. What mass graves were uncovered after the war?
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and Trial FAQ"
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These horrific scenes re-enforced the brutality of the Hussein regime. He killed thousands of his own people, even many in the weeks before the war. Estimates are that over 10,000 bodies have been unearthed and that Hussein probably killed 200,000 of his own people during his brutal 20 year reign. NPR reported in mid-July, 2003 that at least 60 mass graves have been uncovered since the war began. |
Deputy Secretary of Defense Wolfowitz visited one of these sites in mid-July and in the Post Jim Hoagland wrote about these horrors. The Bush administration would prefer to emphasize the evilness or Hussein and liberation of Iraq more than the missing WMD. Many of these graves were from 1991, when Hussein put down a U.S.-inspired revolt after the Gulf War.
In April 2004 The Weekly Standard reported that the mass graves justify the war.
In June of 2005 is became more obvious that these graves would be used in evidence of the Saddam trial, expected in the fall.
Human Rights Watch estimates that the Iraqi leader killed 290,000 Iraqis during his last 20 years in power.
Nearly three years after the invasion (12/05), about 300 sites where discovered, according to the Tribune, "where Hussein's henchmen buried their victims."
John Burns reported in graphic and grisly detail some of the deaths from 200 sites(12/4/06). Death squads in the late '80s herded women and children 13 and younger to a mass grave.
In 2006-2007 the mass graves discovered were of Iraqis killed by Iraqis since the war began. One example comes from November 2007, 20-40 bodies were found in a mass grave. Some were children.