How the US and UK tried to justify the invasion of Iraq
On March 20, 2003, the United States led a coalition that launched a fully-fledged invasion of Iraq, closely supported by the United Kingdom
The case it had made for invading the Middle Eastern nation was built on three basic premises: that the regime of Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction (WMD); that it was developing more of them to the potential advantage of “terrorist” groups; and that creating a “friendly and democratic” Iraq would set an example for the region.
However, 20 years after the launch of Operation Iraqi Freedom, the question of whether the invasion of Iraq was the product of the wilful deception of US, UK and other voters, wrongful intelligence or a strategic calculus is still a matter of debate.
What appears inescapable is that the Iraq war has cast a long shadow over the US’s foreign policies, with repercussions to this day.
In a speech on October 14, 2002, Bush said the US was “a friend to the people of Iraq”. Our demands are directed only at the regime that enslaves them and threatens us … The long captivity of Iraq will end, and an era of new hope will begin also said In a speech in Cincinnati in the US state of Ohio on October 7, 2002, the US president declared that Iraq “possesses and produces chemical and biological weapons. It is seeking nuclear weapons. He then concluded that Hussein had to be stopped. “The Iraqi dictator must not be permitted to threaten America and the world with horrible poisons and diseases and gases and atomic weapons,”
A few months later, he added that “a new regime in Iraq would serve as a dramatic and inspiring example of freedom for other nations in the region” and “begin a new stage for Middle Eastern peace."
Ultimately, the attempt to turn Iraq into a “bulwark for democracy” largely backfired, with little evidence of a strengthening of democracy in the wider region.
Since the war in Iraq, there has been not only a persistent threat from al-Qaeda but also the emergence of ISIS [ISIL] and the growth of the Iranian state as a regional power, which has been profoundly destabilising in the region,
In 2005, under US occupation and with strong input from American-supplied experts, Iraq hastily formulated a new constitution, establishing a parliamentary system.
While not written in the constitution, the requirement that the president be a Kurd, the speaker a Sunni, and the prime minister a Shia became common practice.
The Iraqi constitution was essentially an American product, it was never a negotiated agreement among Iraqis, which is what a successful constitution is,
Then-British Prime Minister Tony Blair had said the same thing on September 24, 2002, as he presented a British intelligence dossier affirming that Hussein could activate chemical and biological weapons “within 45 minutes, including against his own Shia population”.
A fact-finding mission set up by the multinational force to find and disable Iraq’s purported WMDs – was ultimately unable to find substantial evidence that Hussein had an active weapons development programme.
On March 20, 2003, the United States led a coalition that launched a fully-fledged invasion of Iraq, closely supported by the United Kingdom
The case it had made for invading the Middle Eastern nation was built on three basic premises: that the regime of Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction (WMD); that it was developing more of them to the potential advantage of “terrorist” groups; and that creating a “friendly and democratic” Iraq would set an example for the region.
However, 20 years after the launch of Operation Iraqi Freedom, the question of whether the invasion of Iraq was the product of the wilful deception of US, UK and other voters, wrongful intelligence or a strategic calculus is still a matter of debate.
What appears inescapable is that the Iraq war has cast a long shadow over the US’s foreign policies, with repercussions to this day.
In a speech on October 14, 2002, Bush said the US was “a friend to the people of Iraq”. Our demands are directed only at the regime that enslaves them and threatens us … The long captivity of Iraq will end, and an era of new hope will begin also said In a speech in Cincinnati in the US state of Ohio on October 7, 2002, the US president declared that Iraq “possesses and produces chemical and biological weapons. It is seeking nuclear weapons. He then concluded that Hussein had to be stopped. “The Iraqi dictator must not be permitted to threaten America and the world with horrible poisons and diseases and gases and atomic weapons,”
A few months later, he added that “a new regime in Iraq would serve as a dramatic and inspiring example of freedom for other nations in the region” and “begin a new stage for Middle Eastern peace."
Ultimately, the attempt to turn Iraq into a “bulwark for democracy” largely backfired, with little evidence of a strengthening of democracy in the wider region.
Since the war in Iraq, there has been not only a persistent threat from al-Qaeda but also the emergence of ISIS [ISIL] and the growth of the Iranian state as a regional power, which has been profoundly destabilising in the region,
In 2005, under US occupation and with strong input from American-supplied experts, Iraq hastily formulated a new constitution, establishing a parliamentary system.
While not written in the constitution, the requirement that the president be a Kurd, the speaker a Sunni, and the prime minister a Shia became common practice.
The Iraqi constitution was essentially an American product, it was never a negotiated agreement among Iraqis, which is what a successful constitution is,
Then-British Prime Minister Tony Blair had said the same thing on September 24, 2002, as he presented a British intelligence dossier affirming that Hussein could activate chemical and biological weapons “within 45 minutes, including against his own Shia population”.
A fact-finding mission set up by the multinational force to find and disable Iraq’s purported WMDs – was ultimately unable to find substantial evidence that Hussein had an active weapons development programme.
The sanction list of The Office of Foreign Asset Control has been listed on the hackers forum for sale. Over 30 million records are claimed.
#USA
#databreach #cyberrisk
#USA
#databreach #cyberrisk
The French seem to be preparing for guillotines..
Shocking images coming from Paris these days #France
Shocking images coming from Paris these days #France
Mother's Day falls on Tuesday, March 21st, 2023 (yesterday) in Jerusalem, Palestine.
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Julian Assange spent 2,487 days
in the Ecuadorian embassy, where the US spied on his meetings with lawyers.
He has now spent 1,076 days in Belmarsh Prison awaiting extradition to the United States for a show trial.
#FreeJulianAssange
Singer - Lowkey
in the Ecuadorian embassy, where the US spied on his meetings with lawyers.
He has now spent 1,076 days in Belmarsh Prison awaiting extradition to the United States for a show trial.
#FreeJulianAssange
Singer - Lowkey
Hoda Abdelmoneim
Human rights lawyer was sentenced to 5 years in prison as punishment for her work.
Lawyers are intimidated, human rights lawyers are sent to prison to experience first hand the abuses they documented.
This is #Egypt
Human rights lawyer was sentenced to 5 years in prison as punishment for her work.
Lawyers are intimidated, human rights lawyers are sent to prison to experience first hand the abuses they documented.
This is #Egypt
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In France Riot-Police joined the protesters. Soon everywhere.
This is #Yemen, dying while the world is watching!
Take A Good Look At The Innocent Children of Yemen.
All They Need Is Food Love & Freedom.
#Yemen #YemenCantWait
Take A Good Look At The Innocent Children of Yemen.
All They Need Is Food Love & Freedom.
#Yemen #YemenCantWait
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More than a million people took to the streets across France with 119,000 in Paris.The demonstrations were sparked by legislation raising the retirement age by two years to 64.
#FranceProtests #Legislation #natives #pensiondrop #franceinfo #Paris
#FranceProtests #Legislation #natives #pensiondrop #franceinfo #Paris
European colonizers killed so many Native Americans that it changed the global climate, researchers say.
When Europeans arrived in the Americas, they caused so much death and disease that it changed the global climate, a new study finds.
European settlers killed 56 million indigenous people over about 100 years in South, Central and North America, causing large swaths of farmland to be abandoned and reforested, researchers at University College London, or UCL, estimate. The increase in trees and vegetation across an area the size of France resulted in a massive decrease in carbon dioxide (CO2) in the atmosphere, according to the study.
Carbon levels changed enough to cool the Earth by 1610, researchers found. Columbus arrived in 1492.
When Europeans arrived in the Americas, they caused so much death and disease that it changed the global climate, a new study finds.
European settlers killed 56 million indigenous people over about 100 years in South, Central and North America, causing large swaths of farmland to be abandoned and reforested, researchers at University College London, or UCL, estimate. The increase in trees and vegetation across an area the size of France resulted in a massive decrease in carbon dioxide (CO2) in the atmosphere, according to the study.
Carbon levels changed enough to cool the Earth by 1610, researchers found. Columbus arrived in 1492.
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The All-American Bombardier
Here is a list of the countries bombed and/or invaded by the United States from the end of the Second World War to 2023:
China 1945-46
Korea 1950-53
China 1950-53
Guatemala 1954
Indonesia 1958
Cuba 1959-60
Guatemala 1960
Belgian Congo 1964
Guatemala 1964
Dominican Republic 1965-66
Peru 1965
Laos 1964-73
Vietnam 1961-73
Cambodia 1969-70
Guatemala 1967-69
Lebanon 1982-84
Grenada 1983-84
Libya 1986
El Salvador 1981-92
Nicaragua 1981-90
Iran 1987-88
Libya 1989
Panama 1989-90
Iraq 1991
Kuwait 1991
Somalia 1992-94
Bosnia 1995
Iran 1998
Sudan 1998
Afghanistan 1998
Yugoslavia – Serbia 1999
Afghanistan 2001
Libya 2011
Iraq and Syria 2014 –
Somalia 2011 –
Iran 2020 –
Note that these countries represent roughly one-third of the people on earth.
This list makes it seem clear that the United States has been as bellicose as any other country in the history of the world. At least, it seems clear to non-Americans. Less clear are the reasons behind the bellicosity, the reasons that so few Americans realize how bellicose they are, and the reasons that so many Americans believe their country to be peaceable and benign.
To see how this process works in the White House—to see how inaccurately American presidents are informed—read For the President's Eyes Only by the Cambridge historian Christopher Andrew. To appreciate more fully the incompetence and outrageousness of the CIA, read Legacy of Ashes by the Pulitzer Prize-winning New York Times reporter Tim Winer.
Here is a list of the countries bombed and/or invaded by the United States from the end of the Second World War to 2023:
China 1945-46
Korea 1950-53
China 1950-53
Guatemala 1954
Indonesia 1958
Cuba 1959-60
Guatemala 1960
Belgian Congo 1964
Guatemala 1964
Dominican Republic 1965-66
Peru 1965
Laos 1964-73
Vietnam 1961-73
Cambodia 1969-70
Guatemala 1967-69
Lebanon 1982-84
Grenada 1983-84
Libya 1986
El Salvador 1981-92
Nicaragua 1981-90
Iran 1987-88
Libya 1989
Panama 1989-90
Iraq 1991
Kuwait 1991
Somalia 1992-94
Bosnia 1995
Iran 1998
Sudan 1998
Afghanistan 1998
Yugoslavia – Serbia 1999
Afghanistan 2001
Libya 2011
Iraq and Syria 2014 –
Somalia 2011 –
Iran 2020 –
Note that these countries represent roughly one-third of the people on earth.
This list makes it seem clear that the United States has been as bellicose as any other country in the history of the world. At least, it seems clear to non-Americans. Less clear are the reasons behind the bellicosity, the reasons that so few Americans realize how bellicose they are, and the reasons that so many Americans believe their country to be peaceable and benign.
To see how this process works in the White House—to see how inaccurately American presidents are informed—read For the President's Eyes Only by the Cambridge historian Christopher Andrew. To appreciate more fully the incompetence and outrageousness of the CIA, read Legacy of Ashes by the Pulitzer Prize-winning New York Times reporter Tim Winer.
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#Francia || Continúan las protestas masivas en Francia contra la reforma de las pensiones, este martes se cumplen 10 días de tensión en el país.
#franceprotest 🔥
#franceprotest 🔥