As I have said before, there are a lot of reasons for the United States to have taken action in Iraq.  Some of them are good, some of them more dubious, but no conflict is undertaken for just one reason.  Investigators in northern Iraq are literally revealing one of the reasons, as they exhume a mass grave.

The work is being undertaken by an Iraqi Special Tribunal, in cooperation with foreign experts, including lawyers, archaeologists, anthropologists, and forensic specialists.  The primary goal is to build an airtight case against Saddam, who faces trial for crimes against humanity next year.  However, there is also a sense that the work will bring some dignity to the dead, which they certainly were not granted when they were executed by the regime.  It is estimated that more than 300,000 people died during Saddam's reign, many of them ethnic Kurds. 

One of the experts working at the site, Greg Kehoe, an American lawyer, said it best, “Everybody said ‘never again’ after the Holocaust. The world wasn’t listening. That’s how it happened again and again and again.” 

The text of the story is here.  However, be forwarned.  As a mother - and as a human being - I found it very difficult to read.