Iraq threatens to gas Kurds again?

[Guest Jobber of the Week]

http://www.dailytelegraph.co.uk/news/main..../ixnewstop.html

 

If war comes to Iraq, the Kurds of Kifri will be right in the line of fire. Iraqi officials have threatened that the moment the first American bomb lands, they will reply with a chemical assault on the town.

 

But in the entire place, there is not a single gas mask to be had, and no detection posts, decontamination centres or safe houses.

 

In lieu of proper protection, the residents of Kifri have been doing what they can to prepare. The women have baked high-energy biscuits that will keep fresh for weeks. The men scour the town's bazaar for extra blankets and plastic sheeting.

 

At night families listen intently to the news on ageing radio sets.

 

"It's going to be hard on the children," said Ali Muhammad Nasir, 30, who lives with his wife, Runak, and two little ones. "But we know only too well what Saddam's capable of."

 

Kifri is barely two hours' drive from Baghdad and at the southern tip of Kurdish-controlled northern Iraq. For years, the town has lived under the shadow of Saddam Hussein's forces. From its southern edge, a big Iraqi military base dominates the skyline. On the left, Baghdad's tanks are dug in and, to the right, is a missile silo.

 

Shells crash into the surrounding fields regularly and at night machineguns open fire without warning.

 

The town's misery has been dragged out for more than a decade. In 1991, its residents were forced to flee for the mountains when Iraqi troops rolled into town. Five years later, the Iraqis returned and they fled again. Mr and Mrs Nasir slept rough for 10 days.

 

In one vicious attack since then, the Iraqis used phosphor bombs that left victims horribly burnt.

 

"What can we do?" asked Mr Nasir, who earns a living as a petrol trader. "I would gladly give a month's salary for a gas mask, but there are none. The mountains are our only chance."

 

As he spoke, his three-year-old daughter Randa sat quietly at his feet. His wife said: "For her, it will be the first time. She is terrified."

 

In Kifri, the signs of war are everywhere. At the town's mosque, Bakar Abas was wearing cheap sunglasses to hide his ravaged eyes. He was blinded by an Iraqi rocket in 1993 when he was aged 11.

 

"Now I spend my days praying and studying the Koran," he said. In the main cemetery, the corpses of Kurdish peshmerga guerrilla fighters lie in neat rows. As we walked between the headstones, a tank shell landed just outside the town. At the last Kurdish checkpoint the officers looked nervous.

 

"The Iraqis have said they will overrun us when the fighting starts," said one. "We are brave, but we can't do much against tanks and missiles."

 

In the bazaar, demand for plastic sheeting, torches, ropes and blankets has soared. Asie Hamid Ali, 32, who runs a stall, said: "Everybody except the peshmerga is preparing to flee for the hills."

 

For some, escape is not even an option. All they can do is stay in their houses and hope for the best.

 

Wafa Kamal, 22, a housewife, wearing a bright pink dress, said: "In my house there are six children and four adults. But my uncle is sick with cancer and cannot walk. So we'll have to stay."

 

"I've bought some bread and sugar. What else can I do? Most of all, it's the gas that scares me. But nobody's told us what to do if it comes. All we can do is pray."

 

Wait, what are they going to gas the Kurds with again? Are they going to suffocate them with positive steps towards disarmament?

 

I find it hard to believe that the Iraqi officials would threaten to use chemical weapons on their own people RIGHT NOW. That's all they need to alienate anyone in the international community that is backing them up.

 

I'd like to see where the Daily Telegraph got their information on these supposed threats. It seems to me that Iraqi officials are trying as hard as they can to appear squeeky clean so that they don't all get shot in the fucking face by American forces.

 

When you're fighting diplomatically for dear life, you don't casually inform the Daily Telegraph that it's gassin' time.

 

For clarity, I don't doubt Hussein would gas the Kurds. I'm sure he'd have no problem doing it. Unless he's got no chemical weapons, but that's beside the point. What I'm saying is that they're playing the cards they're holding very shrewdly. I can't believe that they're now telling people that they'll be gassing people. That's tantamount to admitting they've got chemical weapons, and as bastardly as the Iraqi regime is...they're not a group of autistic orangotangs with Downs Syndrome. That's why I think it's just some bullshit. I bet the Daily Telegraph got it from some coalition propaganda outfit...but now we're getting into conspiracy territory.

[Guest Vern Gagne]

It wouldn't matter to the French. They'd still think the Weapons Inspectors need more time.

[Guest Some Guy]

Jobber, they already have admitted to having weapons in violation of UN Sanctions. The al Samoud missiles that they claim to have destroyed were in violation and they're destruction of them (weapons they claimed they didn't have) is an admittance of guilt. Maybe Saddam knows he's fucked and doesn't give a shit any more.

[Guest Jobber of the Week]

You didn't seem to understand what I'm saying.

 

Seriously this makes no sense. Either Iraq is dumber than crap or this article is bullshit. Why would Iraq threaten to use chemical weapons which they "don't have"?

 

The stupid threat against the kurds is alone enough to alienate the entire world. This is like if Hitler was asking for the Rheinland, and they were about to appease him and he said "GOTT UND HIMMEL GIBT MIR DER RHEINLAND OR I VILL BEGIN MY PROGRAM OF CONQUEST AND SLAUGHTER A YEAR EARLY...I mean...scheisse"

 

Why would one Iraqi official decide to start gassing people while the official line is "we don't have chemical weapons"? You seriously don't think the coalition would be giving out bullshit articles like this one?

 

You are either blind or so Pro-war that it hurts. *shrugs*

 

EDITED to switch "Pro-U.S." to "Pro-war"

[Guest Dangerous A]

I see Jobber's point. This is pro war crap. However, look at the source. I've never even heard of the daily telegraph until today. Consider the source. Their is a good argument here that can be explored. That is, what sources can we all claim are credible and not some pro or anti war propaganda. Where can we get straight up news about this war where we can all agree on and not question the validity of the source?

 

I think Daily Telegraph is one source we can eliminate.