He'd fight again to get rid of Saddam
dailytelegraph.news.com.au
THE images etched in Bruce Relph's mind are enough to convince him that Saddam Hussein must go.
Mr Relph, one of 100 Australians sent into Iraq after the last Gulf War, witnessed first hand the legacy of Saddam's reign.
In northern Iraq the then Corporal Relph saw the scars of Saddam's chemical attacks.
"I saw people killed by his land mines. I saw their brown skin with big white patches from the mustard gas.
"Others looked like they had shell shock. They had the jitters. We were told it was from nerve agents."
Mr Relph said while he was not pro-war, he believed only military action would stop Saddam and his regime.
"After seeing what he did to the Kurds, he has to go, full stop," the nine-year army veteran told The Daily Telegraph.
"He is worse than Hitler because he buried people alive. The agents he used killed people within 90 seconds, they would bend over backwards in pain and break their spines.
"So I say, 'George Bush, go and get Saddam'."
Mr Relph has built a new life since leaving the army, serving a electrician's apprenticeship before forging a thriving local business. He lives in a spacious home in tree-lined North Rocks with his wife Nicole and their three young daughters.
But he is prepared to return to the scene of his hellish memories to rid the world of Saddam.
"I would go back and fight again to get rid of him," he said.
Twelve years ago, Corporal Relph was stationed at the Australian command post in Gir-i-pit, northern Iraq.
The 75-man Australian contingent's mission, operation Habitat, was to help the Kurds and monitor the ceasefire.
"We saw towns blown up by Saddam's artillery then TNT'd so you could only see the foundations," he recalled.
"It was just so sad." |
