Saddam: The Bush Family's Frankenstein

Per a recent GQ Magazine story, Saddam Hussein is a warm figure who enjoys Doritos, hates Fruit Loops and gives fatherly advice to the young U.S. soldiers who guard his prison cell. The article does humanize the ex-dictator, but let us not forget that he was an evil, heartless ruler who brutalized his people. That said, will he be punished for his crimes? Iraqi officials have stated that the trial against Saddam will be conducted by the end of 2005:

(CBS/AP) Iraq's justice minister said Tuesday that Saddam Hussein's trial on war crimes charges will be over by the end of the year and accused the United States of trying to delay interrogations of Saddam. Abdel Hussein Shandal's comments underlined the Iraqi government's determination to bring the ousted leader to trial swiftly. They also reflected behind-the-scenes tension between Iraq and the U.S., as American officials worry about the prospect of Iraq rushing into a trial unprepared.

Why would the United States delay the interrogations? I thought that our government wanted to punish Saddam for the crimes he committed against his citizens and his neighbors. Could they be stalling because the American people might learn that the U.S. supported Saddam while he was committing his crimes? To avoid such a scenario the U.S. might pressure the Iraqi government to conduct a swift public show trial to convict Saddam as opposed to a lengthy court battle. I think it's going to get a little sticky when all of the evidence begins pouring out during the trial. This evidence will clearly smash the Bush administration's rhetoric about Iraq as well as their misinformation campaign which led us into war.

But Saddam was an immediate threat! He used WMD against his neighbors!

The United States provided Iraq with WMD and consistently supported Iraq's use of WMD up until Iraq's invasion of Kuwait in 1990. The CIA provided Saddam's regime with intelligence and troop positions during the Iran-Iraq War so that he could better target his chemical weapons on Iranian troops.

• Timeline of US support of Iraq's WMD during 1980s
• President Reagan's WMD Connection to Saddam
• Donald Rumsfeld meets with Saddam in 1983 as special U.S. envoy for President Reagan
• Donald Rumsfeld, head of G.D. Searle Pharmaceuticals in 1983, sells Saddam biological agents

But sanctions against Iraq were not working. The U.N. was taking advantage of the Oil-For-Food program to enrich European oil companies.

Now it is clear that the U.S. invaded Iraq so that American contractors and defense corporations could make enormous profits. The primary Neoconservative goal was to privatize Iraq's oil production and kick out European oil firms from Iraq.

• American oil firms violated sanctions by trading with Iraq in 1991-2002
• Texas oil companies (Bush buddies) bought Iraqi oil up until the invasion
• Halliburton did business with Iraq during sanctions and while Dick Cheney was CEO in late 1990s.
• Rebuilding Iraq: Privatization in Disguise (2003)

The best way to explain this mess is what Greg Palast calls "The Bush Family Frankenstein Factory". The Republicans created monsters like Saddam and Osama in the 1980s by funding them and providing them with intelligence and weapons. The U.S. government outsourced these monsters to fight wars against Iran (Saddam in Iraq) and the Soviets (Osama in Afghanistan). However, these monsters turned against their masters decades later and thus we find ourselves in the current situation.

This makes me wonder, which monsters are we creating today? I could imagine Pakistani President Musharraf turning from ally to evildoer in ten years. Prepare to invade Pakistan in 2015.

Comments

[The Heretik]

Great job here, Kommandante.