[TruthShallSetYouFree]

Is it possible that this was used in some gas chambers, in the manner of the Nazis? Hitler was Saddam's idol. I wonder if any of those bodies in the mass graves they've uncovered have cyanide in their systems.

[Attention Surplus Disorder]

It's certainly possible. We all know Saddam gassed the Kurds in northern Iraq and most people strongly suspect he had chemical weapons of various types. The Kurds appear to have been the victims of nerve/blister agents (mustard gas, VX, sarin and the like) vs. suffocation/respiratory disruption agents (cyanide)

Cyanide-type poisoning is, I would imagine, far more effective in an enclosed space. Out in the open, nerve agents are far more lethal. The mass-dead of Iraq are probably not from from any specific group or even era. They could have been chemical guinea pigs and/or deliberate killings. Among them are likely to be Iranian POWs and suspected opponents of Saddam's regime. The guy had 35 years to kill pretty much anyone he wanted to, it would seem.

IMO the most likely explanation for the mass graves is plain old AK-47 rounds, of which there appears to have been no shortage whatsoever, since we are still finding them by the truckload.