| Submit your comments on this article |
| Iraq |
| The âAbu Earlessâ Brigade |
| 2003-05-06 |
| Edited for brevity. An older article (23.April), but an interesting and insightful read nonetheless. Saddam Husseinâs ear-amputation campaign went on for three days, May 17-19, 1994, in every city in Iraq. Some of the estimated 3,500 men who lost their ears are now telling their stories. Most, like Ahmed Hussein, have no words in English, but they donât need them. Outside the HQ of the 15th Marine Expeditionary Unit in An Nasiriya yesterday, Hussein only had to turn his head to show his profile, and utter a single word, âSaddam,â as he pointed to the stump where his right ear used to be. Hussein was among those arrested in a crackdown on Iraqi Army deserters in 1994; he had left his unit because, he said, âI didnât want to invade Kuwait again.â The same day that he was arrested, he was taken to an operating room in Saddam General Hospital in An Nasiriya and blindfolded. A surgeon gave him a local anesthetic, but it was still severely painful when he severed the ear nearly to the bone with a long-bladed scalpel. |
| Posted by:Dar |