Poor old Ardent, blinded in one eye and refuses to see through the other:
Witness Statements First hand accounts from Saddam's brutal regime
"...we monitored...radio communications between the political and military leadership...SADDAM HUSSEIN briefed the assembled commanders that there would be a chemical attack on Halabja and that soldiers should wear protective clothing...I heard a telephone conversation between SADDAM HUSSEIN and ALI HASSAN AL MAJID. SADDAM ordered him to form a working group...After the meeting ALI HASSAN AL-MAJID returned to the area HQ...Aerial pictures of Halabja after the attack were shown to SADDAM HUSSEIN and other members of the Revolutionary Command Council."
"One of the President's bodyguards brought 30 prisoners out. They were Kurds. The President himself shot them one after another with a Browning pistol. Another 30 prisoners were brought and the process was repeated. SADDAM HUSSEIN was laughing and obviously enjoying himself. There was blood everywhere - it was like an abattoir... Those who were still alive were eventually finished off by the security officers. .................... "On that day which followed the visit of QUSAY SADDAM HUSSEIN to the prison, 180 prisoners were executed. The guards walked up and down the corridors calling out names. They took some prisoners from nearly every cell...when QUSAY SADDAM HUSSEIN visited a prison, mass executions would often follow and so we all realised what it meant when they began calling out the names of prisoners..."
"On several occasions I saw QUSAY SADDAM HUSSEIN walk along the row of cells, open the slot in the door and spray what I believe to be something like mustard gas into the cell...The bodies of the dead were bloated by the gas. They foamed at the mouth and were bleeding from the eyes...The prisoners were screaming. I remember one of them was only about twelve years old. I remember QUSAY shouting something like "Put this bastard in - he's a member of the [X] family'...The little boy was screaming. He was already bleeding from previous beatings. QUSAY killed him along with all the others...The little boy screamed out "I am sorry, I don't want to die, I want my father." QUSAY said, "Your father is in the cell next door", which was true. QUSAY then proceeded to spray him with gas and he died after about ten minutes of agony. We could hear them screaming... I estimate that QUSAY SADDAM HUSSEIN personally murdered between 1200-1300 people during this period."
"There was a machine designed for shredding plastic. Men were dropped into it and we were again made to watch. Sometimes they went in head first and died quickly. Sometimes they were put in feet first and died screaming. It was horrible. I saw 30 people die like this. Their remains would be placed in plastic bags and we were told they would be used as fish food.... On one occasion, I saw QUSAY SADDAM HUSSEIN personally supervising these murders."
"QUSAY SADDAM HUSSEIN went into the torture room...screaming..."I'll put an end to you with my own hands"...[the prisoner] was brought back into the cell with his right foot covered in filthy bandages. It had been cut off during his torture...the amputation had been carried out with a power saw during his torture under the direct supervision of QUSAY SADDAM HUSSEIN...it had not been done cleanly and it had taken some time to cut the foot off."
............................ UDAY SADDAM HUSSEIN came to the prison...UDAY began swearing and threatening us even worse than ALI HASSAN AL-MAJID had done...He said to a group of Saddam Fedayeen troops..."Take these two people and make them an example to the others - take them to the acid bath to meet their fate and their death." They were taken away in handcuffs...The prisoners were terrified and angry. UDAY spat on some of the prisoners and then left."
"UDAY...became very agitated. He ordered his servant...to bring an electric shock baton...He struck me on the shoulder with it and then began to jab me all over my body. Each time he did this a painful electric shock was applied."
"I became aware that UDAY SADDAM HUSSEIN had arrived...He began shouting insults at me as they were beating me. I felt my knees buckle and tried to make myself smaller to avoid the blows...He said to me something like "I am going to brand you like an army mule so that you do not forget". He then took a branding iron, the end of which was shaped as a circle with a cross in the middle...he branded me on the top of my left arm. At that point I believe I lost consciousness. The next morning I woke up in what seemed to be a dog kennel. I was in extraordinary pain both from the beating...and also from the branding wound. I discovered that there were two further brands on my back. All these had developed enormous blisters. My hands had been handcuffed behind one of my legs, which also caused me great discomfort. A short time later I was injected with an unidentified substance...a blood analysis confirmed I had been poisoned with a heavy metal substance." ...................... Saddam's cousin. De facto governor of Kuwait during the occupation. Senior commander during the Anfal campaign. Known as "Chemical Ali" after subsequent use of chemical weapons.
"ALI HASSAN AL-MAJID in his role as head of the Ba'ath Northern Command...held a meeting with those pilots who would undertake the mission. After the meeting ALI HASSAN AL-MAJID returned to the area HQ of the 1st Corps...ALI HASSAN AL-MAJID ordered the pilots to launch a chemical strike on the area of Halabja."
"ALI HASSAN AL-MAJID arrived...He insulted...our religion (we were all Shi'a)...He called us 'ignorant Shi'a'. One by one these men were brought to him, blindfolded and tied up. He said to the first: "What have you done?" The man replied that he had done nothing. ALI HASSAN AL-MAJID told him that if that was the case he could go home. When the blindfolded man turned round, ALI HASSAN AL-MAJID shot him in the back. It seemed a big joke to him...One woman came to ALI HASSAN AL-MAJID looking for her husband who had been arrested. ALI HASSAN AL-MAJID shot her right in front of me as well."
"ALI HASSAN AL-MAJID...ordered some of his people to take me to the torture chamber...His exact words were "Hang him from the ceiling until he's dead"...After about three-quarters of an hour ALI HASSAN AL-MAJID...said "Attach more weight to his feet, 20 kilos or more". This was done and I started bleeding from the nose...ALI HASSAN AL-MAJID ordered me taken down...[He] kicked me in the face as hard as he could and cut my forehead which started bleeding...I remember vividly ALI HASSAN AL-MAJID was wearing black slip-on shoes...He threatened to bring my wife in and hang her from the ceiling..."
.............. Izzat Ibrahim al-Douri
Vice Chairman of the Revolutionary Command Council.
"They had used helicopters and dropped nets from the air to capture people. 600 had been arrested...IZZAT IBRAHIM AL-DOURI was sitting on a stage...He ordered 17 posts to be erected in the yard of the base. 17 prisoners were brought out and tied to the posts. They had some sort of glue put in their mouths to prevent them calling out...Ba'ath officials shot them with Kalashnikov rifles...Then strangely, four gypsy dancing girls were brought to dance for those watching...170 men were killed in front of us altogether...The presence of IZZAT IBRAHIM AL-DOURI was a deliberate attempt to intimidate us...he also had a well-deserved and well-known reputation as a killer."
"I saw several cars arrive as well as two bulldozers...IZZAT IBRAHIM AL-DOURI got out of one of the cars...He also ordered the man's wife and four children to be brought out...When the crowd had gathered, IZZAT IBRAHIM AL-DOURI pulled out his pistol and shot the man in the head three times. He was very angry and shouting..."This has been done as a lesson to show what happens to those who disobey the President." The bulldozers began to demolish the house...IZZAT IBRAHIM AL-DOURI climbed back into his car...and drove over the ruins...I never saw the family again. The body of the victim was hung up in various places in public as a warning...It was left...for about three days and soon began to decompose and smell very badly."
"...IZZAT IBRAHIM AL-DOURI was...in overall control of the suppression of the intifada in the region. [The message said that the officer]...wished to report [to IZZAT IBRAHIM AL-DOURI] the "execution of rioters by burning them to death". It contained the names of some of those who had been killed by burning." ..................... "[The prisoners alleged crime was that] he had driven through a red traffic light...WATBAN IBRAHIM AL-HASSAN...was holding a wooden club with a round head which is covered in tar (a traditional tribal weapon)...the man was made to crouch down into a painful position in front of the other prisoners. WATBAN IBRAHIM AL-HASSAN began to strike the man who screamed and begged for him to stop until he fell down on the ground...WATBAN IBRAHIM AL HASSAN then stood close to the man on the ground and with the great violence hit him approximately ten more times from the side until his face and skull was smashed to pulp...WATBAN IBRAHIM AL-HASSAN then shouted so that every one including the other prisoners could hear words to the effect of 'take away this dog'."
.......................... Tariq Aziz
Deputy Prime Minister.
"These were ministers and members of the leadership who SADDAM HUSSEIN ordered to be executed...those taking part included TARIQ AZIZ...I saw that TARIQ AZIZ used a medium sized revolver. The victims were all shot at close range of no more than one metre."
"The following persons were informed of all major decisions prior to their implementation...they were informed of the intended attack on Halabja...these included...TARIQ AZIZ..." ............................ Taha Yasin Ramadan
Vice-President. Deputy Prime Minister. Commander of the Popular Army. Member of the Revolutionary Command Council.
"TAHA YASIN RAMADAN was one of the individuals who had prior knowledge of the attack on Halabja and actively supported it."
"TAHA YASSIN RAMADAN was supervising loading prisoners onto buses. When they were full they were driven away...We were soon transported to Radhwaniya prison in Baghdad...The questions centred on our supposed role...and they asked us to prove that we were not involved. I was interrogated three times and was slapped and kicked repeatedly during this time. We were crammed into a cell 6 m by 5 m and there was barely room to sit down. It was dark and there were no lights. Prisoners were taken out for interrogation and then returned, often unconscious. We could hear the screaming from other parts of the prison."
"...Most of them appeared to have been badly beaten. Approximately 15 had been buried in the ground up to their necks...Some of them appeared to be dead, some of them still alive...In the quarry...[was] TAHA YASIN RAMADAN, whom I had seen several times before that in military camps and whom I had been introduced to [previously]...There were also approximately 20 women and children there, including...boys approximately 14 years old...They began shouting and swearing, insulting SADDAM HUSSEIN and his regime. I was standing about 5m away from TAHA YASIN RAMADAN when this happened. He became very angry and ordered his bodyguards to fill their mouths with sand to stop them insulting the regime. However, the boys spat the sand out of their mouths and continued shouting insults. TAHA YASIN RAMADAN became very angry. He reached for his pistol and c0cked it. He killed one of the boys personally, and his bodyguards shot the others...I saw two bulldozers arrive. There were presumably there to bury the dead ......................... Barzan Ibrahim Hasan al-Tikriti
Saddam's half brother. Former head of Iraqi foreign intelligence (Mukhabarat) and former representative to the UN. Adviser to the President with Cabinet rank.
"The men of the [Barzani] tribe were loaded onto the coaches and driven away. When the coaches had left...The soldiers...began to beat [the women and children] and force them to return to their houses. As soldiers advanced towards us, I ran away with the other children and went home. By this time, BARZAN AL-TIKRITI had left."
"Around 300-350 were taken to the [X] military camp. They were all shot, some of them personally by BARZAN AL-TIKRITI. A training camp was built over the mass grave in which the men were buried."
"BARZAN AL-TIKRITI personally tortured them, pulling out their nails, administering electric shocks, stretching their limbs apart, throwing boiling water over them, and using electric cables to beat them. BARZAN AL-TIKRITI was also present when the British journalist FARZAD BARZOFT was executed."
"I was pulled to my feet and stood facing the door. Suddenly BARZAN AL-TIKRITI stabbed me in the back with what could have been a screwdriver. When I was stabbed for the second time I lost consciousness
...........
"ALI HASSAN AL-MAJID and HUSSEIN KAMEL were the two senior commanders for all government forces during the crushing of the rebellion. HUSSEIN KAMEL attacked the intifada forces from Baghdad, and ALI HASSAN AL-MAJID began his attack from Basra...Reporting to him was MOHAMMED HAMZA AL-ZUBAIDI... ...the senior officials...kicking and slapping prisoners [on the video] are MOHAMMED HAMZA AL-ZUBAIDI...and [X]..."
"The two sons died instantly and the old man was wounded. He was taken to the main hospital in... MOHAMMED HAMZA AL-ZUBAIDI went to hospital and it was at this point when I heard a conversation...between him and QUSAY HUSSEIN who was at the...headquarters in the city. I know that the conversation was between these two individuals because from my post...it was easy to see...QUSAY HUSSEIN asked MOHAMMED HAMZA AL-ZUBAIDI if the "file was still open" MOHAMED HAMZA AL-ZUBAIDI replied that "two files are closed, but the big file is still open". QUSAY HUSSAIN then said "I told you to close it". MOHAMMED HAMZA AL-ZUBAIDI then shot [X] in the head with his revolver."
So Ardent , these are the vile scum you rant long and hard to keep in power, and just because you dont like americans........high price to pay for these people just so you can bathe in your phony self righteousness.
Youre the classic dime an dozen pacifist....no backbone , all mouth and a mind that is limited by its petty campus fed lefty indoctrination....thankfully there are enough human beings willing to do the dirty work for you.
But i still like you in a warped sort of a way, we all need someone to laugh at, harmless as long as not taken seriously...
