Saddam shoulda been overthrown in 1991

Another article that compels me to ask why Saddam's regime was not overthrown in 1991, after the US and allies destroyed Iraq's infrastructure via 40 consecutive days of bombing and then marched to the outskirts of Baghdad.

Thanks Courtney for sending me the link to this article.

The Bones of ‘Anfal’

A multicultural team of archaeologists and forensic experts unearths the grizzly evidence of Saddam Hussein’s genocidal reign.

By Dennis Fisher

The horror began to emerge from a rocky patch of Iraq’s Al Hajara Desert 17 miles from the nearest military outpost.

Each scrape of a 7,000-pound backhoe bucket revealed more and more unspeakable violence, cemented in time beneath the arid soil: mothers cradling infants, both bodies riddled with bullets, children still grasping favorite toys, and even the body of a woman with a near-term fetus in her womb.

A forensic team’s grisly work provided the clearest look to date at what came to be known as “Anfal,” the slaughter of about 100,000 ethnic Kurds Saddam Hussein orchestrated in the waning days of Iraq’s 1988 war with Iran.

A group of American archaeologists, anthropologists, and forensics experts led the team, which had been dispatched to the isolated, war-torn region to document the graves and other evidence of the atrocities.

Although the debate over the effectiveness of U.S. efforts in Iraq continues, the Americans who worked on the difficult and dangerous forensics project are certain their efforts were vital in documenting the brutal actions of a despotic regime, as well as helping bring a measure of justice to the Kurdish people.

The evidence they gathered was used in 2006 to help convict Hussein and several of his top military advisers on charges of crimes against humanity. The horrific pictures and reports the team produced also provided the most graphic evidence yet of the extent of Hussein’s crimes against his own people and the severity of his retribution against those who turned against him. Hussein may not have been stockpiling nuclear weapons, but he executed his genocidal plan the old-fashioned way: with terror squads, midnight kidnappings, and wholesale slaughter.

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