Bill Sykes' - In Retrospect
III.
(September 2006)
Bill Sykes
looks back in retrospect at material which has been published
in previous editions of "View from America",
in an attempt to determine whether the subject matter
written then is still applicable in today’s world.
These observations have been extracted from Bill
Sykes newsletter "View from America"
April 2004 edition.
Questions and comments:
As it is pretty obvious that I do not have access to information available from
within the inner sanctums of the intelligence community, I have to base my answers
and comments on information available in the public domain.
As you can well imagine this is an extremely difficult task sorting out what
I consider to be reasonable, truthful, and accurate answers to the questions
that I’ve posed. So it behoves me to try to give you one man’s opinion
of possible answers.
I will try to keep the answers short and concise, so please don’t expect
the wisdom of Solomon.
The questions that come readily to mind are:
-
Did America, and its coalition, achieve their objectives
of ridding Iraq of the brutal dictator Saddam Hussein
and his two
equally brutal sons Uday and Kusay, in addition to
capturing leading members of the ruling Baath Party
who supported Saddam Hussein’s despotic regime?
Comment: Yes the coalition had great success
in achieving it’s objective of winning the war.
But unfortunately, as of now, they haven’t won
the peace.
-
Did the American Invasion achieve another of its
major objectives, (which was given by the American
administration as one of its prime reasons for going
to war), the finding of Weapons of Mass Destruction,
(WMDs)?
Comment: No weapons of mass destruction have
ever been found, and it has been suggested that it was
highly questionable that Saddam Hussein had such weapons
after Gulf War One.
-
Did the United States get inaccurate and misleading
information from Iraqi dissidents living outside Iraq?
Comment: They
certainly did. The founder of the London-based Iraqi
National Congress (INC), Ahmad Chabali, a controversial
figure, (said to have been convicted in absentia
of embezzlement by a Jordanian court in 1992), and
recently a close advisor to the civilian leadership
at the Pentagon was instrumental in introducing Iraqi
defectors to the United States government.
The coalition
intelligence community received the Iraqi defectors
with open arms when they claimed to have knowledge
of Saddam Hussein’s
weapons programs and Iraqi ties to Al-Qaeda. Later
the CIA questioned the credibility of the information
provided and cited the information to be faulty and
unreliable. Even so, it has been suggested that certain
members of the United States Administration cherry
picked information gathered by the CIA from Chabali’s
defectors to boost their propaganda for a war with
Iraq.
Ahmad Chabali, a 58 year old banker, (who had
been in exile for 40 years), is reported to have
been handpicked and supported by the American Administration
to become the leader of the newly formed Iraqi National
Congress. I would suggest Mr. Chabali may have aspirations
to become President of Iraq---but will the Iraqi
people accept an Iraqi defector who spent forty
years in exile, as a future leader of their country.
I would suggest that the answer is a definite no.
-
Did America promote the war with Iraq based upon
the publication of what turned out to be false information,
such as the suggestion that Iraq
had ties with the Muslim extremist Organization Al-Qaeda,
and that Iraq also had possession of Weapons of Mass
Destruction?
Comment: It would appear that since no
WMDs were found, or any association by Iraq with Al-Qaeda
ever proven, then one has to assume that the allegations
that America promoted the war based upon false premises
are correct.
I still believe that the protection of American oil
interests was a major reason, (a reason that was never
given by the administration), for going to war with
Iraq
Comment: Apparently
not. It would appear that the rioting and looting,
which occurred post war, apparently took the people
of the United States completely by surprise.
Comment: Apparently
in their naivety, that is exactly what they expected.
How wrong could they be!!!
Comment: Who
knows what the Bush Administration and the Pentagon
expected - I’m
sure that the American people certainly did not expect
the loss of so many young American lives.
Note: (September 2006). The current death toll
of coalition forces in Iraq is rapidly approaching
3000 killed and approximately 20,000 wounded.
Comment: Yes
with a ferocity that apparently was not anticipated---daily
bombings and the killing of American Forces, (and
Iraqi civilians, who apparently are considered to
be supporting the American instituted occupation),
are a constant threat to the stabilization of post
war Iraq.
Comment: Oh yes.
The people of the United States firmly believed that
their form of Democracy is the only method of Government
and that the Muslim people would readily accept such
a radical change to their accepted form of government
and way of life.
Comment: Yes.
The people of America always believe that the American
way of life is the best in the world, (and the only
way of life), and cannot understand why the people
of other Nations do not adopt their democratic way
of life.
Comment: Reports
coming out of Iraq appear to indicate that the re-building
of Iraq’s infra-structure
is extremely slow and has not been as successful as
the Administration would have liked it to be. There
are many reasons why this has not been accomplished,
which are too lengthy to go into at this juncture. With
regard to the cost - perhaps the Pentagon planners
had a vague idea of the potential costs - but I don’t
think the average American realized the enormous cost
this undertaking would require and that the financial
burden would be placed upon their shoulders.
Comment: Unfortunately
the answer is yes. Certain American companies, and
their sub-contractors, have been shown by various auditing
committees to have charged excessive amounts for the
prices of Petroleum products and for food provided
to the American forces. It is well documented that
even in a peacetime environment it is common practice
for large companies, (involved in providing material
and services to the military), to have a tendency to
elevate their prices due to the strict requirements
imposed by the military.
Comment: That is a question that only the Iraqi
people can answer.
Comment: I cannot answer for the American people
as a whole, but in my humble opinion the answer is
certainly not. The threat of terrorist action on American
soil still lingers. Muslim extremism and the threat
of retaliation against America and Americans appears
greater now than it was at the time of the 11th of
September terrorist 2001 incident, even though many
more stringent security conditions are now in place
that weren’t in place
prior to the September 11th, 2001, tragic occurrences.
As I said in a previous paragraph, "So many questions,
so few "acceptable" answers".
Disclaimer:
Some of the information gathered for this news letter
has been gleaned from American and International media
sources, (including the Internet), and as such is quoted
as accurately as possible. I try to obtain confirmation
on each subject from several outlets, so the text is
a mixture of composite news items and personal comments
and therefore the reader must make his/her own judgement
as to the reliability and degree of accuracy of the subjects
discussed.
Note: To view the complete
April 2004 edition of “View
from America” please click HERE.
Disclaimer:
Some of the information gathered for this newsletter has
been gleaned from American and International media sources,
(including the Internet), and as such is quoted as accurately
as possible.
I try to obtain confirmation n on each subject from several
outlets, so the text is a mixture of composite news items
and personal comments and therefore the reader must make
his/her own judgement as to the reliability and degree
of accuracy of the subjects discussed.
We
welcome feedback about any of the contents of these articles.
Please send all correspondence to bill_sykes@huddersfield1.co.uk
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