human-rights groups would come and offer aid, but only one representative from Human Rights Watch has visited, Idrisi said, and nothing has materialized.

What the f*ck is WRONG with these people (Human Rights Watch). Are they so afraid of giving ANY credibility to the United States that they are going to ignore one of the great human tragedies in history?

The tragedy of this is that the world allows this horror to go on, because it is a "sovereign" country. I can see this going on in a different world, say, 60 years ago, but inn these modern times, when the facts are essentially known? The world treats these countries like they were normal! WHAT IS WRONG with people?! I am disgusted, disgusted and dismayed.

[tet68]

. “They gave us back two bodies, both without their eyes.”

[Ragtime Cowgirl]

"Human Rights Watch" e-mail contacts: http://www.hrw.org/contact.html

[Maigrey]

Godspeed for the men and women undertaking this grusome challenge.

I wonder if the Sarandons and Robbins and Garafolos will offer their help (or hard-earned $$$) for their cause?

[A_perfect_lady]

Dear Fan,

I am a Marxist, thus, any victims of Marxist regimes don't really count. Only victims whose deaths can be somehow attributed to Evil Capitalist Amerika count. Thanks for writing,

Bono

PS: Please funnel several more billion dollars in tax-payer money to my favorite African dictators. My secretary will enclose a list.

[Harmless Teddy Bear]

Are they so afraid of giving ANY credibility to the United States that they are going to ignore one of the great human tragedies in history?

Why not? It is not like it would be anything new.

Or did you actually think that "Human Rights Watch" had anything to do with human rights? Let me clue you in, they are Marxist and so are quite capable of ignoring atrocities if it suits their agenda. And Saddam suited their agenda quite well.

[jalisco555]

I wonder if the Sarandons and Robbins and Garafolos will offer their help (or hard-earned $$$) for their cause?

I'm sure you already know the answer to that question.

[telebob]

“…last week they finally got a CD-ROM drive so they could begin reading secret files on disks......they were hopeful that foreign human-rights groups would come and offer aid, but only one representative from Human Rights Watch has visited, Idrisi said, and nothing has materialized. “We’re disappointed,” said Saleh. “We thought human rights should be the concern of the whole world. Maybe all anyone is interested in is Iraq’s oil.”

The silence is deafening......

[VOA]

bump

[Dustbunny]

I had a feeling that Saddam was in the same class as Hitler, Stalin etc., etc., etc..

If they never find WMD I won't care, just the fact that we have overthrown one of Satans Sons is enough for me. GOD Bless President Bush, GOD Bless America and GOD Bless and heal the Iraqi people.

[11th Earl of Mar]

Why do you post excerpts from the article which don't back up your title claiming that Saddam killed eight million?