Hi,
While events are still fresh in the memory, and for history’s sake, I thought it might be interesting to give my own testimony as an eye witness before an imaginary tribunal, the tribunal of history. An analytical examination of events leading to the present day situation might be instructive. This I hope to do this in installments as time permits and I hope my friends might find it interesting and entertaining.
1- Just before the day of the "Square".
Mr. Blair today said something that is important and should be realized. The situation in Iraq is not primarily a measure of the failure of American and allied policies but rather the successes of the Morlocks. The New Order forces are only to blame for not being able to understand and correctly appreciate the seriousness of the threat and hence find a way to thwart the deliberate plan of the enemy (Sadamists, Al-Qaeda etc. etc.). This plan came into effect from the very first week after that glorious day of April when the idol fell in Firdous Square. There is little doubt that much of the chaos, pilfering and arson were part of a deliberate plan prepared long before the fall and carried out by special cells of baathists prepared and trained for this kind of action as part of contingency plans for precisely this kind of scenario. This is no secret and actually Saddam himself often talked about it publicly when he was in power, vowing never to surrender Iraq but an empty land devoid of inhabitants. Al-Qaeda types, extremists and suicide volunteers were imported from Arab and non-Arab countries during the weeks and months preceding the battle of Iraqi Freedom, and these were frequently boasted about and shown and on T.V., they were housed in the best hotels (such as the Rashid hotel and the like) and looked after in a way that many of these miserable characters had never seen in their life before. The number of Arab volunteers was said to be about ten thousand just before the onset of military hostilities.
. Saddam realized very clearly what was going to happen and had no illusions about it. You must give him at least credit for that. If you saw him those days in public appearances he seemed to be almost in a trance. For someone like me who had the misfortune to observe this man for many years, it was clear to me personally that he was in a state of total despair and a kind of fatalist acceptance of his fate. So indeed, he was planning for the aftermath about which he had no illusions, for quite sometime before 2003. Thus, the presence of Al-Qaeda types, the Zarqawis and their alliance with the baathists were prepared carefully long before the events of April 2003. He laid the grounds and foundations for something that was going to grow and develop into the horror that we see today. These suicide volunteers were the unconventional weapon that Al-Sahaf, the famous and comical information minister of Saddam, boasted about so often before and during the military campaign. Well, this weapon may not have been very effective at the time, but it sure played a devastating role later on. Saddam knew that he had no immediate defense against a direct American assault, so he prepared for a different kind of response, a kind of posthumous revenge against all his enemies both American and Iraqi..
Let us next recall events in the immediate aftermath of the 9th of April 2003.
Next Post:
2- The Farhood.
While events are still fresh in the memory, and for history’s sake, I thought it might be interesting to give my own testimony as an eye witness before an imaginary tribunal, the tribunal of history. An analytical examination of events leading to the present day situation might be instructive. This I hope to do this in installments as time permits and I hope my friends might find it interesting and entertaining.
1- Just before the day of the "Square".
Mr. Blair today said something that is important and should be realized. The situation in Iraq is not primarily a measure of the failure of American and allied policies but rather the successes of the Morlocks. The New Order forces are only to blame for not being able to understand and correctly appreciate the seriousness of the threat and hence find a way to thwart the deliberate plan of the enemy (Sadamists, Al-Qaeda etc. etc.). This plan came into effect from the very first week after that glorious day of April when the idol fell in Firdous Square. There is little doubt that much of the chaos, pilfering and arson were part of a deliberate plan prepared long before the fall and carried out by special cells of baathists prepared and trained for this kind of action as part of contingency plans for precisely this kind of scenario. This is no secret and actually Saddam himself often talked about it publicly when he was in power, vowing never to surrender Iraq but an empty land devoid of inhabitants. Al-Qaeda types, extremists and suicide volunteers were imported from Arab and non-Arab countries during the weeks and months preceding the battle of Iraqi Freedom, and these were frequently boasted about and shown and on T.V., they were housed in the best hotels (such as the Rashid hotel and the like) and looked after in a way that many of these miserable characters had never seen in their life before. The number of Arab volunteers was said to be about ten thousand just before the onset of military hostilities.
. Saddam realized very clearly what was going to happen and had no illusions about it. You must give him at least credit for that. If you saw him those days in public appearances he seemed to be almost in a trance. For someone like me who had the misfortune to observe this man for many years, it was clear to me personally that he was in a state of total despair and a kind of fatalist acceptance of his fate. So indeed, he was planning for the aftermath about which he had no illusions, for quite sometime before 2003. Thus, the presence of Al-Qaeda types, the Zarqawis and their alliance with the baathists were prepared carefully long before the events of April 2003. He laid the grounds and foundations for something that was going to grow and develop into the horror that we see today. These suicide volunteers were the unconventional weapon that Al-Sahaf, the famous and comical information minister of Saddam, boasted about so often before and during the military campaign. Well, this weapon may not have been very effective at the time, but it sure played a devastating role later on. Saddam knew that he had no immediate defense against a direct American assault, so he prepared for a different kind of response, a kind of posthumous revenge against all his enemies both American and Iraqi..
Let us next recall events in the immediate aftermath of the 9th of April 2003.
Next Post:
2- The Farhood.
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