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| Iraq |
| Brits find charnel house in Zubayr |
| 2003-04-05 |
| British forces in southern Iraq have found hundreds of boxes containing human remains in a warehouse near Zubayr and are investigating how they got there, military officials said Saturday. "Obviously, it's an unusual find," said Maj. Mike Edwards, a British military spokesman in Kuwait City. "Who they belonged to or how they got there is under investigation." There was no immediate indication of the nationalities of the dead, and it appeared they had died some time ago — not in the current fighting. The estimated 200 coffin-sized boxes "contain bags, each labeled, and there's human remains inside the bags," said Capt. Jack Kemp of the Royal Horse Artillery. He told reporters at the scene that the remains were found by British forces who were searching the area within a half mile of one of their artillery pieces. "I really wouldn't like to speculate on where the bones have come from," Kemp said. He said the remains were decomposed, and thus were not casualties of the current war. Lt. Col. Ronnie McCourt, a spokesman for British forces in Doha, Qatar, confirmed that British troops found some bodies between Basra and Zubayr. Associated Press Television News video showed the boxes stacked five high on one side of the warehouse, and other boxes were lined up on the other side. The video showed one skull that was missing front teeth and had a large hole in the nasal area. A British soldier held up folders containing lists written in Arabic. British soldiers also discovered a catalogue of photographs of the dead. The relationship between the photographs and the remains was not immediately clear. Faces in the photographs were burned, mutilated or scarred by grotesque wounds, according to Vanessa Allen, a reporter for Britain's Press Association news agency. Some apparently had been shot in the head, she added. After permitting some journalists to look around the warehouse, British forces sealed the facility, Allen reported. "We have placed it out of bounds to all personnel and we will treat it as a mass grave," Kemp said. |
| Posted by:Fred Pruitt |
| #9 With this horrible news and the news of MSNBC positive testing for chemical/biological(field test kit) in the Ansar Al Islam/al Qaeda terror hut on the Iran/Iraq border (you know the one Colin Powell told the UN about) there can be no more doubt about the necessity and rightness of the war. These findings at 2 weeks into this are only the tip of the iceberg. Has anyone notified the so-called peace keepers, Sarandon, Sheen. Garafolo? The list of these elite hypocrites is too long, but I encourage everyone to pay close attention to them in that they will surely begin to blame Bush I for failing to stop the atrocities and never recall that they were against that campaign as well. I think one domestic way we can support our armed forces is to remember the nay-saying America hating left in Hollywood and make our soldiers volunteering to risk there lives to fight for freedom as heros and celebrities! |
| Posted by: AmyL 2003-04-05 22:57:21 |
| #8 The Fertile Cresent may be one of the Cradles of Civilization but civilization left it a long time ago. The barbarity of regimes that are unconstained by law and custom will know no bounds. According to CNN the remains date all the way back to the mid '80s. Some are probably Kuwaitis from the First Gulf War, some are probably Iranians and the rest may well be Iraqis from any date and time. Do we have any MIAs from GW1? Gunshot wounds to the head? Must be the only kind of marksmanship the Iraqi Army teaches. |
| Posted by: Someone who did NOT vote for William Proxmire 2003-04-05 17:43:28 |
| #7 Michael? You mean again? |
| Posted by: Frank G 2003-04-05 17:19:22 |
| #6 Let's not dis Murat until he has posted or said something ridiculous. |
| Posted by: Michael 2003-04-05 15:25:19 |
| #5 Looking at those coffins, makes me think of the photographs of the shoes from WWII. A sad and mournful respresentation of life that could have, and should have, been. |
| Posted by: becky 2003-04-05 13:39:19 |
| #4 Poitiers,that last comment of yours went way over the line.In fact,it's disgusting. |
| Posted by: El Id 2003-04-05 12:14:15 |
| #3 They got it wrong: It's a MAC SADDAM's, it's fast food. Crispy and tasty food from all over the Gulf area. Murat's preferred chow. |
| Posted by: Poitiers 2003-04-05 11:26:38 |
| #2 wonder if they're some of the missing Kuwaitis from GW1? |
| Posted by: Frank G 2003-04-05 11:20:31 |
| #1 Coalition troops are going to find hundreds of places like this or worse. Too bad Sammy can't be captured and tortured real slow-like. |
| Posted by: defscribe 2003-04-05 11:12:39 |