In the memory of 13Feb1991 massacre

Tomorrow is the 19th memory of the Amiriyah shelter massacre[1] when more than 408 civilians were killed[2] on February 13, 1991 during the Gulf War, by US military air-raid on shelter ("Public Shelter No. 25"), also referred to as the Al Firdos C3 bunker at Baghdad, Iraq. The USAF destroyed the shelter by with two laser-guided "smart bombs".[3]

The shelter was used in the Iran–Iraq War and the Gulf War by hundreds of civilians. It was built by an European company in mid 1980’s to be a civilian shelter. It has been used during the Iraq-Iran war as a civilian shelter, and was also used during the gulf war for the same purpose.

The United States was responsible for the decision to target the Amiriyah shelter. By its own admission, the Department of Defense "knew the Ameriyya facility had been used as a civil-defense shelter during the Iran–Iraq War." Changes in the protected status of such a facility require warning, and Human Rights Watch notes that, "The United States’ failure to give such a warning before proceeding with the disastrous attack on the Ameriyya shelter was a serious violation of the laws of war."[4]

Charles E. Allen, the CIA’s National Intelligence Officer for Warning supported the selection of bomb targets during the first Gulf War. He coordinated intelligence with Colonel John Warden, who headed the Air Force’s planning cell known as "Checkmate." On 10 February 1991 Allen presented his estimate to Col. Warden that Public Shelter Number 25 in the southwestern Baghdad suburb of Amiriyah had become an alternative command post and showed no sign of being used as a civilian bomb shelter.[5] However, Human Rights Watch noted in 1991, "It is now well established, through interviews with neighborhood residents, that the Ameriyya structure was plainly marked as a public shelter and was used throughout the air war by large numbers of civilians."[4]

Satellite photos and electronic intercepts indicating this alternative use were regarded as circumstantial and unconvincing to Brigadier General Buster Glosson, who had primary responsibility for targeting. Glosson’s comment was that the assessment wasn’t "worth a shit." A human source in Iraq, who had previously proven accurate warned the CIA that Iraqi intelligence had begun operating from the shelter. On 11 February, Shelter Number 25 was added to the Air Force’s attack plan.[5]
At 4:30 am the morning of 13 February, two F-117 stealth bombers each dropped a 2,000 pound GBU-27 laser-guided bomb on the shelter. The first cut through ten feet of reinforced concrete before a time-delayed fuse exploded. Minutes later the second bomb followed the path cut by the first bomb.[5] People staying in the upper level were incinerated by heat, while boiling water from the shelter’s water tank killed those below.[6]

In the shelter at the time of the bombing were hundreds of Iraqi civilians. The previous evening had been the celebration of Eid Al-Fitr holiday. More than 400 people were killed; reports vary and the registration book was incinerated in the blast.[6] The dead were overwhelmingly women and children because men and boys over the age of 15 had left the shelter to give the women and children some privacy. The blast sent shrapnel into surrounding buildings, shattering glass windows and splintering their foundations.[7]

The shelter is maintained as a memorial to those who died within it, featuring photos of those killed. According to visitors’ reports, Umm Greyda, a woman who lost eight children in the bombing, moved into the shelter to help create the memorial, and serves as its primary guide.[8][9]

1. ^ The name Amiriyah can also be spelt Amiriya, Al’amrih, Amariya and Amariyah. There is no agreed spelling for the name in English. For example, The BBC uses all four spelling on its web site. CNN uses Amariya, Amariyah and Amiriya, while the Washington Post uses Amiriyah, Amiriya and Amariyah (once).

2. ^ "A July 4 Challenge". RCP Publications. 2006-06-25. http://rwor.org/a/052/july4-en.html. Retrieved 2009-05-06.

3. ^ Jeenah, Na’eem (July 2001). "Al-Amariyah - A Graveyard of unwilling martyrs". http://naeemjeenah.shams.za.org/amariyah.htm. Retrieved 2009-05-06.

4. ^ a b Human Rights Watch, Needless Deaths In The Gulf War: Civilian Casualties During the Air Campaign and Violations of the Laws of War, 1991.

5. ^ a b c Crusade: The Untold Story of the Persian Gulf War, Rick Atkinson, 1993, p. 284-285

6. ^ a b Felicity Arbuthnot, The Ameriya Shelter - St. Valentine’s Day Massacre, February 13, 2007.

7. ^ a b Scott Peterson, "’Smarter’ bombs still hit civilians, Christian Science Monitor, 22 October 2002.

8. ^ John Dear, S.J., Iraq Journal: Notes from a peace delegation to a ravaged land, Soujourners Magazine, 1999.

9. ^ Riverbend, Dedicated to the Memory of L.A.S., 15 February 2004.