[Congressional Record Volume 159, Number 38 (Friday, March 15, 2013)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E315]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




 IN SOLEMN REMEMBRANCE OF THE 25TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE HALABJA MASSACRE

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                          HON. LORETTA SANCHEZ

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                         Friday, March 15, 2013

  Ms. LORETTA SANCHEZ of California. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in 
solemn remembrance of the 25th- anniversary of the massacre of over 
5000 innocent civilians in the Iraqi Kurdish city of Halabja by the 
criminal regime of Saddam Hussein. This atrocity took place on March 
16, 1988, during Saddam's genocidal Anfal Campaign to exterminate or 
expel the Kurdish people of northern Iraq. The Halabja massacre is 
worthy of our remembrance for several very important and timely 
reasons:
  First, the Halabja massacre is one of the few examples of use of 
chemical weapons by a government against its own people in the history 
of mankind. Iraqi forces used a lethal mix of nerve agents, 
asphyxiating gas and other toxins to inflict over 5000 deaths and 
thousands of permanent injuries on survivors. The attack on Halabja 
continues to inflict its toxic legacy on the Kurds today in the form of 
birth defects and disabilities of Halabja survivors. As we monitor the 
unfolding events in Syria and Assad's threatened use of chemical 
weapons against his own people, we are reminded of the Halabja 
massacre. In the course of the Anfal campaign, the Iraqi Army committed 
countless atrocities, razed thousands Kurdish towns and villages, 
forcibly displaced thousands of families from their homes and 
livelihoods and murdered an estimated 200,000 Kurdish men, women and 
children. Halabja was perhaps the single worst day of the Anfal 
campaign. The suffering, death, crimes and horror of that day were 
famously documented and burned into the consciousness of the world by a 
Time Magazine cover and feature article which contained scores of 
ghastly photographs, many of which were used by prosecutors to secure 
the convictions and executions of Saddam Hussein and General Ali Hassan 
al-Majid, known as ``Chemical Ali.'' I can never forget--and the world 
must never forget--those haunting images of dead children in the 
lifeless arms of their mothers, their mouths frozen open in their final 
desperate attempts to breathe. A crime of this magnitude must never be 
forgotten and must never be allowed to happen again.
  Second, the 25th anniversary of the Halabja massacre is worthy of our 
remembrance and reflection because thousands of Americans gave their 
lives to liberate Iraq and give the Iraqi people the freedom and 
opportunity to create a stable, safe and prosperous country where all 
minorities can flourish. Over four thousand Americans died and over 
40,000 were wounded in that war to secure the peace to bring Saddam to 
justice, and win the right of self-determination for the Kurdish people 
of Iraq and for all Iraqis. Their sacrifices must never be forgotten.
  Third, it is important to remember Halabja, because of America's 
strong and vital relationship with the Kurds of Iraq. In the immediate 
aftermath of the first Gulf War, Saddam again unleashed his wrath on 
the Kurdish people. Thousands of Kurdish refugees fled into the 
mountains of northern Iraq to escape another massacre. The United 
States intervened in Operation Provide Comfort to join forces with the 
Kurds and to prevent another massacre. Under the umbrella of the no-fly 
zone of northern Iraq, the resilient, strong and resourceful people of 
Kurdistan rose from the ashes of the Anfal campaign to restore their 
land and lay the foundations of democracy and prosperity for all of 
Iraq. When US forces deployed to northern Iraq in 2003 as part of 
Operation Iraqi freedom, Kurdish forces joined with US forces to defeat 
13 Iraqi Army divisions in the northern area of operations. Today, the 
Kurds are continuing to build on their friendship with our country and 
have created an economic and cultural miracle in the Kurdistan Region, 
where the rights of religious and ethnic minorities are protected and 
respected in law and in fact, which is a model for all of Iraq to 
emulate.
  Finally, as we remember Halabja and the Anfal campaign on this 25th 
anniversary, we must maintain our resolve and use all of our diplomatic 
and economic power to ensure that peace and democracy take root and 
thrive in Iraq. That peace and the future of democratic government in 
Iraq is now jeopardized by the increasingly negative relations between 
the Iraqi government of PM Maliki and the Sunni and Kurdish minorities 
of Iraq. It is not my purpose today to cast blame for the current state 
of those relations, but only to remind my colleagues of the grave 
dangers of ethnic and sectarian strife in Iraq. Let us remember Halabja 
in light of the sacrifices our country has made to ensure that such 
crimes are never repeated and to renew our resolve to use our power and 
influence to achieve a lasting peace and the security of the Iraqi 
people.

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