Interesting read from CNN’s Christiane Amanpour’s documentary. Here is an excerpt:
1980s: Iraq
CNN found that intervention is often weighed against political and economic costs.
Declassified U.S. government documents show that while Saddam Hussein was gassing Iraqi Kurds, the U.S. opposed punishing Iraq with a trade embargo because it was cultivating Iraq as an ally against Iran and as a market for U.S. farm exports.
According to Peter Galbraith, then an idealistic Senate staffer determined to stop Hussein from committing genocide, the Reagan administration “got carried away with their own propaganda. They began to believe that Saddam Hussein could be a reliable partner.”
To read more about the things that happened and included in the documentary, like the darfur, Bosnia and Rwanda genocides , click HERE.
I like Christiane Amanpour. I admire her courage.
May be read this too: Niccolò Machiavelli. A politician who implemented this strategy a few centuries ago.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Machiavelli
Nothing changed since then 🙁
[…] SOME contrast […]
Reagan was a great leader. I don’t think so.
So are we laying this a Reagan’s and Bush, Sr’s feet? Now with the Iran-Contra issue and “Reaganomics” both black marks on Reagans legacy, we can add this.
How about this one… US was gonna invade kuwait , saudi, and uae and take hold of the oil… The brits said fuck no!!
Britain Says U.S. Planned To Seize Oil In ’73 Crisis
The United States government seriously contemplated using military force to seize oil fields in the Middle East during the Arab oil embargo 30 years ago, according to a declassified British government document made public on Thursday.
The top-secret document says that President Richard M. Nixon was prepared to act more aggressively than previously thought to secure America’s oil supply if the embargo, imposed by Arab nations in retaliation for America’s support for Israel in the 1973 Middle East war, did not end. In fact, the embargo was lifted in March 1974.
The declassified British memorandum said the United States considered launching airborne troops to seize oil fields in Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Abu Dhabi, but only as a ”last resort.”
http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9C05E4D61F3EF931A35752C0A9629C8B63