Listen....Your government in the last 8 months has started 2 bloody unfair wars against "3rd world" countries. Also another plan of this pathetic government of your's is to attack north Korea as well.

You try to prove to me and to the rest that you are liberators and fight for peace. First of all you have never fought. First of all your American history is far less important than any other history, european or not, on this f***ing planet. You are the only country since nineties that made at least 6 war attempts (basically bombing and destroying without casualties, and if you think you have serious casualties go and ask the afghan people , serbs, somalians or any other poor nation about their CIVILIAN losses.

In europe's and the rest of the world's eyes you are no different than Nazis in 1939......


Now what the rest of the world should do about that? maybe someone has to do something about your terrorism...on the planet don't you think?

Im just making a point that you are jealous of Americans, no matter what we do, were evil. How do I know that? YOu just turned this topic from 'how we should go to war with Saddam' to 'what Americans do'. Because we fit the description from the fairty tales your momma told you when you were young. The rich and more powerful are evil.

Too bad youre just another misinformed poor human being otherwise this link should make you realize that most, if not all the comments youve made are full of shit and hypocrism.

WARNING Explicit images... http://www.thememoryhole.org/war/thisiswar/

The chemical gas attack on the town of Halabja in March 1988, as a result of which 5000 Iraqi Kurdish civilians were killed and 10000 wounded. Also, 281 other villages, valleys and mountaintops were gassed under his command.

• The Anfal operations, during which 182 000 civilian Kurds were rounded up by the Security forces, disappeared and were allegedly killed. [During a meeting of officials of the Bureau for the Organization of the Affairs of the North on January 26, 1989, which was recorded on tape, he acknowledges that these citizens were buried in mass graves dug with mechanical shovels.]

• The destruction of 4500 Kurdish villages, hundreds of hospitals, schools and mosques.

• The destruction of more than 150 Assyrian villages, dozens of churches and monasteries as well as the disappearances of about one thousand members of the Assyrian community.

• For the elimination of the village of Dujail in 1983, the extra judicial killings of many of its inhabitants and generally collectively punishing the inhabitants of Dujail. [Dujail is a village north of Baghdad which was destroyed following an assassination attempt against Saddam Hussein that originated from there.]

• For the brutal actions, such as mass executions, carried out by the Iraqi armed forces in suppressing the uprising of March 1991.

• For torture, murder and rape.

• For the brutal suppression of the Shi´ite Muslim population of Southern Iraq in 1991 and the destruction of Shi´ite Muslim life and culture. Iraqi tanks under his command rolled into Southern villages with the slogan “No more Shi´ites after todayâ€.

• Aided in the planning of the invasion of Kuwait in 1990 and commanding the destruction, looting and atrocities committed during the occupation of Kuwait.

to Admit Human Rights Monitors



The UN Commission on Human Rights and the UN General Assembly issued a report that noted "with dismay" the lack of improvement in the situation of human rights in Iraq. The report strongly criticized the "systematic, widespread, and extremely grave violations of human rights" and of international humanitarian law by the Iraqi Government, which it stated resulted in "all-pervasive repression and oppression sustained by broad-based discrimination and widespread terror." The report called on the Iraqi Government to fulfill its obligations under international human rights treaties.



Saddam Hussein has repeatedly refused visits by human rights monitors and the establishment of independent human rights organizations. From 1992 until 2002, Saddam prevented the UN Special Rapporteur from visiting Iraq.



In September 2001 the Government expelled six UN humanitarian relief workers without providing any explanation.


Violence Against Women



Human rights organizations and opposition groups continued to receive reports of women who suffered from severe psychological trauma after being raped by Iraqi personnel while in custody.



Former Mukhabarat member Khalid Al-Janabi reported that a Mukhabarat unit, the Technical Operations Directorate, used rape and sexual assault in a systematic and institutionalized manner for political purposes. The unit reportedly also videotaped the rape of female relatives of suspected oppositionists and used the videotapes for blackmail purposes and to ensure their future cooperation.



In June 2000, a former Iraqi general reportedly received a videotape of security forces raping a female family member. He subsequently received a telephone call from an intelligence agent who stated that another female relative was being held and warned him to stop speaking out against the Iraqi Government.



Iraqi security forces allegedly raped women who were captured during the Anfal Campaign and during the occupation of Kuwait.



Amnesty International reported that, in October 2000, the Iraqi Government executed dozens of women accused of prostitution.



In May, the Iraqi Government reportedly tortured to death the mother of three Iraqi defectors for her children's opposition activities.



Iraqi security agents reportedly decapitated numerous women and men in front of their family members. According to Amnesty International, the victims' heads were displayed in front of their homes for several days.


Torture



Iraqi security services routinely and systematically torture detainees. According to former prisoners, torture techniques included branding, electric shocks administered to the genitals and other areas, beating, pulling out of fingernails, burning with hot irons and blowtorches, suspension from rotating ceiling fans, dripping acid on the skin, rape, breaking of limbs, denial of food and water, extended solitary confinement in dark and extremely small compartments, and threats to rape or otherwise harm family members and relatives. Evidence of such torture often was apparent when security forces returned the mutilated bodies of torture victims to their families.



According to a report received by the UN Special Rapporteur in 1998, hundreds of Kurds and other detainees have been held without charge for close to two decades in extremely harsh conditions, and many of them have been used as subjects in Iraq's illegal experimental chemical and biological weapons programs.



In 2000, the authorities reportedly introduced tongue amputation as a punishment for persons who criticize Saddam Hussein or his family, and on July 17, government authorities reportedly amputated the tongue of a person who allegedly criticized Saddam Hussein. Authorities reportedly performed the amputation in front of a large crowd. Similar tongue amputations also reportedly occurred.



Refugees fleeing to Europe often reported instances of torture to receiving governments, and displayed scars and mutilations to substantiate their claims.



In August 2001 Amnesty International released a report entitled Iraq -- Systematic Torture of Political Prisoners, which detailed the systematic and routine use of torture against suspected political opponents and, occasionally, other prisoners. Amnesty International also reports "Detainees have also been threatened with bringing in a female relative, especially the wife or the mother, and raping her in front of the detainee. Some of these threats have been carried out."



Saad Keis Naoman, an Iraqi soccer player who defected to Europe, reported that he and his teammates were beaten and humiliated at the order of Uday Saddam Hussein for poor performances. He was flogged until his back was bloody, forcing him to sleep on his stomach in the tiny cell in Al-Radwaniya prison.

Executions and Repression of Political Opposition



Former UN Human Rights Special Rapporteur Max Van der Stoel's report in April 1998 stated that Iraq had executed at least 1,500 people during the previous year for political reasons.



The government continues to execute summarily alleged political opponents and leaders in the Shi'a religious community. Reports suggest that persons were executed merely because of their association with an opposition group or as part of a continuing effort to reduce prison populations.



In February 2001, the Government reportedly executed 37 political detainees for opposition activity.



In June 2001, security forces killed a Shi'a cleric, Hussein Bahar al-Uloom, for refusing to appear on television to congratulate Qusay Saddam Hussein for his election to a Ba'th Party position. Such killings continue an apparent government policy of eliminating prominent Shi'a clerics who are suspected of disloyalty to the government. In 1998 and 1999, the Government killed a number of leading Shi'a clerics, prompting the former Special Rapporteur in 1999 to express his concern to the government that the killings might be part of a systematic attack by government officials on the independent leadership of the Shi'a Muslim community. The government did not respond to the Special Rapporteur's letter.



There are persistent reports that families are made to pay for the cost of executions.



Saddam Hussein destroyed the southern Iraqi town of Albu 'Aysh sometime between September 1998 and December 1999.



Iraq has conducted a systematic "Arabization" campaign of ethnic cleansing designed to harass and expel ethnic Kurds and Turkmen from government-controlled areas. Non-Arab citizens are forced to change their ethnicity or their identity documents and adopt Arab names, or they are deprived of their homes, property and food-ration cards, and expelled.


Saddam Hussein's Abuse of Children



Saddam Hussein has held 3-week training courses in weapons use, hand-to-hand fighting, rappelling from helicopters, and infantry tactics for children between 10 and 15 years of age. Camps for these "Saddam Cubs" operated throughout the country. Senior military officers who supervised the courses noted that the children held up under the "physical and psychological strain" of training that lasted for as long as 14 hours each day. Sources in the opposition report that the army found it difficult to recruit enough children to fill all of the vacancies in the program. Families reportedly were threatened with the loss of their food ration cards if they refused to enroll their children in the course. The Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq reported in October 1999 that authorities were denying food ration cards to families that failed to send their young sons to Saddam Cubs compulsory weapons-training camps. Similarly, authorities reportedly withheld school examination results to students unless they registered in the Fedayeen Saddam organization.



Iraq often announces food ration cuts for the general population, blaming US or UK actions. Among the most controversial have been cuts in baby milk rations. Iraq has blamed the shortages on US and UK contract rejections, although the UN has approved all baby milk contracts submitted.



Child labor persists and there are instances of forced labor.



There are widespread reports that food and medicine that could have been made available to the general public, including children, have been stockpiled in warehouses or diverted for the personal use of some government officials.


Disappearances



Amnesty International reported that Iraq has the world's worst record for numbers of persons who have disappeared or remain unaccounted for.



In 1999, the UN Special Rapporteur stated that Iraq remains the country with the highest number of disappearances known to the UN: over 16,000.


Basic Freedoms: Freedom of Speech, Freedom of the Press, Freedom of Information


In practice, Saddam Hussein does not permit freedom of speech or of the press, and does not tolerate political dissent in areas under its control. In November 2000, the UN General Assembly criticized Saddam Hussein's "suppression of freedom of thought, expression, information, association, and assembly." The Special Rapporteur stated in October 1999 that citizens lived "in a climate of fear," in which whatever they said or did, particularly in the area of politics, involved "the risk of arrest and interrogation by the police or military intelligence." He noted that "the mere suggestion that someone is not a supporter of the President carries the prospect of the death penalty."



In June 2001, the Human Rights Alliance reported that Saddam Hussein had killed more than 500 journalists and other intellectuals in the past decade.


Saddam Hussein frequently infringes on citizens' constitutional right to privacy. Saddam routinely ignores constitutional provisions designed to protect the confidentiality of mail, telegraphic correspondence, and telephone conversations. Iraq periodically jams news broadcasts from outside the country, including those of opposition groups. The security services and the Ba'th Party maintain pervasive networks of informers to deter dissident activity and instill fear in the public.


Foreign journalists must work from offices located within the Iraqi ministry building and are accompanied everywhere they go by ministry officers, who reportedly restrict their movements and make it impossible for them to interact freely with citizens.



The Iraqi Government, the Ba'th Party, or persons close to Saddam Hussein own all print and broadcast media, and operate them as propaganda outlets. They generally do not report opposing points of view that are expressed either domestically or abroad.


In September 1999, Hashem Hasan, a journalist and Baghdad University professor, was arrested after declining an appointment as editor of one of Uday Hussein's publications. The Paris-based Reporters Sans Frontieres (RSF) sent a letter of appeal to Uday Hussein; however, Hassan's fate and whereabouts remained unknown at year's end.


Saddam Hussein regularly jams foreign news broadcasts. Satellite dishes, modems, and fax machines are banned, although some restrictions reportedly were lifted in 1999.


In government-operated Internet cafes, users only are permitted to view web sites provided by the Ministry of Culture and Information.
In 1999, Uday Hussein reportedly dismissed hundreds of members of the Iraqi Union of Journalists for not praising Saddam Hussein and the Government sufficiently.

Withholding of Food



Relatives who do not report deserters may lose their ration cards for purchasing government-controlled food supplies, be evicted from their residences, or face the arrest of other family members. The Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq reported in October and December 1999 that authorities denied food ration cards to families that failed to send their young sons to the "Saddam's Cubs" compulsory weapons training camps.


Crimes Against Muslims



The Government consistently politicizes and interferes with religious pilgrimages, both of Iraqi Muslims who wish to make the Hajj to Mecca and Medina and of Iraqi and non-Iraqi Muslim pilgrims who travel to holy sites within the country. For example, in 1998 the UN Sanctions Committee offered to disburse vouchers for travel and expenses to pilgrims making the Hajj; however, the Government rejected this offer. In 1999 the Sanctions Committee offered to disburse funds to cover Hajj-related expenses via a neutral third party; the Government again rejected the offer. Following the December 1999 passage of UN Security Council Resolution 1284, the Sanctions Committee again sought to devise a protocol to facilitate the payment for individuals making the journey. The Sanctions Committee proposed to issue $250 in cash and $1,750 in travelers checks to each individual pilgrim to be distributed at the U.N. office in Baghdad in the presence of both U.N. and Iraqi officials. The Government again declined and, consequently, no Iraqi pilgrims were able to take advantage of the available funds or, in 2000, of the permitted flights. The Government continued to insist that these funds would be accepted only if they were paid in cash to the government-controlled central bank, not to the Hajj pilgrims.

More than 95 percent of the population of Iraq are Muslim. The (predominantly Arab) Shi'a Muslims constitute a 60 to 65 percent majority:



The Iraqi government has for decades conducted a brutal campaign of murder, summary execution, and protracted arbitrary arrest against the religious leaders and followers of the majority Shi'a Muslim population. Despite nominal legal protection of religious equality, the Government has repressed severely the Shi'a clergy and those who follow the Shi'a faith.



Forces from the Mukhabarat, General Security (Amn Al-Amm), the Military Bureau, Saddam's Commandos (Fedayeen Saddam), and the Ba'th Party have killed senior Shi'a clerics, desecrated Shi'a mosques and holy sites, and interfered with Shi'a religious education. Security agents reportedly are stationed at all the major Shi'a mosques and shrines, where they search, harass, and arbitrarily arrest worshipers.



The following government restrictions on religious rights remained in effect during 2001: restrictions and outright bans on communal Friday prayer by Shi'a Muslims; restrictions on the loaning of books by Shi'a mosque libraries; a ban on the broadcast of Shi'a programs on government-controlled radio or television; a ban on the publication of Shi'a books, including prayer books and guides; a ban on funeral processions other than those organized by the Government; a ban on other Shi'a funeral observances such as gatherings for Koran reading; and the prohibition of certain processions and public meetings that commemorate Shi'a holy days. Shi'a groups report that they captured documents from the security services during the 1991 uprising that listed thousands of forbidden Shi'a religious writings.



In June 1999, several Shi'a opposition groups reported that the Government instituted a program in the predominantly Shi'a districts of Baghdad that used food ration cards to restrict where individuals could pray. The ration cards, part of the UN oil-for-food program, reportedly are checked when the bearer enters a mosque and are printed with a notice of severe penalties for those who attempt to pray at an unauthorized location.

Listen....Your government in the last 8 months has started 2 bloody unfair wars against "3rd world" countries. Also another plan of this pathetic government of your's is to attack north Korea as well.

You try to prove to me and to the rest that you are liberators and fight for peace. First of all you have never fought. First of all your American history is far less important than any other history, european or not, on this f***ing planet. You are the only country since nineties that made at least 6 war attempts (basically bombing and destroying without casualties, and if you think you have serious casualties go and ask the afghan people , serbs, somalians or any other poor nation about their CIVILIAN losses.

In europe's and the rest of the world's eyes you are no different than Nazis in 1939......


Now what the rest of the world should do about that? maybe someone has to do something about your terrorism...on the planet don't you think?

Did someone say Jealous? im Jealous of Americans? I mean guys wake the f**k up...

All im saying is that your government would f**k anyone up in order to continue to have the Economical Power and the control over the rest of the world. I think there are many countries that would do that if they had a chance.....but that doesn't mean that it is right. Maybe Saddam is someone who would do something like that if he was a superpower like the US, but WE DON'T NEED ANY MOTHERF****R TO TELL US WHO IS GOING TO LIVE OR DIE OR WHO IS A TERRORIST AND WHO IS NOT....

For me right now Bush is a lot more dangerous than any Saddams or terrorists.....

but who can do something about it? No one I guess.
As for the Anti-US propaganda u r talking about, well u better think again.

You would love that there was an Anti-US movement because the rest of the world is jealous of you, for the reason that it would make you feel very important.

Big movements like that are never caused by jealousy.....where u born yesterday?????

All I can add is who do the Americans think they are telling other countries what they can or cant do. Who elected them the owners of the world.
All this has come from a guy who was elected to office by a court in Florida ( who the people didnt want ) and just wants to have a war to either get elected next term / stop the population worring about the economy going to crap or just wants to get one up on his dad and get rid of Saddam.
Thats my opinion and to all the troops out there COME HOME SAFE.

Did someone say Jealous? im Jealous of Americans? I mean guys wake the f**k up...

All im saying is that your government would f**k anyone up in order to continue to have the Economical Power and the control over the rest of the world. I think there are many countries that would do that if they had a chance.....but that doesn't mean that it is right. Maybe Saddam is someone who would do something like that if he was a superpower like the US, but WE DON'T NEED ANY MOTHERF****R TO TELL US WHO IS GOING TO LIVE OR DIE OR WHO IS A TERRORIST AND WHO IS NOT....

For me right now Bush is a lot more dangerous than any Saddams or terrorists.....but who can do something about it? No one I guess.
As for the Anti-US propaganda u r talking about, well u better think again. You would love that there was an Anti-US movement because the rest of the world is jealous of you, for the reason that it would make you feel very important.
Big movements like that are never caused by jealousy.....where u born yesterday?????

You should be aware that Bush might want to detract you (i mean the American people) from the real life, to make you think more of the war and less about what is happenning in America. Is anyone right now care about American issues in America? Economic troubles, other issues, they can not dissappear like that, you should care more about yourselves, and American goverment should continue supporting their people instead of detracting them. History has shown that leaders of countries have tried to detract their people from their own concerns several times when they were in difficult situations. So please be aware... And I am consern about everyone.
(In a previous statement of mine someone accused me of calling him selfish, the only thing i can say is that noone is innocent until the oppossite is proven, and i wasn't talking specifically )

I don't get it......If im outraged you should cut me some slack you know....there are people dying and you want me to be calm and go into "The Facts" in order to tell you that right now while you and me exchange "opinions" some others have their houses bombed.
You obviously want to do it the way politicians do it....but that is the problem nowadays. Politicians (most of them) are corrupted, and using "The Facts" and fancy words they excuse themselves. Don't tell me about the UN, don't tell me about Hitler and how we would all speak German, because it does not give you the right to bomb anyone. Saddam did this, Saddam did that....but the amount of people he killed cannot even compare to the amount of people The US Government has killed during all the bombing in the wars...both American Soldiers with families and the rest. If nothing else you should be outraged because you should know by now that this war is not necessary at all......

I was a naive fool to be a human shield for Saddam
By Daniel Pepper
(Filed: 23/03/2003)


I wanted to join the human shields in Baghdad because it was direct action which had a chance of bringing the anti-war movement to the forefront of world attention. It was inspiring: the human shield volunteers were making a sacrifice for their political views - much more of a personal investment than going to a demonstration in Washington or London. It was simple - you get on the bus and you represent yourself.

So that is exactly what I did on the morning of Saturday, January 25. I am a 23-year-old Jewish-American photographer living in Islington, north London. I had travelled in the Middle East before: as a student, I went to the Palestinian West Bank during the intifada. I also went to Afghanistan as a photographer for Newsweek.

The human shields appealed to my anti-war stance, but by the time I had left Baghdad five weeks later my views had changed drastically. I wouldn't say that I was exactly pro-war - no, I am ambivalent - but I have a strong desire to see Saddam removed.

We on the bus felt that we were sympathetic to the views of the Iraqi civilians, even though we didn't actually know any. The group was less interested in standing up for their rights than protesting against the US and UK governments.

I was shocked when I first met a pro-war Iraqi in Baghdad - a taxi driver taking me back to my hotel late at night. I explained that I was American and said, as we shields always did, "Bush bad, war bad, Iraq good". He looked at me with an expression of incredulity.

As he realised I was serious, he slowed down and started to speak in broken English about the evils of Saddam's regime. Until then I had only heard the President spoken of with respect, but now this guy was telling me how all of Iraq's oil money went into Saddam's pocket and that if you opposed him politically he would kill your whole family.

It scared the hell out of me. First I was thinking that maybe it was the secret police trying to trick me but later I got the impression that he wanted me to help him escape. I felt so bad. I told him: "Listen, I am just a schmuck from the United States, I am not with the UN, I'm not with the CIA - I just can't help you."

Of course I had read reports that Iraqis hated Saddam Hussein, but this was the real thing. Someone had explained it to me face to face. I told a few journalists who I knew. They said that this sort of thing often happened - spontaneous, emotional, and secretive outbursts imploring visitors to free them from Saddam's tyrannical Iraq.

I became increasingly concerned about the way the Iraqi regime was restricting the movement of the shields, so a few days later I left Baghdad for Jordan by taxi with five others. Once over the border we felt comfortable enough to ask our driver what he felt about the regime and the threat of an aerial bombardment.

"Don't you listen to Powell on Voice of America radio?" he said. "Of course the Americans don't want to bomb civilians. They want to bomb government and Saddam's palaces. We want America to bomb Saddam."

We just sat, listening, our mouths open wide. Jake, one of the others, just kept saying, "Oh my God" as the driver described the horrors of the regime. Jake was so shocked at how naive he had been. We all were. It hadn't occurred to anyone that the Iraqis might actually be pro-war.

The driver's most emphatic statement was: "All Iraqi people want this war." He seemed convinced that civilian casualties would be small; he had such enormous faith in the American war machine to follow through on its promises. Certainly more faith than any of us had.

Perhaps the most crushing thing we learned was that most ordinary Iraqis thought Saddam Hussein had paid us to come to protest in Iraq. Although we explained that this was categorically not the case, I don't think he believed us. Later he asked me: "Really, how much did Saddam pay you to come?"

It hit me on visceral and emotional levels: this was a real portrayal of Iraq life. After the first conversation, I completely rethought my view of the Iraqi situation. My understanding changed on intellectual, emotional, psychological levels. I remembered the experience of seeing Saddam's egomaniacal portraits everywhere for the past two weeks and tried to place myself in the shoes of someone who had been subjected to seeing them every day for the last 20 or so years.

Last Thursday night I went to photograph the anti-war rally in Parliament Square. Thousands of people were shouting "No war" but without thinking about the implications for Iraqis. Some of them were drinking, dancing to Samba music and sparring with the police. It was as if the protesters were talking about a different country where the ruling government is perfectly acceptable. It really upset me.

Anyone with half a brain must see that Saddam has to be taken out. It is extraordinarily ironic that the anti-war protesters are marching to defend a government which stops its people exercising that freedom.

If nothing else you should be outraged because you should know by now that this war is not necessary at all......

I will tell you what....if all the world voted for this war and thought that it was necessary as you say it is then I would not object and I would think that maybe im wrong and the war is the only solution, but when the whole world OBJECTS who the f**k are the Americans to judge any situation what is wrong and what is right? who the f**k said that your opinion about war is more important that alla the other countries' opinions? This is not a movie by James Cameron or Steven Spielberg...this is real life and the blood spilled is real...so why don't you save your war theories for someone who believes your bullshit about who is the bad guy and who not? Cause the rest of the world thinks you are full of shit and you think that you know what you are doing. That means you underestimate everybody else's intelligence and perception of what is going on and that is something that says a lot about your intentions.
After all if history tells us something its that nobody stays on top forever............

The Iraqis opinions are more important than ignorant fools

Exactly, ask any Iraqi civilian

Anyone with half a brain knows that Saddam is tyrannical

If we stopped aiding the world's countries they'd be in shambles. What gratitude do we get? Protests to "STOP THE AMERICAN HOLOCAUST" and nonsense like that

Iraqis need help you stupid idiot and not bombs over their homes killing them....

So you asked them and they said "BOMB US PLEASE WE BEG YOU".....you must be a pathetic fool.....

Everyone with a whole brain knows though that all you do is playing god....

And who the fuck asked for your help here? You want gratitude? Mind your own fucking bussiness and stop playing with peoples lives like they are puppets....