DATE=03/25/2002

TYPE=EDITORIAL

NUMBER=0-09782

TITLE=EDITORIAL: THE ATROCITY AT HALABJA

INTERNET=Yes

CONTENT=THIS EDITORIAL IS BEING RELEASED FOR USE BY ALL SERVICES.

Anncr: Next, an editorial expressing the policies of the United States Government:

Voice: This month marks the fourteenth anniversary of a hideous atrocity perpetrated by the government of Iraq against the people of Iraq. On March 16th, 1988, Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein ordered the aerial bombardment of Halabja, a predominantly Kurdish town in northeastern Iraq. The bombs the government used were chemical bombs -- mustard gas and other poisons. Five-thousand Iraqis died, and some ten-thousand were injured.

The chemical weapons attack on Halabja was not an isolated incident. It was part of a systematic campaign ordered by Saddam Hussein against Iraqi Kurdish civilians. Halabja was just the worst hit of about two-hundred fifty villages targeted by the Iraqi government between April 1987 and August 1988. Human Rights Watch estimates that Iraqi forces killed fifty-thousand to one-hundred-thousand people during the 1988 campaign against the Kurds.

That campaign was a crime against humanity. It is part of a long history of criminal conduct by Saddam Hussein's regime. Moreover, for over a decade, Iraq has plotted to develop anthrax, nerve gas, and nuclear weapons. Since 1998, Iraq has refused to allow United Nations inspectors to monitor whether it is complying with U-N prohibitions on the production of weapons of mass destruction. At the same time, Iraq is providing safe haven and support to various terrorist groups, including the Abu Nidal Organization, the Arab Liberation Front, the Kurdistan Workers' Party, and the Mujahedin-e Khalq.

Iraq has now rebuilt much of the infrastructure destroyed during the Persian Gulf War -- infrastructure it needs to produce chemical weapons and the missiles to deliver them. Iraq remains a threat not only because of those weapons, but also because of the willingness of Iraq's leaders to use them, even against Iraqi citizens.

Saddam Hussein's regime must never be permitted to amass weapons of mass destruction, or again threaten Iraq's neighbors. "One thing I will not allow," said President George W. Bush, "is a nation such as Iraq [threatening] our very future by developing weapons of mass destruction."

The victims of Saddam Hussein's cruelty deserve justice. There is no statute of limitations for Iraqi crimes against humanity such as Halabja. Saddam Hussein and his top associates should be held accountable.

Anncr: That was an editorial expressing the policies of the United States Government. If you have a comment, please write to Editorials, V-O-A, Washington, D-C, 20237, U-S-A. You may also comment at www-dot-ibb-dot-gov-slash-editorials, or fax us at (202) 619-1043.