Posted on 08/21/2003 5:38:05 AM PDT by SJackson
Edited on 04/22/2004 11:49:41 PM PDT by Jim Robinson. [history]
With Arab militants pouring into Iraq to help carry out attacks like the U.N. bombing this week, it's worth traveling back in time a bit to examine just how we got here. Soon after joining Secretary of State George P. Shultz as his legal adviser in 1985, I was invited by Ambassador Richard Fairbanks (former Middle East negotiator) to a dinner in honor of Iraqi Foreign Minister Tariq Aziz. The dinner was hosted by Hassib Sabbagh, a prominent and successful Palestinian businessman. Among the many distinguished guests were Donald Rumsfeld, at that point the former Secretary of Defense, some high-level U.S. officials and former officials, and several successful Arab Americans.
(Excerpt) Read more at online.wsj.com ...
Exactly what achievements? Saddam's gaudy palaces? Tons of small arms stashed all over the country? Rampant corruption? There wasn't even regular trash pickup in Baghdad before the war, unless you were on the preferred list. Ditto for electricity, medical care and just about every other government service. It's difficult to achieve when the slightest offense against the regime results in torture and death. Self-respect means nothing when you're dead.
Ironically, the very jihadis that Saddam's regime attempted to stamp out are fighting and dying on Iraqi soil.
This author is living in the past. After the first gulf war, Saddam embraced the jihadists -- including the Ayatollahs -- as useful idiots. The enemies of his enemy became his friends.
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