Mass graves revive memories of U.S. 'betrayal'

Toronto Star (Online) ^ | May. 19, 2003 | Olivia Ward

[Tunehead54]

Wasn't Canada a coalition force member in the first Gulf War? One thing I do know - if you're ruled by a brutal dictator and you plan an uprising you're going to need more than people waving signs and shouting slogans if you hope to succeed. BTW this reads more like a bitter editorial than a news story.

[Only1choice____Freedom]

>>"Soon enough, the answer will be evident."

How about last month? Is that soon enough?
How is it that these gravesites have not been dug up in the last 10 years? Did they not know where they were? Is it possible that the only reason the graves are being dug is because the actual party responsable for the killing is gone? There are just so many questions begging to be asked here. The least of them this reporter barely mentions as the premise for the entire article. I too am sorry the final blow aginst Saddam did not happpen in'91. Weren't these the same bunch asking us not to go into Iraq and let them handle things themselves?

[Cicero]

The U.S. decided to follow the U.N. mandate, which declared that once Saddam had been forced out of Kuwait, the objective had been achieved. Probably the U.S. was among the few countries that might have wanted to go further, but they decided to go along with the consensus.

Therefore Canada is as guilty as anyone.

This is like blaming the Killing Fields on Nixon, when it was JFK and LBJ who started the war and the peaceniks who insisted on turning Cambodia over to Pol Pot.

[dighton]

Another nasty one from the Great White North.

[Only1choice____Freedom]

Why is it that when the UN makes a mistake that costs thousands of lives the U.S. gets the blame?

And when the U.S. succeeds, it is called a big UN win?

I don't see any mention at all about the UN's role in this.

[Steven W.]

exactly my sentiments

[colorado tanker]

Canadians remind me of the Ethel Merman character in It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World, always wagging a finger in your face screeching, "It's all your fault!"

[Michael.SF.]

Saddam sent his general, Sultan Hashim Ahmad, with an important question for American commander Norman Schwarzkopf: could Iraqi helicopters still fly, even armed ones?

On the record, Schwarzkopf replied in the affirmative,

For the Shiia, and thousands of hapless Kurds, the rest is history - one of the blackest chapters of their already tortured past. Many are convinced that Schwartzkopf went much further than naive acquiescence, and America actively encouraged the massacre perpetrated by the dictator Washington cultivated for so long.

What a load of Barbra Striesand.

This is Leftist Canadian Anti-American drivel like that of which one would normally find on DU.

[Tallguy]

Wasn't Canada a coalition force member in the first Gulf War?

While I can understand the sentiment coming from the mouth of a Shia-Iraqi (how's that for a hyphenation?), this report is offensive coming from a UN coalition member from Gulf War I. Canada doesn't get to criticize the US on this count -- they are as "responsible" as we are.

[VeniVidiVici]

I was wondering when this was going to come up.

Frankly, if it wasn't for the PC crowd, the whiners in Europe, the Dims in congress and the nutcase governments in the ME, 'Bush I' would've pursued the crushed remnants of the Republican Guard to Baghdad and beyond.

Plus, we should've told the world community to go screw itself and attacked the forces attacking the Shiites. The only reason we didn't is because we worried what the reaction would be.

It's sick, it's sad and it was the driving force behind my conversion to just say the hell with what people think. Do what's right, and do it now!

[SwinneySwitch]

Olivia is very disturbed.

[geedee]

I don't know about y'all . . . and I know we've got some staunch, conservative FReepers above the "leave your courage at home" boundary separating us and Canada . . . but I'm getting purty damn sick of this moral-superiority BS coming out of the libber Canucks. Damn liberals are whining the world over and I'm abso-frickin'-lutely sick of it!

Countries who TAKE ACTIONS trying to make positive differences in this world are, naturally, gonna make more errors than those pacifist, thumb-sucking, elitist-in-their-own-mind countries who hold hands while sitting around campfires and sing Kumbaya and Puff the Magic Dragon while hoping to hell the boogie men of the world don't knock on their doors because they have neither the will nor the firepower to protect themselves.

Will the U.S. make more mistakes than any other country? Absolutely! We're always stepping up to the challenges while those bastions of liberal thought and "the Americans ate our homework" excuses . . . France and Canada for the most part . . . are sitting on the sidelines and sharpening their pencils so they can attack us in the only way they know how -- with words.

Perhaps the Canadian Jackass who wrote this article should interview the women of Afghanistan to get their points of view. Or I'll bet there's some Kuwaitis who would like to be heard on this topic. Or even some geriatrics from France or Germany.

Yup, we screw up all the time. And I pray to God we screw up even more this year than last year. And more the year after that. And more the year after that. And . . . and . . . and finally, once we screw up enough, our children might actually live in a safe world!

But this writer, along with millions and millions of liberals all over the world, will never acknowledge the U.S. efforts. . . and for damn sure, they'll never say . . ."Thank you." They'll find a new topic to whine about . . . Global Warming! The temperature's gone up 1-10th of a degree in nine thousand years! Doom and gloom. It's the U.S.'s fault!

My nephew's in Northern Iraq. This . . . idiots like this jackass in Canada . . . is the ONLY thing that bothers our warriors. They know no matter how well they do their jobs, no matter how professionally they act, no matter what the outcome . . . some liberal jackass will take potshots at them eventually.

My nephew's lost many friends in Afghanistan and Iraq. A "Thank you" is not too much to ask.

[neither-nor]

You know there's this running joke here in India on people who make lifelong careers (Social activists, communists, politicians etc) protesting against 'US imperialism'. It is a variation on the slogan they shout and is meant to mock their 'hidden/covert' attitudes/desires. It goes like this:

Uncle Sam Go away!
(PS: Take me with you)

[Tunehead54]

The U.S. decided to follow the U.N. mandate, which declared that once Saddam had been forced out of Kuwait, the objective had been achieved.

---

I remember that - what I don't remember was hearing about the uprising:

Slogans were drowned out by shooting: in less than a week in March, 1991, Basra, Nasiriya, Najaf, Karbala, Amara, Kut and Hilla were in rebel hands.

Not to mention the subsequent slaughter. With 20/20 hindsight , of course, since Saddam had fought with Iran and invaded Kuwait, we had all our forces at the ready, taking out his regime was a no-brainer - if the world (UN) had had a pair.

I think GHW Bush 41 raised the issue but no doubt the french said "Vee vill ootilize ze veto!". ;-) Oops - almost forgot to mention that Colin Powell was the Sec. Def. at the time. That, in itself, answers a lot of questions. He didn't even want to kick Iraq out of Kuwait.

[geedee]

Uncle Sam Go away!
(PS: Take me with you)

Hilarious! And thanks for providing it. I'll email it to my nephew tonight. God knows they could do with a little chuckle.

And welcome to FR. I noticed you haven't been around long and we can always use another good conservative . . . humorous ones are especially welcome. LOL. I think you're the first FReeper from India I've ever chatted with.

Again, welcome aboard!

[kevao]

Mass graves revive memories of U.S. 'betrayal'

What amazing spin.

[Tunehead54]

Saddam sent his general, Sultan Hashim Ahmad, with an important question for American commander Norman Schwarzkopf: could Iraqi helicopters still fly, even armed ones?

On the record, Schwarzkopf replied in the affirmative,

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I'd like to see a source for that!

[Tunehead54]

Mass graves revive memories of U.S. 'betrayal'

What amazing spin.

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Didn't X42 meet with Cretin in the Caribbean recently? Obviously Canada is learning from the master of spin.

[neither-nor]

Thanks for the welcome. As I keep introducing myself( I really must do something about my ID page), lurker since just after 9/11, signed up recently, FR addict like the other poor saps here. Cheers!

[Tunehead54]

Olivia is very disturbed.

---

I cannot disagree. She was no doubt in the "Can't we move on?" crowd when X42 was in office - now its "Find anything negative!" - no matter how far removed - and magnify it.

Bump.