The Kurdish Genocide in Iraq
by Mina Metyas, Colin Mayr, Nick Zambrotta, and Mohammad Khan
Per 2
Map of Iraq and Kurdistan
Outcome
- 90% of all Kurdish villages were wiped off the map
- Estimated 50,000-100,000 people were killed
- An estimated 1 million people in Iraq have ‘been missing since the 1960s. All of them have been assumed to be murdered.
- More than 20 towns and cities were totally wipedout.
- Saddam Hussein remained in power after the genocide until his death in 2003
- Most Kurdish people fled to Iran for safety
- Today, Iraq is in turmoil because its leader (Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi) was injured by a U.S air strike and is in critical condition
Facts
- Ali Hassan al-Majid ( Saddam Hussein's cousin) is nicknamed "Chemical Ali" for the chemcial attacks
- Poison gas was used on Kurdish civilian areas killing thousands men, women, and children indiscriminately
- 90% of Kurdish villages were destroyed in the Anfal operation
- Most of the victims were men ages 15-50
Key People
Saddam Hussein
- Saddam Hussein and Ali Hassan al-Majid (Ba'athist party)
- Saddam Hussein was the president of Iraq from 1979-2003 (24 years)
- Ali Hassan al-Majid was the presidential advisor
- Ali Hassan al-Majid repsonsible for chemical weapon strikes
- Victims: Iraqi Kurds and Kurdish supporters
- Iran supported Kurds
Ali Hassan al-Majid
Works Cited
- http://www.ncas.rutgers.edu/center-study-genocide-conflict-resolution-and-human-rights/al-anfal-and-genocide-iraqi-kurds-1988
- http://www.pbs.org/frontlineworld/stories/iraq501/events_anfal.html
- http://www.pbs.org/frontlineworld/stories/iraq501/trialfacts.html
- http://www.pbs.org/frontlineworld/stories/iraq501/trialfacts.html
- http://www.ncas.rutgers.edu/webfm_send/327
- http://uk.gov.krd/genocide/pages/page.aspx?lngnr=12&pnr=37
Overview
Cause of Conflict
- Overview
- Country Background
- Cause of Conflict
- Key People
- Outcome
- Facts
- Works Cited
- Kurdish people were unhappy with their rights
- Iraqi government appeases them
- Kurdish people still want more
- Kurdish area of northern Iraq was seen as vulnerable spot to the Ba’athist regime
- Kurdish revolted starting the attacks
- Thousands of Kurdish people rebeld against the Iraqi government and they were slaughtered, starved to death, or relocated
- Ali Hassan, bombardad Kurdistan with chemical weapons which resulted in the genocide of the Kurdish people
- Attacks were called " Anfal"
- Each attack similar pattern: chemcial weapon attack, lay siege to town, burn and loot town, gather townepeople in trucks and transport them to holding facillites
Country Background
- Iraq is a triangle of mountains, desert and a fertile river valley
- Borders shared with Iran to the east, Turkey to the north, Syria and Jordan to the west, Saudi Arabia and Kuwait to the south
- 2x the size of Idaho
- Desert west of the Euphrates River, Central Valley located in between Tigris and Euphrates Rivers, Mountains in the Northeast
- Population is 32,585,652 million people as of 2014
- Major religions are Islam and Christianity
- Current government is a democracy, past governments were a dictatorship
- Shia-led government has struggled to keep order, Iraq has experienced periods of violence