
'It was exactly like the Nazis in the 30's.'. Samarrai, who defected on a trip to Switzerland in 1983 and returned here after the war. "'The system of the regime started in primary school,' said Mr. "Virtually every athlete at the club has physical or mental scars inflicted by Saddam Hussein's older son, Uday, who took control of Iraq's Olympic Committee in 1984 and began a terrifying campaign of torture and humiliation. Wrapped in linen shrouds are being held in a makeshift morgue in a youth center for Son and 3 nephews after an uprising against the Iraqi government in 1991.The bodies She lost 5 members of her family including her husband, Yasser Alaskary, co-founder of Iraqi Prospect Organisation, an Iraqi freedom group, The Independent (London), September 18, 2003Īweda Abed Al-Amer, 48, grieves over two members of her family found in a mass grave in They just didn't know that everyone else was hating it too." Everyone was suffering terribly, but they were suffering alone. She said to her neighbour, 'You too?' Under Saddam it was a crime to mourn people killed by the regime-it made you seem suspicious too. On some houses it looks like a long shopping list. And she looked down her street, and there were black banners on almost every house.

"The day after the liberation, my aunt put out a black banner-an Arab mourning ritual-with the names of all her relatives who had been murdered by the regime on it. They are produced in home factories, with the simplest computer equipment." These are the atrocity discs of Iraq, a booming mini-industry in a country still stricken by the consequences of the war. Then they queue to pay 1,000 Iraqi dinars (about 33p) for laser discs containing footage of the appalling scenes. Crimson fragments of bodies lie in the street, moments after a huge explosion, to the soundtrack of an Arab lament. Screaming men plead for their lives as they are beaten by Saddam Hussein's secret police. Handcuffed prisoners are executed with sticks of dynamite shoved into their pockets.
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"Most afternoons, among the market stalls leading to the old city of Najaf young men set up TV sets in the street showing grotesque scenes of cruelty. Bill Glauber, Chicago Tribune, September 27, 2003 'Whenever there was a merchant, a famous name in any sector, the old regime tried to stop them,' Omar Tabra said. "When Saddam Hussein's government went on an anti-inflation tear in 1992, it rounded up, tried and executed 42 food merchants in one day, including Tabra's father, the wealthy patriarch of a well-known trading family. Khairiya Hatim, Iraqi town councilor who was imprisoned with her family because of their allegiance to a banned opposition party, Sunday Telegraph (London), September 28, 2003 Even then, I knew I would never see him again. But the worst day was when they came for my father. One time, they buried my uncle in the sand up to his neck and left him in the heat. "The prison was a terrible, miserable place. Below, the Iraqi people share their stories of brutality, torture, fear, and death.įor more personal stories of life after Saddam, visit Liberation Update.įor more information on Coalition assistance to protect mass graves, Mass grave sites across Iraq provide further evidence of Saddam's atrocities. The cruelty of Saddam's regime is evident in its brutality toward Iraqi citizens.

With his extensive journal notes, combat reports, and painstaking research, Russell has preserved the story as only someone who lived the experience can do.Remains found at mass gravesites, located near a farm on the outskirts of Al Mahawil, Iraq, May 7, 2003. Steve Russell and his men of the 1st Battalion, 22nd Infantry Regiment, 4th Infantry Division. forces exterminated Osama bin Laden in Pakistan on May 1, 2011, the world witnessed a brilliantly fruitful example of history repeating itself less than a decade earlier, the capture of Saddam Hussein, a triumph of military strategy in and of itself, opened the door for the more recent and essential victory in the War on Terror.Īt the center of the six-month manhunt were Lt. Steve Russell comes a compelling firsthand account of the blow-by-blow plays of the actual raids that led to the capture of Saddam Hussein in 2003.
