Ranjit Singh Kalha, former ambassador to Iraq, states in his book "The Ultimate Prize: Oil and Saddam's Iraq" that the US had prior knowledge about Saddam Hussein's attack on Kuwait in 1990.
Kalha quotes the US envoy in Baghdad, April Glaspie, as telling Saddam on July 25, 1990:
"We have no opinion on Arab-Arab conflict, like your border disagreement with Kuwait."
Iraq invaded Kuwait on August 2nd 1990.
The US envoy also told Saddam:
"We hope you can solve this problem using any suitable methods... All that we hope is that these issues are solved quickly."
Kalha states that on July 27, 1990, the Kuwaiti ambassador to the US was called to the Pentagon and told, "Iraq is going to invade Kuwait."
The day before the Iraqi attack on Kuwait began, Kuwaiti defence minister Sheikh Salem al-Sabah received a text from the US:
"We do not want to alarm you unnecessarily, but we think the contingency plan should be put into effect... under no circumstances should the Emir be allowed to spend the night in Kuwait city. He should cross into Saudi Arabia and go to Khafji, 20 kilometers south of the border."
The US government decided to punish Saddam because he had gone beyond the agreed script, and taken over all of Kuwait instead of a few islands and its main oilfield.
The seeds of the current conflict were sown in the conflict of 1990, which was brought about because of US ineptitude.
Given the above, does anyone really believe that the US has the capability (diplomatically and politically) to resolve the current troubles in Iraq?
Tuesday, April 15, 2008
Friday, April 11, 2008
Bush Passes The Baton
Having declared "Mission Accomplished", less that five years ago in Iraq, President Bush is now seeking to pass the baton for this costly never-ending war to the next president of the United States.
Bush said that if the United States is defeated in Iraq then "the Taliban in Afghanistan and al-Qaeda in Pakistan would grow in confidence and boldness. And violent extremists around the world would draw the same dangerous lesson they did from our retreats in Somalia and Vietnam."
Notwithstanding his partisan view of history, the US was right to leave Vietnam. Regrettably for the troops fighting in Iraq they will be there for many years to come.
Senator Edward Kennedy said:
"It's abundantly clear that President Bush is simply trying to run out the clock and hand off the mess to the next president."
Mission Not Accomplished!
Bush said that if the United States is defeated in Iraq then "the Taliban in Afghanistan and al-Qaeda in Pakistan would grow in confidence and boldness. And violent extremists around the world would draw the same dangerous lesson they did from our retreats in Somalia and Vietnam."
Notwithstanding his partisan view of history, the US was right to leave Vietnam. Regrettably for the troops fighting in Iraq they will be there for many years to come.
Senator Edward Kennedy said:
"It's abundantly clear that President Bush is simply trying to run out the clock and hand off the mess to the next president."
Mission Not Accomplished!
Wednesday, April 09, 2008
Happy Anniversary?
Iraq greeted the fifth anniversary of the fall of Saddam Hussein with violence and Baghdad under curfew.
Fighting broke out after midnight in Sadr City, the eastern Baghdad stronghold of radical Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr, killing six people and wounding at least 15.
US general David Petraeus stated, during testimony to the US Congress yesterday, that further troop withdrawals should be held back for at least 45 days after completing the pullout of the "surge" forces by July.
US Ambassador to Iraq Ryan Crocker warned that the "achievements" of the surge were "reversible."
Like it or not, the US will have to pull out at some stage and allow Iraq to find its own path to the future.
Fighting broke out after midnight in Sadr City, the eastern Baghdad stronghold of radical Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr, killing six people and wounding at least 15.
US general David Petraeus stated, during testimony to the US Congress yesterday, that further troop withdrawals should be held back for at least 45 days after completing the pullout of the "surge" forces by July.
US Ambassador to Iraq Ryan Crocker warned that the "achievements" of the surge were "reversible."
Like it or not, the US will have to pull out at some stage and allow Iraq to find its own path to the future.
Monday, April 07, 2008
Sculpture Destroyed
The sculpture named after Saddam Hussein's first wife (Sajida Talfah), that was unveiled in Napoleon Garden, Holland Park, west London in February has been burned down.
Kensington and Chelsea Council paid £2,000 for the installation.
Kensington and Chelsea Council paid £2,000 for the installation.
Friday, March 28, 2008
Chaos
Nouri al-Maliki's, Iraq's Prime Minister, attempt to crush militia strongholds in Basra is failing; members of his own security forces defected and districts of Baghdad fell to Shia militia gunmen.
The Times notes that:
"In Baghdad, thousands of people marched in demonstrations in Shia areas demanding an end to the Basra operation, burning effigies of Mr al-Maliki, whom they branded a new dictator, and carrying coffins with his image on it."
There is now a the very real danger of civil war in the South.
Bush supports al-Maliki's tactics, referring to them as "bold".
Being bold is all very well, but competence is also required.
The Times notes that:
"In Baghdad, thousands of people marched in demonstrations in Shia areas demanding an end to the Basra operation, burning effigies of Mr al-Maliki, whom they branded a new dictator, and carrying coffins with his image on it."
There is now a the very real danger of civil war in the South.
Bush supports al-Maliki's tactics, referring to them as "bold".
Being bold is all very well, but competence is also required.
Wednesday, March 26, 2008
Thursday, March 20, 2008
The Anniversary
Today marks the fifth anniversary of the invasion of Iraq.
Bush claims that it has been a success, and was the right thing to do.
Do the Iraqi people agree?
Were they ever asked?
Bush claims that it has been a success, and was the right thing to do.
Do the Iraqi people agree?
Were they ever asked?
Monday, March 17, 2008
The Bleak Future
As the fifth anniversary of the invasion of Iraq approaches people are reflecting on the state of the country post Saddam.
Lufti Saber, once a key lieutenant of the first post-Saddam Iraqi prime minister, Ayad Allawi, is quoted in the Telegraph as saying that Iraq would have been better off if Saddam had been left in charge.
"None of these people trust each other.
Everything comes down to that. The whole system is set up to ensure that nobody does anything that somebody else thinks is wrong.
Saddam had a way of rising above that. As soon as he made a decision, it happened. People knew it had to be done. It didn't matter where they were in the country, they knew the floor at work had to be cleaned, just in case Saddam turned up. Now the country is engulfed in chaos and nobody does anything because they all refuse to take responsibility."
He added:
"I never thought I would say it given that he sentenced me to death.
But I find myself wishing Saddam was still here. Only he had the knack of running this god-forsaken country."
In five years time Iraq, if it is still in one piece, will still be a disaster area; no matter who becomes president of the USA.
Lufti Saber, once a key lieutenant of the first post-Saddam Iraqi prime minister, Ayad Allawi, is quoted in the Telegraph as saying that Iraq would have been better off if Saddam had been left in charge.
"None of these people trust each other.
Everything comes down to that. The whole system is set up to ensure that nobody does anything that somebody else thinks is wrong.
Saddam had a way of rising above that. As soon as he made a decision, it happened. People knew it had to be done. It didn't matter where they were in the country, they knew the floor at work had to be cleaned, just in case Saddam turned up. Now the country is engulfed in chaos and nobody does anything because they all refuse to take responsibility."
He added:
"I never thought I would say it given that he sentenced me to death.
But I find myself wishing Saddam was still here. Only he had the knack of running this god-forsaken country."
In five years time Iraq, if it is still in one piece, will still be a disaster area; no matter who becomes president of the USA.
Thursday, March 13, 2008
Pentagon Tries To Bury Report
Unsurprisingly the Pentagon tried to bury the report, released yesterday, that stated that there was no connection between Saddam Hussein and al-Qaida (this of course had been the central plank of Bush's rationale for the invasion of Iraq).
The Pentagon cancelled a planned briefing about the report, and scrapped plans to post its findings on the internet. Unclassified copies of the report would be sent to interested individuals in the mail, military officials told ABC.
Another Pentagon official told ABC that initial press reports on the study made it "too politically sensitive".
Despite the Pentagon's attempts to bury the report, the media are awash with stories about it.
Mission Accomplished!
The Pentagon cancelled a planned briefing about the report, and scrapped plans to post its findings on the internet. Unclassified copies of the report would be sent to interested individuals in the mail, military officials told ABC.
Another Pentagon official told ABC that initial press reports on the study made it "too politically sensitive".
Despite the Pentagon's attempts to bury the report, the media are awash with stories about it.
Mission Accomplished!
Tuesday, March 11, 2008
No Link To al-Qaida
A detailed review by the the Institute for Defense Analyses (sponsored by the Pentagon) of over 600,000 Iraqi documents, captured after the 2003 US invasion, has found no evidence that Saddam Hussein's regime had any operational links with Osama bin Laden's al-Qaida terrorist network.
The review, "Saddam and Terrorism: Emerging Insights from Captured Iraqi Documents", is not due to be published officially to Congress until tomorrow.
The Defence Secretary (Donald Rumsfeld) claimed in September 2002 that the United States had "bulletproof" evidence of cooperation between the al-Qaida and Saddam Hussein.
Secretary of State Colin Powell claimed that there were many links between Saddam and al-Qaida in a February 2003 speech to the United Nations Security Council designed to rally support for the invasion.
Seemingly all of these statements made by Rumsfeld and Powell were based on false/misinterpreted intelligence.
The review was completed last year. However, it has been sat on since then as people have been reluctant to declassify it.
The review, "Saddam and Terrorism: Emerging Insights from Captured Iraqi Documents", is not due to be published officially to Congress until tomorrow.
The Defence Secretary (Donald Rumsfeld) claimed in September 2002 that the United States had "bulletproof" evidence of cooperation between the al-Qaida and Saddam Hussein.
Secretary of State Colin Powell claimed that there were many links between Saddam and al-Qaida in a February 2003 speech to the United Nations Security Council designed to rally support for the invasion.
Seemingly all of these statements made by Rumsfeld and Powell were based on false/misinterpreted intelligence.
The review was completed last year. However, it has been sat on since then as people have been reluctant to declassify it.
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