Tape of Saddam ordering gassing of Kurds

The Australian:

THE chief prosecutor in Saddam Hussein's genocide trial said today he has an audiotape and documents proving the former Iraqi leader personally ordered the gassing of ethnic Kurds in northern Iraq in the 1980s.

Saddam and six former commanders return to court tomorrow over the 1988 Anfal - Spoils of War - military campaign against Kurds that prosecutors say killed about 180,000 people. The operation included the widespread use of chemical weapons.

The defendants include Saddam's cousin, Ali Hassan al- Majeed, known as Chemical Ali. They have justified Anfal as a legitimate military operation against Kurdish militias, who sided with Iraq's Iranian enemies during the 1980-1988 war.

Chief prosecutor Munkith al-Faroon said he had audiotapes of Baghdad meetings between Saddam and senior officials of his Baath party in northern Iraq.

In one, he tells them they should use such arms only with his authority: "The use of chemical weapons against Kurds is by his hand only," Mr Faroon said.

"The prosecution will present the tapes to the court, which will review them and decide whether they should be admitted as evidence," he said.

Mr Faroon said the prosecution also had documents signed by Saddam and issued by his office in which he ordered the use of chemical weapons against the Kurds during Anfal.

...

Meanwhile Jonathon Chait in the LA Times says that is just what Iraq needs. While genocide can be somewhat effective in quelling opposition, it shows you something about the liberal mind that they would prefer no justice for a chance of justice in Iraq. I think Chait is also playing on the media's over blown description of "chaos" that is their latest meme in Iraq. They have been following the enemy script on this theme.