It’s interesting how the testimony yesterday at the Saddam Hussein trial reveals what really happened to his 148 victims in the town of Dujail, Iraq.
Apparently, in retaliation for someone’s July 8, 1982, attempt in Dujail to assassinate the dictator, Saddam on June 16, 1984, signed warrants ordering the deaths of 148 Dujail residents, including at least 10 children.
Forty-six or 48 already dead. After Saddam signed the death warrants, his goons discovered they couldn’t execute all 148 at the same time. Why? Because:
1. Even before the death warrants were signed, 46 or 48 of Saddam’s victims had died from torture during prison interrogation.
2. Two victims were mistakenly released from prison, but then recaptured. There is some dispute over whether the two were then executed or "pardoned."
And 3. Four prisoners, not on the death warrant list, were executed "by mistake."
Torture deaths here. Accidental executions there. But ultimately, Saddam got the job done.
The multiplier. Now, try to measure the misery Saddam caused through all his wars, genocide and state-ordered political executions. You’d have to multiply what happened at Dujail by 10,000.
Frank Warner
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