Highway of Death

[howard112211]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Highway_of_Death

This is why "they hate us" (amongst many other reasons).

And yes, I blame the pilots who carried out the orders as much as the leaders who gave them. All or them are war criminals and deserve the death penalty.

[damntexdem]

1. What B.S. Attacking enemy troops, including retreating troops, is legit.

Whether the war is legit is another question -- but any charges regarding that should be against the leaders who ordered the troops and pilots into that war.

And guess what: major weapons systems are MEANT to create highways of death as parts of wider battlefields of death. You don't like that, then work for peace generally -- don't dis the soldier or pilot who is ordered into battle and kills enemy soldiers.

[Scuba]

2. +1

[RC]

4. You are so wrong.

Those people were flying white flags. They were a defeated people, Whole families, tired of the fighting, just trying to go home. That highways of death was first degree murder. Another War Crime by the United States, that still needs to be dealt with.
Tell me again who the real terrorists are? How is this working for peace when you slaughter innocent women and children who are in retreat and call it war?

[cali]

13. citation for your claim that "whole families... just trying to go home"?

[RC]

14. Highway of Death

Highway of Death "Kuwait Basra" 26 February 1991
http://www.flickr.com/photos/10948116@N08/2194145023/

The Massacre of Withdrawing Soldiers on "The Highway of Death"
There are also indications that some of those bombed during the withdrawl were Palestinians and Iraqi civilians. According to Time magazine of March 18, 1991, not just military vehicles, but cars, buses and trucks were also hit. In many cases, cars were loaded with Palestinian families and all their possessions. U.S. press accounts tried to make the discovery of burned and bombed household goods appear as if Iraqi troops were even at this late moment looting Kuwait. Attacks on civilians are specifically prohibited by the Geneva Accords and the 1977 Conventions.
http://deoxy.org/wc/wc-death.htm

The Highway of Death
On the night of February 26-27, 1991, Iraqi military personnel and civilians retreating from Kuwait were attacked and destroyed by American aircraft and ground forces during the United Nations Coalition offensive. The use of force was disproportionate, and the retreating forces included hostages and refugees. The scenes of carnage on the road were seen by the international community as a turkey shoot (Elaine Sciolino, the New York Times) and led to the war’s quick end subsequently.
http://iconicphotos.wordpress.com/2009/05/27/the-highway-of-death/


Highway of Death American War Crime Gulf War (Pictures for your enjoyment)
Iraqi soldiers as well as Iraqi, Palestinian, Jordanian and other civilians piled into whatever vehicles they could commandeer, including a fire truck, and fled north towards Iraq. U.S. planes disabled vehicles at both ends of the convoy, creating a 7-mile long traffic jam.

U.S. planes then began to bomb and strafe the entire line of some 2,000 vehicles for hours, killing tens of thousands of helpless soldiers and civilians while encountering no resistance and receiving no losses to themselves.
<SNIP>
On many occasions Iraqi soldiers tried to surrender to American forces. It didn’t make any difference. U.S. Air Force and Navy pilots were under orders to mass-murder every last human being in cold blood
<SNIP>
Outlawed Weapons Massacre

The clear rapid incineration of the human being suggests the use of napalm, phosphorus, or other incendiary bombs. These are anti-personnel weapons outlawed under the 1977 Geneva Protocols.

This massive attack occurred after Saddam Hussein announced a complete troop withdrawal from Kuwait in compliance with UN Resolution 660.
http://euroyankblogs.blogspot.com/2009/02/highway-of-death-american-war-crime.html

Bin Laden, Gaddafi and Modern Warfare: On the Highway of Death
On a 60-mile stretch of road from Mutlaa, Kuwait, to Basra, Iraq, a convoy of more than 2,000 vehicles and tens of thousands of Iraqi soldiers and civilians were fleeing. These were people who were putting up no resistance, many with no weapons, leaving in cars, trucks, carts and on foot. The American armed forces bombed one end of the main highway from Kuwait City to Basra, sealing it off, then bombed the other end of the highway, sealing it off. They positioned mechanized artillery units on the hill overlooking the area and then, both from the air and the land, massacred every living thing on the road. Fighter bombers, helicopter gunships and armored battalions poured merciless firepower on those trapped in the traffic jams, backed up as much as 20 miles. One U.S. pilot reportedly said, "It was like shooting fish in a barrel." That fateful stretch of road has since been dubbed the "Highway of Death."
http://www.lewrockwell.com/whitehead/whitehead28.1.html

WAR CRIMES
There are, in addition, strong indications that many of those killed were Palestinian and Kuwaiti civilians trying to escape the impending seige of Kuwait City and the return of Kuwaiti armed forces. No attempt was made by U.S. military command to distinguish between military personnel and civilians on the "highway of death." The whole intent of international law with regard to war is to prevent just this sort of indescriminate and excessive use of force.
http://deoxy.org/wc/warcrime.htm


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And so on and so on. You really need a class on using Google. Those civilians even included some of the families of the solders. There were women and children included in those "civilians". And people wonder why they hate us for our freedoms. Wonder why 9/11 happened? This may be one of the reasons. It's called "Blow Back".

[browntyphoon]

3. They hate us because they invaded their neighbor and lost?

I'm not sure if you've read a history book but this sort of thing has gone on for thousands of years.


Starting wars and then losing seems to be a terrible proposition.

[G_j]

5. they were slaughtered nt

[browntyphoon]

6. Didn't they just sack a peaceful neighbor?

[G_j]

7. yea and they threw babies out of incubators!

:sarcasm:

so slaughter is justified in you opinion

[cali]

11. oh please. Sadam invaded Kuwait

Doesn't he deserve some of the blame?

[G_j]

16. not the point

care to address the issue of attacking people who are retreating, in any war?

[browntyphoon]

12. All war is terrible.

They'd have done the same if the roles were reversed.


Today's lambs are yesterday's wolves.

The week before they were invading, looting and killing.

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

8. "He who joyfully marches to music in rank and file has already earned my contempt.

"He who joyfully marches to music in rank and file has already earned my contempt. He has been given a large brain by mistake, since for him the spinal cord would fully suffice. This disgrace to civilization should be done away with at once. Heroism at command, senseless brutality, deplorable love-of-country stance, how violently I hate all this, how despicable and ignoble war is; I would rather be torn to shreds than be a part of so base an action! It is my conviction that killing under the cloak of war is nothing but an act of murder." Albert Einstein

[cali]

9. it's a lot more complicated than that.

and what bullshit. that was not a war crime. I was against that war partly because of the whole Glaspie thing, but it was Sadam who invaded Kuwait.

[RC]

15. George H. W. Bush gave Saddam permission to attack Kuwait.

And told him the U.S would back him. We did not back Saddam. We lied - again.

[Name removed]

10. Deleted message

Sub-thread removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[The Magistrate]

17. This Is Not a Crime, Sir: It is What Happens To Retreating Armies Without Air Cover

You might as well call the Falaise Gap a crime, or the Wadi Fara a crime.

"They say war is an art, but it's not. It mostly consists of outwitting people, stealing from widows and orphans, and inflicting suffering on the helpless for one's own ends, and that's not art: that's business."