By: Mary Mostert, Analyst, Banner of Liberty (www.bannerofliberty.com)
September 17, 2003
In July, after the U.S. coalition troops were in firm control of Iraq, the Human Rights Watch released a 17-page report entitled, “Climate of Fear: Sexual Violence and Abduction of Women and Girls in Bathdad.” The reported concluded “ that the failure of Iraqi and U.S.-led occupation authorities to provide public security in Iraq's capital lies at the root of a widespread fear of rape and abduction among women and their families. "Women and girls today in Baghdad are scared, and many are not going to schools or jobs or looking for work," said Hanny Megally, executive director of the Middle East and North Africa division of Human Rights Watch. "If Iraqi women are to participate in postwar society, their physical security needs to be an urgent priority."
Not one word has been heard in the way of a simple “thank you” from the Human Rights Watch for ending a regime that brutally slaughtered hundreds of thousands and abused millions of its own people. The reaction, or lack of reaction, to the end of those Human Rights Abuses in Iraq makes me sort of wonder if Human Rights Watch is interested in ENDING human rights abuses or are just interested in raising money to TALK ABOUT human rights abuses?
Let’s take a look at Secretary of State Colin Powell’s brief comments at the unveiling of a monument to the more than 5000 people who died in Halabja, Iraq in 1988 as a result of a chemical attack on the Kurdish town. He said:
“This is a very special place and I should say something special to you. What can I say to you? I cannot tell you that choking mothers died holding their choking babies to their chests. You know that. I cannot tell you that Saddam Hussein was a murderous tyrant. You know that. I cannot tell you that the world should have acted sooner. You know that. I cannot tell you of the suffering of those who were poisoned but nevertheless lived. You know that.“What I can tell you is that what happened here in 1988 is never going to happen again. Chemical Ali is in jail. He will stay in jail until an Iraqi court decides his fate. Saddam is running and hiding. He is going to keep running and keep hiding until we catch him or until he dies. Beyond that, the system that spawned them, a system of coups and plots and assassins is smashed and will never return.
“Right now, Iraqis of many faiths, many heritages, run the day-to-day affairs of Iraq. Fairly soon, you will vote on a new permanent constitution and then, on a new government. That new government will answer to the people of Iraq, will be accountable to you for its actions.
“If some future tyrant should try to turn the armed forces against the Iraqi people, he will find officers and men who have sworn their loyalty not to him, but to the new constitution.
“The 5000 men and women and children murdered in Halabja live in the memory of those who knew them. And those who knew them constructed a museum so that others might always remember them.
“By your actions here at this spot and by the construction of this museum, you have made sure that you will never forget but above all, the world will never forget. And I will always remember Halabja.” On this 216th anniversary of the day George Washington adjourned the Second Continental Congress and sent the new United States Constitution to the thirteen colonies for ratification, we might stop to think about what Colin Powell said to the Kurds on Monday. ““Right now, Iraqis of many faiths, many heritages, run the day-to-day affairs of Iraq. Fairly soon, you will vote on a new permanent constitution and then, on a new government. That new government will answer to the people of Iraq, will be accountable to you for its actions.”
This is so routine for us Americans, that we often simply ignore the positive impact of what we are doing because the positives are lost in a sea of negative media hype and special interest criticism. I went to the Kurdish Media for their take on Secretary Powell’s brief comments. The Kurds are the largest ethnic group in the world, more than 25 million, without their own nation independent nation. Whereas Luxembourg, with a population less than ½ million is a member of the United Nations, the Kurds, with 25 million, have no UN memberships, since they have no country. The Kurdish Media’s report said, “On March 16, 1988, the Iraqi military attacked Halabja, a mostly Kurdish village in northeastern Iraq. Mustard gasses and other poison gases killed about 5,000 civilians and injured another 10,000.
“The attack against Halabja was part of a larger campaign against the Kurds ordered by Saddam Hussein and led by his lieutenant, Ali Hassan al-Majid, also known as ‘Chemical Ali.’” (Ali has been captured by American Military.)
And then the Kurdish Media ends its report with, “The people of Halabja still suffer from very high rates of serious diseases such as cancer, neurological disorders, birth defects and miscarriages.” Remember that the next time some left-wing, anti-war activist tries to tell you that the increase in cancer, neurological disorders, birth defects and miscarriages in Iraq have been caused by (1) sanctions imposed by the United States (actually, the United Nations) or (2) the use of depleted uranium for tank piercing munitions in Desert Storm 300 miles away in 1991. Also, remember the barrels with radioactive materials at the Iraq nuclear plant that were dumped out and used as water containers by Iraqi looters after Baghdad fell? Somehow THAT got blamed on the Americans too, although they weren’t around when it happened.
There is a Kurdish saying, born of many years of persecution, that the Kurds have “No friends but the mountains.” Kurdish citizens of Halabja held up a sign as Colin Powell ended his talk, “Now we have another friend. Thank You!”
That, and the promise that the Iraqi people will have a constitution soon, written by Iraqis, says more to me about Colin Powell and the administration he represents than all the millions of words written these days bashing Bush and his liberation of Iraq. We should all be thankful for leaders willing to END Human Rights abuses rather than just TALK about them. T
o comment: mmostert@bannerofliberty.com