Kesher Talk

The stories of Iraqi oppression under Saddam keep coming. I missed this plea for the war from last month, by the Prime Minister of a Kurdistan region in northern Iraq.

I found few people in Britain interested in the horrors of Baathist Iraq. The Baghdad regime was touted as a secular bulwark against radical Islamic Iran. The persecution of the Kurds was an embarrassment. But some principled people, mainly left-wing, understood our plight. While others funded Saddam, our allies pointed out the inconsistency of calling for democracy in eastern Europe while supporting a murderous dictator in the Middle East.

Where are these friends now? Regrettably, many are denouncing a war that would liberate Iraq. Like those who shunned us in the Eighties, some of our former friends find the martyrdom of the Iraqi people to be an irritant. They avert their eyes from the grisly truth of our suffering, while claiming concern at the human cost of war. The cost to Iraqis of sparing the Baathist dictatorship is rarely calculated.

I hope someone posts all the URLs of these exhortations by Kurds and Iraqis - it would be a pretty damning sight.

posted by Judith @ 4/28/2003 02:35:03 PM