Yesterday afternoon, I watched a documentary on the National Geographic channel about the interrogation of Saddam Hussein. It was an interesting program and the FBI agent who interrogated Saddam told the story of how he was able to get Saddam to trust him, to even like him.
After Saddam was captured, he was placed in solitary confinement in a prison. For months, the only human contact that Saddam had was the contact with his interrogator. The interrogator whose name was George ( I think that was it, I honestly don't remember) spent 7 hours a day with Hussein talking about whatever Saddam wanted to talk about.
Saddam wrote poetry and would sometimes read his poetry to George, or he would just simply talk about the weather. This went on for months. After a while, Saddam looked forward to spending time with George and George was careful to appear sympathetic to Saddam's capture and imprisonment.
Eventually, George found an opportunity to extract the information that he was after, which was what did Saddam do with his WMD? What George learned was that Saddam didn't have the stockpile that the whole world thought he had. The fact of the matter was that Saddam viewed Iran as his greatest threat and he had to appear to have WMD in order to keep Iran at bay. He played a game of cat and mouse and ended up losing because of it.
Liberals used to chant, "Bush Lied People Died" but the fact of the matter is, that chant should have been, "Saddam lied people died." Everyone thought he had WMD because he made us believe it. He perpetuated a risky hoax so that he could fool Iran and it was working.
After this was revealed in the show, it got me thinking. If only Saddam would have contacted SOMEONE that he could possibly trust. SOMEONE who could have helped him keep the UN or the US off his back. The problem is, there wasn't anyone he could trust. With Bush in the White House, I'm sure that he wouldn't have felt comfortable calling him up and explaining his situation. Perhaps, oil for food aside, France Germany and Russia had inside knowledge of Saddam's ploy and that's why they refused to allow the UN to go into Iraq. Perhaps Bush should have gone along with the UN at that time. I do believe however, that President Bush acted in a manner that he felt was right, of that I have no doubt.
I know that it sounds like I am feeling sorry for Saddam, but nothing could be further from the truth. The fact of the matter is, he was thorn in the side of many. He gassed the Kurds and committed other atrocities against his own people. He was a brutal dictator, however, sometimes it's better to stay with the dictator that you know rather than upset an entire region by removing him from power.
Under Saddam's reign, there was a stable Iraq that would help (out of self defense, not out of the kindness of his heart) keep Iran in check. Now that Saddam is out of power, and with US troops about to leave the area, who knows what will come down the pike. I worry for the state of Isreal and I worry about the innocent lives that will be lost to terrorism.
We are sure to see the same thing happen in Lybia, especially since the rebels have stated that they want to impose Sharia law on the people of Lybia.
So was it all worth it? Should we have gone into Iraq? At one time, I thought that yes, we most definitely should have but now, I'm not so sure. The only thing that I do know is that no matter what the mistakes of our government's foreign policy may be, I always support the troops and truly appreciate the job that they do.
As the show came to an end, George spoke of the close of his assignment and when it was time for him to say goodbye to Saddam. George had been so good at his job, that Saddam told George that he cared for him as much, if not more, than his own sons. He thanked him for the time they spent together talking and they smoked Cuban cigars. When they parted, Saddam hugged George and gave him goodbye kisses in the Arab fashion.. right cheek, left cheek then right again.
At the close of the show, George did say that while Saddam did not have stockpiles of WMD, he knew that without a doubt that Saddam was pursuing the possibility of re instituting his WMD program and would have never stopped in that pursuit.
Saddam played a very deadly game of cat and mouse and he lost, but not only did he lose, so did the entire region, especially if Iran fulfills its desire to rid the middle east of Israel.
Sometimes, it's better to deal with the evil that you know, rather than the unknown.
After Saddam was captured, he was placed in solitary confinement in a prison. For months, the only human contact that Saddam had was the contact with his interrogator. The interrogator whose name was George ( I think that was it, I honestly don't remember) spent 7 hours a day with Hussein talking about whatever Saddam wanted to talk about.
Saddam wrote poetry and would sometimes read his poetry to George, or he would just simply talk about the weather. This went on for months. After a while, Saddam looked forward to spending time with George and George was careful to appear sympathetic to Saddam's capture and imprisonment.
Eventually, George found an opportunity to extract the information that he was after, which was what did Saddam do with his WMD? What George learned was that Saddam didn't have the stockpile that the whole world thought he had. The fact of the matter was that Saddam viewed Iran as his greatest threat and he had to appear to have WMD in order to keep Iran at bay. He played a game of cat and mouse and ended up losing because of it.
Liberals used to chant, "Bush Lied People Died" but the fact of the matter is, that chant should have been, "Saddam lied people died." Everyone thought he had WMD because he made us believe it. He perpetuated a risky hoax so that he could fool Iran and it was working.
After this was revealed in the show, it got me thinking. If only Saddam would have contacted SOMEONE that he could possibly trust. SOMEONE who could have helped him keep the UN or the US off his back. The problem is, there wasn't anyone he could trust. With Bush in the White House, I'm sure that he wouldn't have felt comfortable calling him up and explaining his situation. Perhaps, oil for food aside, France Germany and Russia had inside knowledge of Saddam's ploy and that's why they refused to allow the UN to go into Iraq. Perhaps Bush should have gone along with the UN at that time. I do believe however, that President Bush acted in a manner that he felt was right, of that I have no doubt.
I know that it sounds like I am feeling sorry for Saddam, but nothing could be further from the truth. The fact of the matter is, he was thorn in the side of many. He gassed the Kurds and committed other atrocities against his own people. He was a brutal dictator, however, sometimes it's better to stay with the dictator that you know rather than upset an entire region by removing him from power.
Under Saddam's reign, there was a stable Iraq that would help (out of self defense, not out of the kindness of his heart) keep Iran in check. Now that Saddam is out of power, and with US troops about to leave the area, who knows what will come down the pike. I worry for the state of Isreal and I worry about the innocent lives that will be lost to terrorism.
We are sure to see the same thing happen in Lybia, especially since the rebels have stated that they want to impose Sharia law on the people of Lybia.
So was it all worth it? Should we have gone into Iraq? At one time, I thought that yes, we most definitely should have but now, I'm not so sure. The only thing that I do know is that no matter what the mistakes of our government's foreign policy may be, I always support the troops and truly appreciate the job that they do.
As the show came to an end, George spoke of the close of his assignment and when it was time for him to say goodbye to Saddam. George had been so good at his job, that Saddam told George that he cared for him as much, if not more, than his own sons. He thanked him for the time they spent together talking and they smoked Cuban cigars. When they parted, Saddam hugged George and gave him goodbye kisses in the Arab fashion.. right cheek, left cheek then right again.
At the close of the show, George did say that while Saddam did not have stockpiles of WMD, he knew that without a doubt that Saddam was pursuing the possibility of re instituting his WMD program and would have never stopped in that pursuit.
Saddam played a very deadly game of cat and mouse and he lost, but not only did he lose, so did the entire region, especially if Iran fulfills its desire to rid the middle east of Israel.
Sometimes, it's better to deal with the evil that you know, rather than the unknown.
Belle,
ReplyDeleteI was recalled to active duty in 1990 for what was to become Desert Storm. Because of why I was recalled, I had close contact with numerous Iraqis.
Please trust me when I say that a huge majority of that nation's "common folk" were sorely disappointed when we didn't finish the job and take that sadistic lying son of a bitch all the way out.
Saddam was a huge, huge investor and sponsor of global terror as well as a huge provider of sanctuary for terrorist cells being chased by the U.S., Israel, France, Great Britain, et al.
When you look at the sadistic, psychopathic nature of his two piece of shit (thankfully dead) sons, you can see how the nuts never fall far from the tree.
Someday I'll have the Cessna down your way and we'll have dinner. I can tell you then a few things I saw in places in Iraq even twenty years ago that only got worse before our troops went in.
Bush sucked as a domestic president, but I had very few problems whatsoever with how he handled our military and where he sent them and for what reasons.
Regards,
--AOA
Dinner would be great AOA and thanks for the insight.
ReplyDeleteI supported the war in Iraq at the time, I know that we was a brutal piece of shit. I guess my reservations stem from the billions spent on trying to 'rebuild' that nation.
After all the time, effort and military lives that were lost I worry that once we are completely gone from Iraq they will be overrun by Iran and/or a bunch of radical Islamists.
Saddam had terrorist training camps, complete with plane fuselages to train in. I can't feel bad about his removal because of that - what I do feel bad about this admin's willingness to toss away all we have gained and allow the country to return to the same source of terror as it was prior to the invasion.
ReplyDelete