Retribution

First Gulf War (circa 1991):

Around 4,000 Kurdish villages were destroyed by Saddam and dropped chemical weapons on them. In the late 80s the CIA was in Kurdish towns and supported rebellion, but pulled out as soon as Saddam rolled in. The Kurds chose to fight on alone. But the Iraqi army defeated the Kurds. Kurds within Iraq were not supported by Kurds in neighboring nations either. 180,000 people were killed or kidnapped during home invasions and battles during this time. Cyanide, mustard, and other chemicals were the greatest killer. Families died without warning or struggle. Children died in their mothers and fathers arms, who desperately tried to shelter their young from invisible vapors. Up to 50,000 Iraqi citizens were killed in these attacks without hesitation from Baghdad.

Kurdish refugees, alongside Christians and Turkmen fled Iraq for Iran. The Red Cross and Red Crescent helped to setup makeshift refugee camps, but the Iranian government and its people provided the main support. 35,000 people lived in the main camp with 4 doctors for them all. Diarrhea affected 90% due to sanitation issues in these refugee camps. The most vulnerable (poor, elderly, handicap, and children). Inquisitive children often lost limbs or died poking and prodding the mysterious mines in the ground. The Turkish Red Crescent saw hundreds of thousands of Kurds flee into turkey for salvation. Hundreds of thousands of Kurds were supported by the thinly stretched Turkish Red Crescent. Red Cross societies from Europe and North America offered support. Most of the Kurdish refugees in Iraq and Iran came back to their Iraqi lands when food and water was supplied by Coalition Forces, led by the U.S., in northern Iraq. These Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies and the U.N. tried to help the Kurds with assistance. Upon the withdrawal of the Coalition Forces, led by the U.S., the Kurds began to rebuild. A no fly zone was instituted by the U.S. over northern Iraq which served to protect the Kurds until the Second Iraqi War. The “Western No Fly Zone” protected the Kurds and enabled them to rebuild their society and their economy within Iraqi Kurdistan. Kurds here built a democracy, we gave up our bullets for ballots. The CIA broadcast George Bush Seniors speech encouraging the Kurds and Shi’ites to revolt and promised to protect them. The Kurds revolted, but America never came to help. Saddam came and attacked the Kurds. The Kurdish refugee situation became an international tragedy. THIS, is why the U.S. finally supported a western enforced “No fly zone”. The Kurds built an army of 70,000 strong.

After the first Gulf War, the U.S. encouraged the Kurds to rise up against Saddam. The Kurds did so, believing the U.S. would support them. The U.S. did not.

After the first Gulf War Kurds fled over the mountains to Turkey where the Turkish Army was waiting to turn them around by gunpoint, back to where they had fled from. 2000 m in the mountains, Kurdish refugees hiked miles for freshwater, often having to melt ice form the mountains. Children were malnourished and the refugees had nothing with them to eat, drink, nor fresh clothes. The Kurds only had rocks to throw at the Iraqi soldiers who pursued them. Women and children were killed among the refugees indiscriminately. The cries of children, wails of mothers, and Iraqi guns firing filled the air. Eventually, the Turkish government alowe d20,000 of the 400,000 Kurdish refugees safe haven. These Kurds were treated as less-than human, but they were better off than the refugees still being attacked by Iraqis and the barren nature of the high mountains and make-shift refugee camps which were scarcely supplied. Air drops with supplies within Iraqi territories were often the only supplies. As the refugees tried to gather these air dropped supplies they were fired on. Dysentery, gastroenteritis, pneumonia killed children, followed by cholera outbreaks. A single filthy tent served as the only hospital and was manned by a single refugee doctor. Women frequently died surrounded by their children. The women starved as they refused to eat the scarce resources necessary to sustain their children.

Prior to the Second Iraqi (Gulf) War (circa 2003):

The Kurds feared Saddam Hussein, but also feared being betrayed by the U.S. again (the U.S. did not heed requests for support when the Iraqi Air Force attacked them with chemical weapons. The U.S. claimed chemical weapons as a reason for invading Iraq in 2003, but refused to send safety measures to the Iraqi Kurds against chemical weapons attacks. The U.S. left the Kurds to die from Saddam’s attacks after encouraging the Kurds to rebel against Saddam – but the U.S. did not support the rebellion and Saddam massacred many Kurdish rebels and their families). Nevertheless, the Kurds were excited at the prospect of U.S. intervention to rid Iraq of Saddam and his threats of chemical attacks against them. For 4 million Kurds, the Iraqi region of Kurdish settlements was the safest harbor for them across the Kurdish diaspora of the middle east. Gas masks from the First Gulf War was an in-demand, and affordable, commodity at this time because of their fear of chemical attacks, Food wrapped in plastic filled Kurdish cellars and windows were taped to ensure safe seal against outside air. Iraq had attacked the Kurds in the late 1980s with chemical weapons in the town of Hulijab. Peoples bodies felt like they were burning alive and many people died. The Iraqi air force dropped chemical bombs upon Kurdish towns. These attacks are etched into the consciousness of Kurds for generations. Physical, mental, and emotional injuries were plentiful.

Saddam Hussein tried to indoctrinate Kurdish children. After the first Gulf War, Turkey built bases within the border of Iraq near Kurdish towns to attack, or at least confine Kurdish capabilities. The Kurds feared that another U.S. invasion in Iraq would spark a Turkish – Kurdish war. Removing Iraq, created by British mandate in the 1920s, would encourage all neighboring countries to invade and take their own historical, religious, and cultural claims upon Iraqi territory.

I imagine Besde, the antagonist and main Kurdish character of Retribution, might ask the protagonist (Octavius): “How would America like to be governed by Britain? You have the same language, the same culture, the same religion? America would not allow itself to be governed by Britain – not even on a temporary basis? Why should us Kurds? We did not fight for America, we fought for our own people. But we kept our word – America did not.”

Post-2003 War:

The U.S. silently destroyed chemical weapons they found in Iraq. These chemical munitions were manfucatured prior to the first Gulf war. The bombs were built by European countries and filled with western made chemicals, many from America. Explosive Ordinance Disposal units (EOD) disposed of these explosive chemical weapons. Many American EOD soldiers were exposed to sarin, mustard, and other nerve agents.

Octavius’ father – am engineer or architect, is mistakenly shot by a city cop who thought he was a criminal and he dies when Octavius is 12. Octavius’ mother raises him. He loves her dearly despite her heartbreak and developing psychosis. Similarly, our antagonist has lost many people, only for her it was her own children, grandchildren, and husband. This is what transforms her from a “freedom fighter” to a terrorist. These background stories offer parallels between the antagonist and the protagonist’s mother. This causes the protagonist to empathize with the antagonist in a deep, son-to-mother way.

Halabja Chemical Attack (Bloody Friday)
An example of chemical weapon use in Iraq accessed on Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Halabja_chemical_attack

March 16, 1988,
as well as part of the Iraqi attempt to repel the Iranian Operation Zafar 7. It took place 48 hours after the fall of the town to the Iranian Army
United Nations (UN) medical investigation concluded that mustard gas was used in the attack, along with unidentified nerve agents.[2]
The attack killed between 3,200 and 5,000 people and injured 7,000 to 10,000 more, most of them civilians…region showed an increased rate of cancer incidence and birth defects in the years after the attack.[4] The incident, which has been officially defined by Supreme Iraqi Criminal Tribunal as a genocidal massacre against the Kurdish people in Iraq, [5] was the largest chemical weapons attack directed against a civilian-populated area in history.[6] The Halabja event was also part of Iraqi efforts to counter-attack Kurdish and Iranian forces in the final stages of Operation Zafar 7. The five-hour attack began in the evening of March 16, 1988, following a series of indiscriminate conventional (rocket and napalm) attacks[citation needed]. Iraqi Su-22 and Mi-8[9] aircraft began dropping chemical bombs on Halabja’s residential areas, far from the besieged Iraqi army base on the outskirts of the town. According to regional Kurdish rebel commanders, Iraqi aircraft, coordinated by helicopters, conducted up to 14 bombings in sorties of seven to eight planes each. Eyewitnesses told of clouds of white, black and then yellow smoke billowing upward and rising as a column about 150 feet (50 m) in the air.[1]
It was a beautiful spring day. As the clock approached 11:00 in the morning, I felt a strange sensation; my heart convulsed as if it were telling me that we were on the verge of a major calamity. Within minutes, artillery rounds began to explode in Halabja and planes began dropping bombs on the town. The bombing was concentrated on the northern neighborhoods, so we ran and hid in our basement. At 2 o’clock in the afternoon, as the intensity of the bombing wound down, I carefully sneaked out of the basement to the kitchen and carried food to my family. When the bombing stopped, we began to hear noises that sounded like metal pieces falling on the ground. But I didn’t find an explanation.
I saw things that I won’t forget for as long as I live. It started with a loud strange noise that sounded like bombs exploding, and a man came running into our house, shouting, ‘Gas! Gas!’ We hurried into our car and closed its windows. I think the car was rolling over the bodies of innocent people. I saw people lying on the ground, vomiting a green-colored liquid, while others became hysterical and began laughing loudly before falling motionless onto the ground. Later, I smelled an aroma that reminded me of apples and I lost consciousness. When I awoke, there were hundreds of bodies scattered around me. After that I took shelter again in a nearby basement and the area was engulfed by an ugly smell. It was similar to rotting garbage, but then it changed to a sweet smell similar to that of apples. Then I smelled something that was like eggs.
When you hear people shouting the words ‘gas’ or ‘chemicals’ — and you hear those shouts spreading among the people — that is when terror begins to take hold, especially among the children and the women. Your loved ones, your friends, you see them walking and then falling like leaves to the ground. It is a situation that cannot be described — birds began falling from their nests; then other animals, then humans. It was total annihilation. Whoever was able to walk out of the town, left on foot. Whoever had a car, left by car. But whoever had too many children to carry on their shoulders, they stayed in the town and succumbed to the gas.[10]
Survivors said the gas at first smelled of sweet apples[11] and reported that people died in a number of ways, suggesting a combination of toxic chemicals. Some of the victims “just dropped dead” while others “died of laughing,” while still others took a few minutes to die, first “burning and blistering” or coughing up green vomit.[12] Many were injured or perished in the panic that followed the attack, especially those who were blinded by the chemicals.[13]
“Iranian physicians reported that victims of the chemical attacks on Halabja showed characteristic symptoms of cyanide poisoning,” while other reports indicated substantial quantities of mustard gas and other chemical weapons were used.[14] Most of the wounded taken to hospitals in the Iranian capital Tehran were suffering from mustard gas exposure.[1]
even as “the most severe cases may already have died.”[15] In surveys by local doctors, a higher percentage of medical disorders, miscarriages (outnumbering live births[15] and 14 times higher than normal), colon cancer (10 times higher than normal), and heart diseases (quadrupled between 1990 and 1996[15]) were found in Halabja compared to Chamchamal. Additionally, “other cancers, respiratory ailments, skin and eye problems, fertility and reproductive disorders are measurably higher in Halabja and other areas caught in chemical attacks.”[4] Some of those who survived the attack or were apparently injured only lightly at the time later developed medical problems doctors believe stemmed from the chemicals, and there are concerns that the attack may be having a lasting genetic impact on the Kurdish population, as preliminary surveys showed increased rates of birth defects.[4]
Some reports indicated that “survivors of this particular attack have permanent injuries, including burns, and some exhibit symptoms of neurological damage, although this cannot yet be adequately confirmed.”[
Among several documents revealed during the trial of Saddam Hussein, one was a 1987 memo from Iraq’s military intelligence seeking permission from the president’s office to use mustard gas and the nerve agents sarin and tabun against Kurds. A second document said in reply that Saddam had ordered military intelligence to study the possibility of a “sudden strike” using such weapons against Iranian and Kurdish forces
Saddam’s cousin Ali Hassan al-Majid (who commanded Iraqi forces in northern Iraq during that period, which earned him a nickname of ‘Chemical Ali’) was condemned to death by hanging by an Iraqi court in January 2010, after being found guilty of orchestrating the Halabja massacre. Al-Majid was first sentenced to hang in 2007 for his role in a 1988 military campaign against ethnic Kurds, codenamed Anfal, and in 2008 he also twice received a death sentence for his crimes against the Iraqi Shia Muslims, in particular for his role in crushing the 1991 uprisings in southern Iraq and his involvement in the 1999 killings in the Sadr City district of Baghdad (then called Saddam City). Al-Majid did not express remorse at his trials, stating his actions were in the interests of Iraqi security. He was executed by hanging on January 25, 2010.[8] Among many other captured Iraqi government documents proving Iraqi responsibility for the attack, there is a recording of al-Majid boasting about the Kurds: “I will kill them all with chemical weapons. Who is going to say anything? The international community? Fuck the international community and those who listen to them!”[32]