THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN DISPUTED IN FOLLOWING LETTERS TO THE EDITOR AT THE NEW YORK TIMES
WHO DO YOU BELIEVE?
The Iraqis' Use of Poison Gas
o the Editor:
Re "A War Crime or an Act of War?," by Stephen C. Pelletiere (Op-Ed, Jan. 31):
In 1988, as a staff member working for the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, I documented Iraqi chemical weapons attacks on 49 Kurdish villages in Dihok Province along Iraq's border with Turkey. These attacks began on Aug. 25, 1988, five days after the Iran-Iraq war ended, and were specifically targeted on civilians.
As a result of the committee's report, the Senate unanimously approved comprehensive sanctions on Iraq.
Between March 1987 and August 1988, Iraq made extensive use of chemical weapons against Kurdish villages as part of a campaign aimed at depopulating rural Kurdistan. These attacks have been well documented by human rights groups, forensic investigators and the Kurds themselves. Many occurred in places far from the front line in the Iran-Iraq war.
The Kurdish survivors of the Halabja attack all blame Iraq, and many report seeing Iraqi markings on the low-flying aircraft that delivered the lethal gas. While the most deadly, the Halabja attack was one of between 60 and 180 such attacks that took thousands of civilian lives.
PETER GALBRAITH
Washington, Feb. 3, 2003
The writer is a former United States ambassador to Croatia.
•
To the Editor:
Re "A War Crime or an Act of War?" (Op-Ed, Jan. 31):
Stephen C. Pelletiere writes that Iran, not Iraq, might have been responsible for the 1988 gassing of Kurdish civilians in Halabja.
Human Rights Watch researchers interviewed survivors from Halabja and reviewed 18 tons of Iraqi state documents to establish beyond doubt that the attack was carried out by Iraq.
Iraqi forces used mustard and nerve gases, as well as mass executions, to kill some 100,000 Kurds in the genocidal 1988 Anfal campaign. The commander, Gen. Ali Hassan al-Majid, said of the Kurds, in a taped speech obtained by Human Rights Watch: "I will kill them all with chemical weapons! Who is going to say anything? The international community?"
The evidence is incontrovertible: Iraq is responsible for the crime of genocide, committed against its own Kurdish population. The gassing at Halabja was part of that crime.
KENNETH ROTH
Executive Director
Human Rights Watch
New York, Feb. 3, 2003
•
To the Editor:
Stephen C. Pelletiere ("A War Crime or an Act of War?," Op-Ed, Jan. 31) refers to a United States classified report, unknown to us, that would appear to exonerate the culprit in the tragedy at Halabja, Iraq, in March 1988.
This report stands in stark contrast to the United Nations investigation team findings, which invariably singled out the Iraqi Army as the culprit in the use of chemical weapons.
The Iranian government was the party that brought the Halabja tragedy to the attention of the United Nations and invited the international media to visit the city under its escort, the action that helped make clear who the culprit was.
Unfortunately, United States political expediency at the time obstructed the United Nations' efforts to investigate this incident fully.
MORTEZA RAMANDI
Press Attaché, Mission of Iran
to the United Nations
New York, Feb. 3, 2003
Зачем мне подпись? Меня и так все знают.
