He was thus directly involved in decision making at all levels. In his memoirs, Gen. Powell recounts drafting a warning to Saddam one day before the beginning of the fighting, on Jan. 15, 1991. If driven to it, I wrote, we would destroy the dams on the Tigris and Euphrates rivers and flood Baghdad, with horrendous consequences. The city of Baghdad that Gen Powell threatened to flood is home to 4 million civilians who are also victims of the dictatorship of Saddam Hussein. Water purification plants were incapacitated throughout Iraq.
Water is one of the main necessities of civilian life.
Bombing water supplies violates Article 54 of the Geneva Convention titled the Protection of Objects Indispensable to the Survival of the Civilian Population. Article 56 specifically bans the destruction of dams, even for military objectives. Article 56 of the Geneva Convention, Protection of Works and Installations Containing Dangerous Forces, bans attacking such installations even for military objectives as these may cause immense harm to the civilian population and the environment. In fact, some of the winds did blow south towards the U.S. troops. Today about 80,000 Gulf Veterans suffer from Gulf War Syndrome, with frequent allegations of a cover up by the Administration.