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THE fifth estate: The Forgotten People
The Attack at Hajabja> Printer Version
Broadcast
March 26, 2003
THE ATTACK AT HAJABJA
History
of the Kurds
The Kurds describe themselves as the largest ethnic group on earth without
a country to call their own own. There are more than 20 million Kurds
living in parts of Iraq, Turkey, Iran and Syria. Although never officially
a nation, Kurdistan was erased from the world map when the allies divided
up the region after World War I. They have been struggling for their independence
ever since.
About four million Kurds (23% of Iraq's population) live in Northern Iraq.
(see
map) They occupy the oil rich land around Kirkuk, an area that is
key to the Iraqi economy. The Kurds have always been seen as outsiders
and their national dream of independence has been a threat to Saddam Hussein.
The
Anfal Campaign
Saddam began a brutal campaign - called the Anfal campaign - in 1988 designed
to bring the Kurds to their knees. (read
more about the campaign) Human rights organizations have documented
thousands of cases where Kurdish men were removed from their homes at
gunpoint never to be seen again.
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"As we traveled from the Arab area to the Kurdish area, we were stunned to see that the villages were gone. And the villages that were on our maps were no longer there…they had simply been erased from the face of the earth. As we traveled from place to place we could see this destruction as it was taking place. Rubble on one side, on the other side…bulldozers waiting to complete the work of destruction. As we got further into Kurdistan…all traces of human inhabitation were gone. These were places that had been inhabited for millennia. The graveyards were removed, the mosques, all the wire had been taken down form the electric poles. It had become a desolate region."
But Galbraith says, at that time, he wouldn't have thought that a genocide was taking place.
"There had been no indication this was being accompanied by any killings of significant number of people. It just looked an effort to depopulate the rural territory."
(Download an entire interview with Barham Salih, the Prime Minister of the Kurdistan Regional Government--Sulaymania, where he describes in detail what has happened to the Kurdish people)
The
Chemical Solution
Then Saddam made a fateful decision for the Kurdish people. His cousin,
Ali Hassan Al Majid - now known as 'Chemical Ali' - was appointed the
governor of Northern Iraq and carried out the plan.
“Tell him I will strike. I will strike with chemicals and kill them all. What is the international community going to say? The hell with them and the hell with any other country in the world that objects.” translated from an audio tape of Ali obtained by the U.S.
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Again and
again helicopters flew over Kurdish settlements throughout northern Iraq
releasing clouds of lethal gases and leaving bodies piled in the streets.
Then on March 16, 1988 the Iraqis flew over the Kurdish town of Halabja.
Within a hour, over 5,000 innocent men, women and children died on the
streets.
Many tried to hide in basements, unaware that they would provide no protection
against a chemical attack. Tens of thousands of others fled into nearby
mountain caves where the deadly fumes took their lives days later.
But this time, television cameras were there to document the tragedy.
Images of bodies piled in the streets of Halabja were broadcast around
the world.
It's estimated that as many as 30,000 Kurds lost their lives to Saddam's
chemical weapons.
The Present
Today the Kurds find themselves as one of the reasons for the present
war. In a State of the Union address George Bush criticized Saddam for
his use of chemical weapons.
“This is a regime that has already used chemical weapons on ….thousands of its own citizens – leaving the bodies of mothers huddled over their dead children.”
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"We all know that Saddam Hussein has chemical weapons and biological weapons. And there is a very serious risk of him unleashing these heinous means of war against the defenseless population in Kurdistan."
The Kurdish government is appealing to Canada for gas masks, chemical suits and protective gear should Saddam use chemical weapons against them again. So far, they haven't been received.
"We are told that there are shipments awaiting to be delivered to us. The geography of our region is not going to be easiest in the world. I’m told that our friends here are working hard to deliver those supplies to us. I wish that they did so long ago. We are talking about a very serious situation. But I hope they won’t be too late."
CBC: the fifth estate - The Forgotten
People
The Chemical
Attack at Halabja
- The U.S. Iraq Alliance
One Man's Battle to Stop Iraq
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