[News] Operation Bury Them Alive
News at freedomarchives.org
News at freedomarchives.org
Fri Apr 22 12:03:04 EDT 2005
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http://www.malcomlagauche.com/id1.html
Wednesday/Thursday, April 20-21, 2005
OPERATION BURY 'EM ALIVE
When we look back to the beginning of the 15-year U.S.-Iraq war, we recall
incidents that have been forgotten, or were not given public attention at
the time. These occurrences are important because they kept escalating the
severity of the violence thrust against Iraq from 1991 until today. Once
one method was accepted, another came forth with even more dire consequences.
On the first two days of the ground war during Desert Storm (February 24
and 25, 1991), U.S. troops, using tanks and earthmovers that had been
specially fitted with plows, buried thousands of Iraqi soldiers alive.
Three brigades of the 1st Mechanized Infantry Division (the Big Red One)
used the tactic to destroy trenches and bunkers that were being defended
by about 10,000 Iraqi soldiers. These combatants were draftees, not the
seasoned troops such as the Republican Guard.
The assault had been carefully planned and rehearsed. According to U.S.
participants, about 2,000 Iraqis surrendered and were not buried. Most of
the rest, about 8,000, were buried beneath tons of sand - many trying to
surrender. Captain Bennie Williams was rewarded for his part in the
burying with a Silver Star. He said, "Once we went through there, other
than the ones who surrendered, there wasn't anybody left."
According to a senior Army official who was questioned, under anonymity by
Spotlight News, about the tactics, the use of earthmovers is standard
procedure in breaching obstacles and minefields. The heavy equipment
precedes armored and infantry units to level barriers, then the vehicles
can move quickly through enemy defenses. The official stated that any
Iraqi troops who remained in their bunkers would have been buried and
killed. He added, "This is war. This isn't a pickup basketball game."
Colonel Anthony Moreno, commander of the 2nd Brigade, said, "For all I
know, we could've killed thousands." A thinner line of trenches on
Moreno's left flank was attacked by the 1st Brigade commanded by Colonel
Lon Maggart. He estimated that his troops buried about 650 Iraqis alive.
Long after Desert Storm, in an interview with New York Newsday, Maggart and
Moreno gave some of the first public testimony about the burying alive of
Iraqis. Prior to their statements, then Secretary of Defense, Dick
Cheney, never mentioned the atrocities, even when he submitted a report to
Congress just prior to the interviews. The only time Cheney mentioned the
burying of Iraqi troops occurred when he acknowledged that 457 dead enemy
soldiers were buried by U.S. forces at 56 sites during the ground war. By
using the figure of 457, Cheney admitted the United States did not live up
to international agreements concerning burying war dead because more than
100,000 Iraqi soldiers were killed in Desert Storm. Technically, he may
have been correct about not including those buried by U.S. tanks because
they were not dead whey they were buried.
The technique in burying the soldiers involved a pair of M1-A1 tanks with
plows shaped like giant teeth along each section of the trench line. The
tanks took up positions on either side of the trenches. Bradley Fighting
Vehicles and Vulcan armored personnel carriers straddled the trench line
and fired into the Iraqi soldiers as the tanks covered them with piles of
sand.
According to Moreno, "I came through right after the lead company. What you
saw was a bunch of buried trenches with peoples' arms and things sticking
out of them." Maggart added, "I know burying people alive like that sounds
pretty nasty, but it would be even nastier if we had to put our troops in
the trenches and clean them out."
The attack contradicted U.S. Army doctrine, which calls for troops to leave
their armored vehicle to clean out trenches or to bypass and isolate
fortified positions. Moreno admitted that the assault was not according to
policy as he said, "This was not doctrine. My concept is to defeat the
enemy with your power and equipment. We're going to have to bludgeon them
with every piece of equipment we've got. I'm not going to sacrifice the
lives of my soldiers - it's not cost-effective."
The most disturbing aspect of the incident was the secrecy involved. When
Newsday broke the story, everyone was taken by surprise. According to
members of the House and Senate Armed Forces Committee, the Pentagon had
withheld details of the assault from the committees. Senate Chairman, Sam
Nunn, was unaware of the assault and after he was notified, he stated, "It
sounds like another example of the horrors of war." Quickly, the incident
was forgotten.
Today, we see the same strategy. Take the Abu Ghraib torturing and murders.
Everybody was aghast. Committees held meetings and spoke of the "fog of
war." Then, everybody went home and forgot about it.
The current resistance consists of members who had friends and family
incarcerated at Abu Ghraib. Some have stated the Abu Ghraib torture as
their reason to join the resistance.
If we knew the truth, I am sure that some current resistance members
fighting against the U.S. occupiers had an uncle, or a father, or brother,
who never returned home after Desert Storm and was never notified of their
deaths because the soldiers are still buried somewhere in the desert,
never to have their bodies found. The resisters did not hear Sam
Nunn's message.
The Nunn legacy of burying his own head in the sand and not admitting to an
atrocity carries on today. Abu Ghraib; Fallujah; Ramadi; killing of
reporters; bombing hospitals; etc. Same script, different names.
The Freedom Archives
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(415) 863-9977
www.freedomarchives.org
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