Political Quotes

“briefly, I wish to speak to another issue, an issue that relates to an anniversary that will occur on March 16. On March 16, 18 years ago, Saddam Hussein launched one of the most brutal and indiscriminate attacks against his own people. On that day, a group of eight Iraqi aircraft began dropping chemical munitions on the town of Halabja in northern Iraq. According to Kurdish commanders on the scene, the planes made multiple passes before their gruesome task was complete. The planes would drop chemical munitions, including mustard agent and nerve gas, for 45 minutes. After they had gone, another group would come 15 minutes later to continue the assault with drop after drop after drop. They concentrated their attack on the city and the roads leading out to safety. I had the opportunity to visit with a number of the Kurdish physicians about 2 years ago who described in detail to me what they saw and what they treated following these gruesome attacks. Many of the victims were drenched in liquid mustard gas, as well as these nerve agents, and others were breathing this toxic vapor. The physicians described to me the fact that this mustard gas and the nerve agents were segmented in parts of little hotels, where one week one wing would get a mustard gas, another a nerve agent, in order that the Saddam Hussein people would see which of these would be the most deadly, which would cause the most suffering.…”