Road of Death (Youtube)

Human rights organizations have documented government-approved executions, acts of torture and rape for decades since Saddam Hussein came to power in 1979 until his fall in 2003.

In 2002, a resolution sponsored by the European Union was adopted by the Commission for Human Rights, which stated that there had been no improvement in the human rights crisis in Iraq. The statement condemned President Saddam Hussein's government for its "systematic, widespread and extremely grave violations of human rights and international humanitarian law". The resolution demanded that Iraq immediately put an end to its "summary and arbitrary executions... the use of rape as a political tool and all enforced and involuntary disappearances"
Full political participation at the national level was restricted only to members of the Arab Ba'ath Party, which constituted only 8% of the population.
Iraqi citizens were not allowed to assemble legally unless it was to express support for the government. The Iraqi government controlled the establishment of political parties, regulated their internal affairs and monitored their activities.
Police checkpoints on Iraq's roads and highways prevented ordinary citizens from traveling abroad without government permission and expensive exit visas. Before traveling, an Iraqi citizen had to post collateral. Iraqi females could not travel outside of the country without the escort of a man relative

The activities of citizens living inside Iraq who received money from relatives abroad were closely monitored
Halabja poison gas attack:The Halabja poison gas attack occurred in the period 15–19 March 1988 during the Iran–Iraq War when chemical weapons were used by the Iraqi government forces and thousands of civilians in the Iraqi Kurdish town of Halabja were killed

Al-Anfal Campaign: In 1988, the Hussein regime began a campaign of extermination against the Kurdish people living in Northern Iraq. This is known as the Anfal campaign. The campaign was mostly directed at Shiite kurds (Faili Kurds) who sided with Iranians during the Iraq-Iran War. The attacks resulted in the death of at least 50,000 (some reports estimate as many as 100,000 people), many of them women and children. A team of Human Rights Watch investigators determined, after analyzing eighteen tons of captured Iraqi documents, testing soil samples and carrying out interviews with more than 350 witnesses, that the attacks on the Kurdish people were characterized by gross violations of human rights, including mass executions and disappearances of many tens of thousands of noncombatants, widespread use of chemical weapons including Sarin, mustard gas and nerve agents that killed thousands, the arbitrary imprisoning of tens of thousands of women, children, and elderly people for months in conditions of extreme deprivation, forced displacement of hundreds of thousands of villagers after the demolition of their homes, and the wholesale destruction of nearly two thousand villages along with their schools, mosques, farms and power stations.
In April 1991, after Saddam lost control of Kuwait in the Persian Gulf War, he cracked down ruthlessly against several uprisings in the Kurdish north and the Shia south. His forces committed wholesale massacres and other gross human rights violations against both groups similar to the violations mentioned before. Estimates of deaths during that time range from 20,000 to 100,000 for Kurds, and 60,000 to 130,000 for Shi'ites.[5]
In June 1994, the Hussein regime in Iraq established severe penalties, including amputation, branding and the death penalty for criminal offenses such as theft, corruption, currency speculation and military desertion, while government members and Saddam's family members were immune from punishments ranging around these crimes.[6]
On March 23, 2003 during the 2003 invasion of Iraq, Iraqi television presented and interviewed prisoners of war on TV, violating the Geneva Convention.
Also in April 2003, CNN revealed that it had withheld information about Iraq torturing journalists and Iraqi citizens in the 1990s. According to CNN's chief news executive, the channel had been concerned for the safety not only of its own staff, but also of Iraqi sources and informants, who could expect punishment for speaking freely to reporters. Also according to the executive, "other news organizations were in the same bind.
After the 2003 invasion of Iraq, several mass graves were found in Iraq containing several thousand bodies total and more are being uncovered to this day. While most of the dead in the graves were believed to have died in the 1991 uprising against Saddam Hussein, some of them appeared to have died due to executions or died at times other than the 1991 rebellion.
Also after the invasion, numerous torture centers were found in security offices and police stations throughout Iraq. The equipment found at these centers typically included hooks for hanging people by the hands for beatings, devices for electric shock and other equipment often found in nations with harsh security services and other authoritarian nations.
From wikepedia
www.erbil-capital.org...

Do you still feel sorry for them?

www.youtube.com...

This is against his own citizens. What do you think was done to the women and children in Kuwait. Yeah I guess we should of gave them a free pass

reply to post by semperkill


LOL, okay, why are you ranting off at me? I was never defending Saddam's army, or saying the U.S. army was wrong for doing this. So where is all that coming from? You need to re read.

The only thing you got right was me talking about the use of a nuke or a test weapon. And I didn't lay that on as fact. I was bewildered at the damage made, not disgusted. So what's the deal?

Originally posted by SLAYER69

Originally posted by OwenGP185
reply to post by SLAYER69

 

Hmmm I thought you was replying to my quote, dont worry. Still the vid is still worth posting up tbh.

edit on 10-8-2011 by OwenGP185 because: (no reason given)

I see you have edited your opening piece and toned down the rhetoric a bit to reflect the information provided buy some more knowledgeable members.

Interesting....

Lmfao! I like your style bro!

I stand by my devil dawgs anyday!

Originally posted by SLAYER69

Originally posted by OwenGP185
reply to post by SLAYER69

 

Hmmm I thought you was replying to my quote, dont worry. Still the vid is still worth posting up tbh.

edit on 10-8-2011 by OwenGP185 because: (no reason given)

I see you have edited your opening piece and toned down the rhetoric a bit to reflect the information provided buy some more knowledgeable members.

Interesting....

Lmfao! I like your style bro!

I stand by my devil dawgs anyday!

reply to post by J.Son79


Hey man I ddint mean to attack you or rant. please excuse that. I just wanted you to see the other side of the story. That army deserved death. Each and everyone of them. Its all the Military Bashing ....Its getting bothersome. Please let me hear your stance again. i wont argue with you but i will try to show you my opinion.

Originally posted by semperkill
reply to post by J.Son79

 

Hey man I ddint mean to attack you or rant. please excuse that. I just wanted you to see the other side of the story. That army deserved death. Each and everyone of them. Its all the Military Bashing ....Its getting bothersome. Please let me hear your stance again. i wont argue with you but i will try to show you my opinion.

edit on 10-8-2011 by semperkill because: fixed

It's cool man, nah, I have no disregards for what we did or have done over there. No matter what's spun the wrong way by different sources of media, or whatever. At the end of all this, it's the best thing for America. A lot of Americans will never see that.

I was just blown away by the destruction. The large scale and the amount of time it was done in. But, no, i've never thought our army was bad for doing it. There are times when a military, and that's any military, will make mistakes. It happens. But I never hate ours (USA) for it. It's war, it's going to happen you know? Now, I know this wasn't a mistake, but I'm just saying. A lot of times you'll read about something happening during a time of war and it just gets totally blown out of proportion.

I know generals make some of the hardest decision's in the world and you have to respect that. He doesn't have time to explain to the press how, why, who, or what for every decision of every mission he makes decisions on. Because of that the press just kind of runs with things they're on way. This is dangerous because it can and does generate negative publicity for the military, but in a "not a facts on the table" light. But no matter what, most decisions generals or commanders make are for a reason. Most of the time reasons we may not understand because we're not working right there with them nor do we posses the intel they have. A lot of people seem to forget that when they're tearing down the military.

I was a car salesman for 6 years. Before that time all I ever heard was how bad car salesmen were. How tricky and sneaky they are. How they'll try to rip you off. Well, it didn't take me long to figure out it was 100% the other way around. Most buyers are the real liars. They will lie and make up some of the most far fetched stories to get a car just a couple $100 bucks cheaper. They don't care if you make anything or not as long as they are served. Without going to far into, trust me, 80% of ALL car buyers are worse then the sales people. And I invite any1 to sell cars for two weeks to see if I'm lying.

But the reason, I'm bringing this up, is because people just don't understand how the different factors involved in the job of the person they're bad mouthing. Rather it be a car salesman, or general, or whole entire army. At the end of the day, it's still the same thing. Just bad facts, neglience to think things through, and this is how the majority of the public acts. I hate to say it, but it's true. And i'm sure many of you out there reading this have some other type of job were you can relate to how crazy and outlandish and non understanding a lot of people can be to work with. We just have to remember it's not only our jobs that see that with our customers. Every aspect of business sees this some way and the military is no different. But why do we tend to see that as the worker and see how easily people mix things up, but we forget to see that as citizens? Because we do. I've sat there before and have been a bad customer to people when I should have stopped and said, you know what Jay, this is the exact same thing you go through selling cars.

I hope I explained all that alright. I know I probably really jumped far off topic here, but it was to try and make a point about how we as a society act at times. Our jobs can be the looking glass we need to see just how misguided we can be at times, but ww tend to forget the lesson we're taught when the shoes on the other foot. Do you see what i'm trying to say, lol?

reply to post by SLAYER69


"Figured as much.

Yet you keep spewing your rhetoric as if you actually know something....
Highway of Death"


Oh im sorry not all knowing like you , your highness Thanks tipz for the link !


"FAIL...

Again it was widely reported in the news at the time. MAYBE you weren't out of diapers as of yet? "

I was about 8 years old im sorry i wasn't watching it in the news.... i am so so sorry . What was i thinking ? Silly me ! Soooo childish







"When you're finished with your over the top self absorbed drama Queen antics and shut your mouth and listen you might actually learn a few things"

Oh my did i strike a nerve in some thread? I'm sorry if i hurt your feelings in any thread accept my apology and put down the haterade

Don't get so emotional about it ... it clouds your judgement .


"Yeah like the reason why Saddam's troops were in Kuwait in the first place. Murdering, Raping and Stealing everything that wasn't nailed down... "


i would support all war crimes brought to light regardless of sides . Murdering raping stealing is common among both sides . Saddam had his bad moments no doubt but iraq was sure of a hell alot better with much less casualties when he was around compared to now . How many iraq's rather go back to saddam times ?


"Yeah a reality you didn't know anything about."


Yea i don't know anything your highness .. will you teach me? Your so wise ... nah not gonna lie lol


"Reading is a great start.

Why don't you waddle your sorry oversized misinformed butt down to a library of your choice and actually crack open a real history book once and a while and find out what's really causing many of the worlds problems instead of just regurgitating what you've seen on Youtube"


Thank you so much for the tip . I'll take it into consideration!

What would we do without you













don't forget the rival button lool

Originally posted by cavscout11cav
www.youtube.com...

This is against his own citizens. What do you think was done to the women and children in Kuwait. Yeah I guess we should of gave them a free pass

edit on 10-8-2011 by cavscout11cav because: (no reason given)

Of course not. We should punish anyone that does anything wrong anywhere. Regardless of cost, loss of life, or benefit to us as a nation.

reply to post by seedofchucky


No need to be sorry, just know when you spew your garbage, someone is going to call your bluff. *cough* slayer.

Originally posted by LoverBoy
reply to post by seedofchucky

 

No need to be sorry, just know when you spew your garbage, someone is going to call your bluff. *cough* slayer.

Thanks pal will keep that in mind

good day to you

The sooner you people realize the true horror of armed conflict the better. As ugly as the "highway of death" was, there have been thousands of scenes in other countries that go undocumented, and that make this incident look like a playground. This is what happens when hundreds/thousands of hostile forces flee up a main highway, unaware of the dozens upon dozens of hunter/killer aircraft stacked in attack formations for thousands of feet above.

Just so the squeamish get the point: I am unaware of ANY conflict in which the civilian population had less casualties than the military. This includes every conflict recorded since the dawn of history.

For a more precise and legitimate response I would direct people towards Slayer's response on page 1.

reply to post by J.Son79


"It's cool man, nah, I have no disregards for what we did or have done over there. No matter what's spun the wrong way by different sources of media, or whatever. At the end of all this, it's the best thing for America. A lot of Americans will never see that."


No disregard at all huh? best thing for america ? lol


some people make me sick ...


I bet you would not have replied this way if you had family that died on that highway with the other how many thousand...


but of course people on the other side of the war never count them as people but obstacles in the way lol


disgusting world we live in .

I regard a u.s death the same as an iraqi or somalian death . Both are human beings caught in the web of lies known as wars



"he offensive action for which Highway 80 is infamous became a controversial point, with some commentators alleging that the use of force was disproportionate, as the Iraqi forces were retreating from Kuwait (and thus leaving the country in compliance with the UN Resolution 660 of August 2, 1990), and the column included Kuwaiti captives (apparently to be used as hostages[5]) as well as some civilian refugees including women and children. Former United States Attorney General Ramsey Clark alleged that these attacks violated the Third Geneva Convention, common article 3, which outlaws the killing of soldiers who "are out of combat."[6] International law explicitly states that retreating military forces are legitimate targets in war to deny them regrouping and reattacking (only surrendering military forces are protected by the Hague Conventions). It was however also alleged that the American combat vehicles opened fire on a large group of more than 350 disarmed Iraqi soldiers who had surrendered at a U.S. military checkpoint after fleeing the devastation on Highway 8 on February 27; these allegations were publicised by Seymour Hersh.[1]

General Norman Schwarzkopf commented in 1995:[7]

“ The first reason why we bombed the highway coming north out of Kuwait is because there was a great deal of military equipment on that highway, and I had given orders to all my commanders that I wanted every piece of Iraqi equipment that we possibly could destroy. Secondly, this was not a bunch of innocent people just trying to make their way back across the border to Iraq. This was a bunch of rapists, murderers and thugs who had raped and pillaged downtown Kuwait City and now were trying to get out of the country before they were caught. ”

According to Colin Powell, then Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and the future Secretary of State, the "shooting gallery" scenes carnage was the reason to end the Gulf War hostilities after the Liberation of Kuwait campaign. He wrote later in his autobiography My American Journey that "the television coverage was starting to make it look as if we were engaged in slaughter for slaughter's sake."

According to the Foreign Policy Research Institute, however, "appearances were deceiving":[8]

“ Postwar studies found that most of the wrecks on the Basra roadway had been abandoned by Iraqis before being strafed and that actual enemy casualties were low. Further, opinion surveys showed that American support for the war was largely unaffected by the images "


en.wikipedia.org...



Gotta love the media and the people who try and support this . Sometimes i wonder if we are all from the same planet ...


sucks i have to be stuck here with the rest of these criminal minds

reply to post by seedofchucky


Maybe you need to realize that you would never be able to spew forth the hatred you have for your own country if you were in say Iraq ast the time. S.H. was an evil twisted little man who gased an entire village of people simply because of who they were...not because they did something to him or his family just based on who they were...sound familiar ? Another man did that and started another war, of course you most likely believe other than the truth for that one as well.

I have lived in a country where if you were not home during the census they would arrest the entire family and as the leader of the family the man would recieve a five year prison sentence. I have lived in countries where if you did not fly the flag on flag day another 5 years in prison. If you have not noticed you little brat you do not have to fly the flag here...you can burn it as a matter of fact and thats because soldiers died so you could. They died here on our soil and they died on foriegn soil. Someday when you grow up maybe you will learn how good you have it and why you have it. MEN have fought for it !

And you do not have to be stuck here...leave already. I will make you an offer to buy your ticket where ever you want to go just let me know. I will drive you to Mexico so you can leave on a plane from there instead of having to go through the security here so no excuses...just let me know...oh and by the way you will leave me your passport in exchange for that ticket that way I know you will not be back

The Iraqi units that were caught in the "highway of death" were retreating, not surrendering. A retreating enemy is still the enemy combatant unless they are surrendering. So to put it bluntly, there were still fair game and as far as we were concerned they were just retreating to regroup, and counterattack with a bigger scale. They are still acting like combatant. This happened 24 hours before the Gulf War ceasefire agreement was signed. Most of the vechiles were stolen from Kuwait and tried to retreat back to where they belong before they were caught by USAF aircraft.

And besides why doesn't anyone mention about the Iraqi Army tortured, raped, and murdered over thousands of Kuwaiti civilians during the seven month Iraqi occupation of Kuwait. So they acted like what the Nazis and the Japanese did in World War 2 - kill, steal, murder, and intentionally raped a lot of woman. I don't have any sympathy for thugs who loot all the resources, tortured, and intentionally killed all the Kuwaiti civilians.

articles.latimes.com...

Saddam Hussein's secret police came for Dr. Hisham Abedan at night. His crime: He had treated a wounded Kuwaiti man in his home. For 12 days last September they tortured the devout Muslim gynecologist from Kuwait Maternity Hospital, plucking his fingernails out and burning him with cigarettes, his colleagues said Thursday. Then they took him home at midnight and called his family outside.

They shoot him in the head in front of his brothers and parents, and they throw his body in the rubbish," said a colleague, Dr. Mohammed Mahfouz. "And they order his family not to move the body until morning." Similar tales of horror were common in this battered capital a day after allied forces liberated the city.

Doctors say they still are stunned by the savagery of the seven-month reign of terror by Iraqi troops. Dr. Khalid Shalawi, head physician at Mubarak Hospital, said Thursday that he has often wept "over what has happened in Kuwait--it was worse than people thought."

Basma Yusef, head nurse for casualties at Mubarak, Kuwait's largest hospital, said that the worst cases of torture she had to treat seemed to be victims accused of taking part in the Kuwaiti resistance.

One man's ears were cut off, she said. Another was burned so badly "he had no skin," she said. "We think they used acid."

And three weeks ago, she said, the bodies of nine Kuwaitis were found, killed by ax blows to the head.

"The head is open and the brains are out," Yusef said. "Some, their eyes have been taken out."

Most perplexing to the doctors was the fate of Rasha Kabundi, a young mother of three. She was shot four times in the chest and face. Then the top of her skull was cut off with an electric saw. Her body, too, was dumped in a rubbish heap.

"It's awful," said Dr. Shalawi. "It's a nightmare. We're still in a state of shock."

He estimated that 250 to 300 Kuwaitis were tortured and killed in the city. The grim total may never be known, however, since ambulances were forbidden to pick up the bodies, and many families buried their victims alone.

Among Kuwaiti officials in the United States, accounts continued to vary widely about how many Kuwaiti civilians had been killed or kidnaped by Iraqi occupiers.

In Washington, Kuwait's ambassador to the United States, Sheik Saud al Nasir al Sabah, told reporters after a White House meeting with President Bush that the Iraqis are believed to have killed about 2,000 Kuwaiti civilians. He said they had seized "between 4,000 to 5,000, perhaps more than that" as apparent hostages.

In New York, however, the Kuwaiti ambassador to the United Nations put the number considerably higher: 22,000 abducted Kuwaiti civilians and 8,632 Kuwaiti prisoners of war. He made no mention of slain civilians. In Kuwait city, the torture was carried out in police stations, a sports club, and even in Dasman Palace, the now gutted residence of Kuwait's ruler, Sheik Jabbar al Ahmed al Sabah. The executions were carried out everywhere, witnesses said.

"The last group was 10 days ago," Dr. Shalawi said. "They took four young boys, 15, 16, 17. They all work in restaurants. They accused them of being resistance. They killed them all--shot in the head."

Another 17 victims, also killed by shots in the head, were brought to the Al Amiri Hospital in February. All told, 38 bodies, including that of a woman who had been hanged, were received by the hospital after Iraq invaded Kuwait last Aug. 2, said Dr. Ammar Baroon, a surgeon.

The "crimes" for which Kuwaitis could be tortured and killed included such things as using Kuwaiti money, which features a likeness of the emir.

"They catch many people because they found Kuwaiti flags, or a picture of the emir, anything from Kuwait," said Dr. Jassim Sailakawi, assistant registrar at Kuwait Maternity Hospital.

Sailakawi said an Iraqi officer ordered nurses to remove ubiquitous stickers that say "My Country, Kuwait" from walls and pictures.

"He said take all the stickers off or we destroy the hospital," the doctor said.

A four-barreled Iraqi antiaircraft battery and concrete blockhouses were placed in the parking lot in front of the Al Amiri Hospital in apparent violation of Geneva Conventions that bar military positions outside hospitals.

The gun stood fully loaded with belts of ammunition Thursday, and the ground was littered with empty brass casings. Iraqi helmets, caps and uniforms were scattered in the bunkers.

"They shoot all the time," said Dr. Baroon. "They just hear the voice of the plane and start shooting. But they have no target."

Other antiaircraft guns and bunkers were placed at the Adan Hospital and around the sprawling Sabah Hospital complex, renamed Saddam General Hospital by the Iraqis. Now abandoned, the guns all were aimed toward the Persian Gulf in anticipation of an amphibious landing by U.S. Marines that never came.

This is page 1, there is a lot a more to go in Page to to the LA article.

And check out these stories and there are tons of articles detailing about the Iraqi atrocities against the people of Kuwait.

articles.latimes.com...