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| Iraq |
| Saddam ready to kill Iraqis |
| 2003-03-12 |
| This is news? Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein is planning attacks on his own people in the event of a U.S.-led invasion of Iraq, and his top operative, a general nicknamed "Chemical Ali," has been put in charge of southern Iraq to quell any civilian uprisings, U.S. officials say. I think this is a re-hash of reports in Rantburg the last couple of days. Sammy will whack his own people and blame us for it. U.S. military officials say there are increasing indications that Saddam will kill his own people and blame the atrocities on invading American forces. Bush administration officials reported last week that Saddam was planning to dress Iraqi forces in coalition uniforms and order them to kill innocents. Guess what the Geneva Convention says we can do to any of these scum-bags we catch in the field. Mr. Rumsfeld suggested yesterday that Saddam is considering shelling civilians with deadly chemical weapons, as he did in 1988, killing up to 100,000 Kurds in northern Iraq. "His regime may be planning to use weapons of mass destruction against its own citizens, and then blame coalition forces," Mr. Rumsfeld said. He recalled that during the 1991 Persian Gulf war, authorities ordered civilians into military command bunkers. In one instance, on Feb. 13, 1991, the U.S. forces bombed the Amiriyah bunker in Baghdad. Later, the United States discovered that Saddam's deputies had sentenced scores of civilians to their deaths by placing them on the bunker's upper level, above a command center. Baghdad displayed the dead bodies to the international press. Peaceniks still blame us for that; it was all our fault. "When his regime begins claiming once again that coalition forces have targeted innocent Iraqi civilians, if that's to be the case, we need to keep his record in mind," Mr. Rumsfeld said. Saddam "will seek to maximize civilian deaths and create the false impression that coalition forces target innocent Iraqis, which, of course, is not the case," the defense secretary said. Good luck trying to convince the left-Labourites in Britain of this. It will just add to the pressure on Tony. A U.S. military official said that at least two Republican Guard divisions are believed to be armed at this moment with chemical artillery shells. A sign that Saddam is serious about attacking civilians comes in reports from inside Iraq that Gen. Ali Hassan al Majid, or "Chemical Ali," has been placed in charge of military activities in southern Iraq. Considered appropriately a war criminal by human rights groups, Majid commanded the 1988 chemical weapons attacks on the Kurds. He also oversaw the brutal occupation of Kuwait in 1990 and 1991. After the 1991 war, he commanded the Republican Guard divisions that brutally put down a rebellion by Shi'ites in Iraq's southern marshlands. "He is a senior adviser to Saddam. He is known as an enforcer for the regime," said a U.S. intelligence official, who asked not to be named. "He is used to put down uprisings and maintain order." Why not plant a rumor that we've made contact with Chemical Ali so as to ensure his surrender on the first day of the war? That could be fun. This official said Saddam typically carves up the country into three or four regions during crises and then appoints hard-line lieutenants to maintain order. In Majid, Saddam has a loyal commander and his own blood relation — they are cousins — to watch over the southern oil fields around Basra and stamp out any Shi'ite rebellion. It's in the blood. Gen. Richard B. Myers, Joint Chiefs of Staff chairman, said the military will install a screening process to determine which Iraqi officers harm civilians. "The vetting process will reveal those who participated in war crimes and those who didn't," Gen. Myers said. Get their names, all of them. |
| Posted by:Steve White |
| #2 "Oops, sorry. I could of sworn that was a SAM site." |
| Posted by: Steve 2003-03-12 14:00:27 |
| #1 Chemical Ali is in the South, beneath the no-fly-zone perhaps? Wouldn't it be a shame if one of our SF guys found him, lit him up with a laser and one of our patroling planes wasted him from the air before the fighting started. That might send a nice message to the next guy ready to take his place. |
| Posted by: Yank 2003-03-12 12:43:15 |