DATE=11/8/1999
TYPE=EDITORIAL
TITLE=EDITORIAL: IRAQI WAR CRIMINALS
NUMBER=0-08520
CONTENT=


THIS IS THE FIRST OF TWO EDITORIALS BEING
RELEASED FOR BROADCAST 11/8/99.

Anncr:  The Voice of America presents differing 
points of view on a wide variety of issues.  Next, 
an editorial expressing the policies of the United 
States Government:

Voice:  For years, the Iraqi regime of Saddam 
Hussein has systematically committed war crimes 
and crimes against humanity.  Such crimes continue 
today.  And they are not likely to stop until the 
rest of the world finally says, "Enough!" 

The crimes of the Saddam Hussein regime go back to 
his rise to power.  During the 1980s, his forces 
slaughtered tens of thousands of ethnic Kurds in 
northern Iraq, many with poison gas.  More crimes 
were committed in 1990 and 1991 when Iraqi forces 
illegally occupied Kuwait.  After a U.S.-led 
international coalition liberated Kuwait, Iraqi 
forces continued to commit crimes against humanity 
throughout the country.

Serious crimes continue today.  In southern Iraq, 
a systematic effort is underway to ethnically 
cleanse the Shia from their homes and destroy the 
marshes in which they have lived for more than a 
thousand years.  Similarly, Saddam's regime 
continues to dispossess Kurdish citizens of their 
homes and property in the areas around Kirkuk 
[Keer-KOOK], Khanaqin [Khahn-ah-KEEN], Sinjar 
[Sin-JAHR], and other districts.  This is part of 
an effort to force them to relinquish their 
Kurdish identity or face deportation.  And all 
Iraqis are subject to persecution by one of the 
world's most ruthless secret police forces - in 
which Saddam Hussein's sons, Qusay [Koo-SIGH] and 
Uday [Oo-DIE], both play leading roles. 

Clearly, the Iraqi criminals should be cut off 
from the rest of the world and brought before the 
bar of justice.  But while such criminals as 
Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic and former 
Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic have been 
indicted by an international war crimes tribunal, 
some countries still view Saddam Hussein and his 
clique as legitimate national leaders.

They are viewed, said David Scheffer, United 
States ambassador-at-large for war crimes issues, 
"as men with whom people want someday to do 
business."  But in reality, said Ambassador 
Scheffer, "these are thugs who terrorize what was 
once, and could again become, a great nation."  
The U.S. is determined to see this clique of Iraqi 
criminals stripped of their power, and if 
possible, brought to justice.  They should not 
benefit from contracts, trade, or initiatives that 
would bestow any legitimacy on their criminal 
enterprise in Baghdad.

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, 20547, U-S-A.  You may also 
comment at www-dot-voa-dot-gov-slash-editorials, 
or fax us at (202) 619-1043.




05-Nov-1999 11:17 AM EDT (05-Nov-1999 1617 UTC)
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Source: Voice of America
.