[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 33 (Thursday, March 17, 2005)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E505]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                           HALABJA REMEMBERED

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. DANA ROHRABACHER

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, March 17, 2005

  Mr. ROHRABACHER. Mr. Speaker, on March 16, 1988 Saddam Hussein 
brutally attacked Halabja, Kurdistan in Iraq. When the bombing attacks 
were completed, over 5,000 were dead and over 8,000 injured.
  The injured people were civilians. Families died together that day, 
orphans were made that day, a day that the Kurdish people will never 
forget.
  As the poison gas largely cleared by noon that day, the deadly smoke 
lay close to the ground, sinking into the basements of the homes where 
people had gone to seek shelter.
  They watched as their skin burned. Some were immediately blinded. 
Some took shelter among the corpses of their family members. The ones 
who were able to run, ran, stopping only when they were overcome with 
pain or exhaustion.
  Today, I honor those men, women, and children who lost their lives at 
the hands of a ruthless killer, Saddam Hussein. The Halabja massacre 
represents 5,000 of the 200,000 Kurdish people who died or are missing 
during the genocide campaigns of the Saddam Hussein regime. Hundreds of 
thousands of other Iraqis were also killed or are missing.
  Mr. Speaker, as our Armed Forces battle to build a democratic future 
for the people of Iraq, we should recall the horror of Halabja, and 
acknowledge that the hellish tyranny that shackled all but a few 
Baathist thugs is part of Iraq history and not part of its future. 
Let's recall the suffering of all Iraqis, especially the Kurds in 
Halabja, and honor our Armed Forces for the better future they are 
building in Iraq.

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