During a speech to Baath Party loyalists, Majid explained his strategy. He recounted how he had recently threatened a Kurdish audience to encourage voluntary evacuations: “I cannot let your village stay. I will attack it with chemical weapons. Then you and your family will die. You must leave right now.” He made a promise to his Baathist comrades: “I will kill them all with chemical weapons! Who is going to say anything? The international community? Fuck them!”
