NP worth reading: "Missing U.S.-Iraq History"

[pynchonoid]

Missing U.S.-Iraq History
By Robert Parry
February 27, 2003

Before George W. Bush gives the final order to invade
Iraq -- a nation that has not threatened the United
States -- the American people might want a few facts
about the real history of U.S.-Iraq relations. Missing
chapters from 1980 to the present would be crucial in
judging Bush’s case for war.

But Americans don’t have those facts because Bush and
his predecessors in the White House have kept this
history hidden from the American people. When parts of
the story have emerged, administrations of both
parties have taken steps to suppress or discredit the
disclosures. So instead of knowing the truth,
Americans have been fed a steady diet of distortions,
simplifications and outright lies.

This missing history also is not just about minor
details. It goes to the heart of the case against
Saddam Hussein, including whether he is an especially
“aggressive” and “unpredictable” dictator who must be
removed from power even at the risk of America’s
standing in the world and the chance that a war will
lead to more terrorism against U.S. targets.

For instance, George W. Bush has frequently cited
Saddam Hussein’s invasions of neighbors, Iran and
Kuwait, as justification for the looming U.S. invasion
of Iraq. “By defeating this threat, we will show other
dictators that the path of aggression will lead to
their own ruin,” Bush declared during a speech in
Atlanta on Feb. 20.

Leaving aside whether Bush’s formulation is Orwellian
double-speak – aggression to discourage aggression –
there is the historical question of whether Presidents
Jimmy Carter, Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush
actually encouraged Saddam’s aggressions for
geopolitical reasons or out of diplomatic
incompetence. [...]

continues:
<http://www.consortiumnews.com/2003/022703a.html>

-Doug

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