I will never forget when someone posted this here just before the Fallujah atrocities we committed...I mean what our country committed in our name without our permission. I don't think we will ever know all that really happened.
This letter was signed by the following people of Fallujah, and sent to Kofi Annan.
Best regards.
Kassim Abdullsattar al-Jumaily
President
The Study Center of Human Rights & Democracy
On behalf of the people of Fallujah and for:
Al-Fallujah Shura Council
The Bar Association
The Teacher Union
Council of Tribes Leaders
The House of Fatwa and Religious Education
It read in part:
His Excellency Mr. Kofi Annan Secretary General of the United Nations New York
Fallujah 14 October 2004
Your Excellency
It is very obvious that the American forces are committing crimes of genocide every day in Iraq. Now, while we are writing to Your Excellency, the American forces are committing these crimes in the city of Fallujah. The American warplanes are dropping their most powerful bombs on the civilian in the city, killing and injured hundreds of innocent people. At the same time their tanks are attacking the city with heavy artillery. As you know, there is no military presence in the city. There had been no actions taken by the Fallujah resistance in recent weeks because the negotiations between representatives of the city and the Government which were going well. In this atmosphere, the new bombardment by America has happened while the people of Fallujah have been preparing themselves for the fast of Ramadan. Now many of them are now trapped under the wreckage of their demolished houses, and nobody can help them while the attack continues.
On the night of the 13th October alone American bombardment demolished 50 houses on top of their residents. Is this a genocidal crime or a lesson about the American democracy? It is obvious that the Americans are committing acts of terror against the people of Fallujah for one reason only: their refusal to accept the Occupation.
Your Excellency and the whole world know that the Americans and their allies devastated our country under the pretext of the threat of WMD. Now, after all the destruction and the killing of thousand civilians, they have admitted that there no weapons were found. But they have said nothing about all the crimes they committed. Unfortunately everybody is now silent, and will not even dignify the murdered Iraqi civilians with words of condemnation. Are the Americans going to pay compensation as Iraq has been forced to do after the Gulf war?
There is more in the letter.
http://www.axisoflogic.com/cgi-bin/exec/view.pl?archive=123&num=12976&printer=1Kofi Annan responded rather uselessly in November 04.
http://www.cbc.ca/world/story/2004/11/06/fallujah041106.htmlUnited Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan has sent a letter to the governments of the United States, Britain and Iraq warning that an all-out assault on Fallujah could undermine national elections set for January and further alienate Iraqis.
"The threat or actual use of force not only risks deepening the sense of alienation of certain communities, but would also reinforce perceptions among Iraqis of a continued military occupation," the letter said.
Dear Kofi Annan, you think? You used the words occupation. You were right.
I don't think we will ever know really just how many had to disappear into the desert, leaving their homes behind. Or how many died. Or left as refugees if they could manage. I remember one of our Democrats who ran for president speaking on TV and saying if we had to hit Fallujah we needed to do it quickly and not drag it out:
"I think it's clear there aren't enough troops there in the marine force around the city to really do the job. I think when that assault goes down, it's got to go down very quickly. We don't want it dragging on over a number of days."
That angered me for some reason, like killing people more quickly is better than doing it slowly.
More about Fallujah then:
http://newstandardnews.net:80/content/index.cfm/items/1201Civilian casualties are very much on the mind of Amnesty International. The human rights group issued a public statement on Thursday insisting that US and Iraqi troops make every effort to limit harm to noncombatants.
Since the US estimates that only about 1,200 armed rebels are operating inside the city of Fallujah, more than 95 percent of the people presently estimated to be inside the city limits are presumed to be noncombatants.
The Amnesty statement chastised the US for recent civilian deaths and the destruction of homes and other property around Fallujah. The group also repeatedly reminded US and Iraqi officials of their obligations under the Geneva Conventions, to which both Iraq and the United States are signatories. The group emphasized the rules of warfare and the treatment of captives. Amnesty also addressed commanders of the resistance, calling on them to avoid placing civilians in harm’s way and to treat wounded and captured invaders with care.
...."But even inside the Iraqi interim government, there is opposition to the planned assault. President Ghazi Al-Yawer on Monday told a Kuwaiti newspaper, Al-Qabas, that an attack could be avoided. "The way the coalition is managing the crisis is wrong," he said. "It is as if someone shot his horse in the head to kill a fly that landed on it. The fly flies away, and the horse dies."
We will probably never kmow just how many we killed or drove away. But it doesn't seem as though anyone much cared about it.