Opinions on the latest Wikileaks revelations please.

[Phanerothyme]

Re my bold.

 

Poison gas supplied by US companies.

 

http://www.deepjournal.com/p/7/a/en/137.html

 

 

Also , the CIA and DIA claimed, at the time, that Iran was responsible for the Halabja gas attack, flying in the face of all other analyses. A politically motivated misapprehension maybe?

[Harleyman]

Can't help noticed that Saddam was at his most dangerous when he was an ally of the West.

 

Isn't that Saddam shaking hands with Donald Rumsfeld?

 

x

 

I mentioned in an earlier post that Iraq was looked upon as an ally by the US and the west in the late 70s and I believe that because of this Saddam was not expecting any opposition form the west when he invaded Kuwait.

 

It was Thatcher who browbeat Bush senior into getting involved in the whole affair.

 

Historically Iraq and Kuwait were creations brought about by Clemenceau of France and Lloyd George of Britain after WW1 carving up the middle east and throwing Jews, Sunnis and Shiites together into a country that was doomed from the start just as they carved up the Balkans and created countries made up of a mish mash of cultures and religions which also inevitably failed decades later.

 

It was also inevitable that with the decline of Britain as a world power that the US would sooner or later become involved in dealing with the legacy brought about these decisons made at Versailles in 1919 and inevitably the US made the same mistakes as the colonial administrators, Britain and France had done earlier in the century.

 

I think Churchill once described the middle east as a snake pit that was best left alone but wise words often get blown away in the wind.

[Harleyman]

Well that sounds ridiculous doesn't it?

 

 

But here we have US Military communication transcripts, identified as bona fide by the DoD, detailing almost precisely the scenario you depict.

 

Curiously, CRAZYHORSE 18 is the same call-sign used by one of the Apache pilot/gunners who murdered the Reuters journalists and opened fire on their rescuers and two children with armour piercing cannon.

 

The whole war in Afganistan is a giant waste of time anyway. Karzai is corrupt and as crooked as they get accepting hand outs from Iran which also funds the Taleban as well as getting aid from the US and Britain. He seems to think that he can buddy up to the Taleban and make a deal with them which indicates that the man is a simpleton and a fool as when NATO pulls out the Taleban will have his head on a pole. Pakistan is at best a very dubious ally in the whole affair.

 

Sooner we're out the better. Should have learned a lesson or two from the Russians

[Phanerothyme]

Historically Iraq and Kuwait were creations brought about by Clemenceau of France and Lloyd George of Britain after WW1 carving up the middle east and throwing Jews, Sunnis and Shiites together into a country that was doomed from the start just as they carved up the Balkans and created countries made up of a mish mash of cultures and religions which also inevitably failed decades later.

 

It starts even earlier than that - have a look at the Berlin - Baghdad railway. Just as ships were moving from coal to oil…

 

 

Of course, it's never about oil!

[Harleyman]

It starts even earlier than that - have a look at the Berlin - Baghdad railway. Just as ships were moving from coal to oil…

 

 

Of course, it's never about oil!

 

Whose denying that it's about oil ? When you got to your your local BP/Shell station you expect to be able to fill up your tank right?

 

Countries like Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, UAE have grown incredibly wealthy on oil exports yet the poorer Arab countries have benefited very little from this.

 

Guess the trickle down theory doesnt work too well in that part of the world

[Lotusflower]

Also , the CIA and DIA claimed, at the time, that Iran was responsible for the Halabja gas attack, flying in the face of all other analyses. A politically motivated misapprehension maybe?

 

Oh what tangled webs they weave...

 

 

...and the gullible gobble it up!

 

Guess this means we're both "anti American."

[Harleyman]

Oh what tangled webs they weave...

 

 

...and the gullible gobble it up!

 

Guess this means we're both "anti American."

 

I'm not gullible Swami. I tend to lean towards the opinion that you do in fact walk on water

[Phanerothyme]

I think what we've found out is that like Harleyman says, the US could have learnt some lessons from the disastrous adventures of the European Great Powers and their colonial frenzy in the late 19th century, feasting on the remains of the Ottoman empire.

 

The plentiful amounts of crude oil in the region have merely increased the geopolitical pressure to have control and influence there - before oil, the Middle East was of vital strategic importance due to it's geographical position. The growing oil dependency of industrialised countries in Europe, with hardly any oil wells to call their own, meant that a fight was, largely, inevitable.

 

Add that to the European practice of drawing straight lines on maps to divvy up vast tracts of bugger all, oblivious to the consequences, and a healthy dose of religious factionalism, and you have a recipe for what we see today.

[Harleyman]

I think what we've found out is that like Harleyman says, the US could have learnt some lessons from the disastrous adventures of the European Great Powers and their colonial frenzy in the late 19th century, feasting on the remains of the Ottoman empire.

 

The plentiful amounts of crude oil in the region have merely increased the geopolitical pressure to have control and influence there - before oil, the Middle East was of vital strategic importance due to it's geographical position. The growing oil dependency of industrialised countries in Europe, with hardly any oil wells to call their own, meant that a fight was, largely, inevitable.

 

Add that to the European practice of drawing straight lines on maps to divvy up vast tracts of bugger all, oblivious to the consequences, and a healthy dose of religious factionalism, and you have a recipe for what we see today.

 

There's plenty enough oil in north America to be self sustaining but instead we pay exhorbitant prices to import it due to environmental issues

[Phanerothyme]

But on the whole, I think the wikileaks phenomenon is a Good Thing™