Waking up in a new world: Part III

Editor's note: Notice that 'Part III' above? Good. Make sure you read parts I and II first. The writer is in a frenzy, churning out this magnum opus at a breathtaking pace. I'd like to take some credit for that as I frequently challenge his defense of the Iraq invasion, thus leading him to formalize his understanding of Middle East history and how he came to form his beliefs with regard to Iraq. Unfortunately I feel hoisted by my own petard, as I can no longer keep up with his Faulknerian output. Specifically, it takes some time, dear reader, to come up with relevant/interesting/funny/smart links to enhance these blog entries. Add to that the fact that I have a real job and can only work on this when I get a break, and you can see how three long posts in as many days (with another one at least on its way) can break the camel's back. I will leave unasked the question of how the writer finds the time to write all these posts. In any case, this excuse is meant to explain the lack of links and the more 'raw' look to this post. I realize now I could have probably found more than a few good links to use in the post below in the time it has taken to write this disclaimer. Oh well. If the writer promises to slow down after this extended essay, I promise to add in links later on.

Saddam after the First Gulf War.

When America finished winning one of the most incredible victories in history, forcing Saddam and Iraq to flee Kuwait in hours, everything was coming up roses for the US. Most of the troops were coming home alive and in one piece. The world-wide coalition held. President Bush was seen as a leader for a new world and a new age. Accolades were every where. Troops were marching in parades around the country. In Washington DC, injured troops were fighting the top brass for the right to march in uniform, rather than the traditional pajamas. America was on top, living large and in charge. The New World Order was in place and working. The rest of the world, led by America - always the reluctant hero - would see that no dictator could ever wage unjust war against a smaller nation again. Flowers, candy, fireworks, happy days were indeed here again.

But not in Iraq.

Iraq had accepted the terms for surrender. They included UN Resolution 687 which stated Saddam would prove to the world that all his weapons of mass destruction would be destroyed. The UN formed a group of inspectors, lead by the United States, to verify compliance. President George H. W. Bush encouraged the people of Iraq to rise up against Saddam, throw him out, and become a member of the international community. And they tried. 21 out of 23 Iraqi provinces took up arms and started open rebellion. Saddam's army was beaten, humiliated, depleted, but not finished. Saddam may have professed that he expected to win the war against the US, but his actions say otherwise. His most fearsome forces, the Republican Guard, had never participated in the battle. I guess he figured it the war actually did come, he would loose, and he would need those troops to maintain control of his state. They were ready for battle. And battle they did. Estimates range up to 300,000 dead Shiites and Kurds, who heeded the great President Bush's encouragement to rebel. Bush - henceforth known by me as 'Bush the coward' - did nothing.

Saddam unleashed his Guards, and they slaughtered the ill-equipped, under-trained, out-matched and out-numbered rebels. And his fury was great. His Air Force strafed villages, his troops slaughtered civilians, and once again, he used chemical and biological weapons that are now said to never have existed. Ask the few lucky Iraqis who managed to get far enough away to only be scared for life by their use. It happened. Pictures of the massacres flooded the air waves. Tales of torture, slaughter, death and destruction were every where. The world was out raged. And with good reason too. Apparently, what ever terms the 'world-wide coalition' offered Saddam, failed to include that he could not slaughter a significant portion of his countries population.

The world wide outrage was so great that Bush the Coward decreed that Saddam's air force could not fly. The Iraqis countered that government officials needed air travel to get around the country and see where all these outrageous lies were coming from. Bush backed off and said no flying in the northern part of Iraq (Kurds) or the southern part (Shiites), but helicopters could fly in those regions. Now granted, Bush the Coward is from the WWII era, pre-helicopter, but you would think being head of the CIA, he would have known about helicopter gunships. Apparently not. The carnage continued.

After a while, the wild fire of war died down a bit, but it did not go out. The world moved on to other stories, other issues, other parties, things to occupy our attention. But the killing never stopped. How many people reading this know that the United States has controlled the northern and southern no fly zones since the first Gulf War? We've had troops fighting in Iraq, every day, since 1991. And to their credit, they've never lost a single flight. Every one of those soldiers came home alive. Though I doubt Iraq could make the same claim.

With the official end of the first Gulf War came other messy situations for Iraq. I don't know much about Arab culture, having never experienced it. But from what I have read, the second most humiliating thing you can do to an Arab is to defeat him. The most embarrassing thing you can do is to rub his face in it. One of the terms of surrender Saddam agreed to was to prove, beyond a shadow of a doubt, before the entire world, that he would destroy all his weapons of mass destruction, he would destroy all means of producing them, and the United Nations would have inspectors verifying it. If that wasn't enough, Saddam would be forced to put into place a system proving that nothing anyone in Iraq did could possibly be confused with the planning, creation, storage or use of WMDs. Them's some tough pills to swallow. Seen on world wide media, Saddam and Iraq would have to take orders from a relatively small UN team of weapons inspectors (I don't know, 15 maybe 20). It's really tough to march at the head of the Annual Gulf War Victory Parade in Baghdad when Scott Ridder's on the phone saying "Yo, we want to see your dairy plant in Najaf, and we want to see it now."

Suffice to say, there was no love lost between Saddam and the UN weapons inspectors. On the day they arrived for their first inspection, they were greeted by Iraqi soldiers shooting weapons over their heads. In order to maintain his illusion of superiority, Saddam had to both scoff at the UN, and abide by them. Let's just say cooperation between the two parties was questionable at best. As I remember they reached a couple of points where inspectors were pulled because of lack of cooperation. There were threats to pull the inspectors. There was much wailing and gnashing of teeth. And there was also the real destruction of real weapons of mass destruction that Saddam actually had, and had used.

Another part of the terms of surrender stated that until Saddam bent over and took it up the butt from the UN, on world wide TV, Iraq was restricted by severe import/export restrictions, more affectionately known as "sanctions." Not really much of a problem if you're a dictator leading 20% of the population that is brutally repressing the other 80%, but it did put a crimp in his style. Fortunately, the majority of the nations that are members of the United Nations, think and act like he does. Grease a few palms here, slide some oil credits there, things get done.

Now about those weapons.