[Drammach]

Mr. Peters is most definitely correct.

[spodefly]

BTTT

[Thud]

ping

[Dajjal]

BTTT

[Arthur McGowan]

The Rapist and Hillary! and Trent Lott certainly know the power of secret files!

[Cincinatus]

Ralph Peters articles during this campaign have been absolutely outstanding. He blends understanding and insight into very concise, on-point pieces. This one actually gives us a glimpse into the Middle East of the future.

The House of Saud (among others) should be afraid -- very afraid.

[Cincinatus' Wife]

***The Iraqi archives will be a mother lode of information for scholars. But there is much we will choose to keep under lock and key for strategic purposes. The psychological effects of our access to those archives and to former regime officials anxious to tell all will be even greater than the practical information we accumulate. No Arab leader will know what was or wasn't in those files. Each will have to fear the worst. President-for-life X will always have to wonder what we know as we sit across the negotiating table. Our immediate goal will be to help the Iraqi people build the first rule-of-law democracy in the Middle East. That will bring its own rewards. But the long-term dividends we will reap from our secret war will keep paying off for decades. The destruction of Saddam's regime will result in the greatest intelligence coup in history. ***

This will be helpful closer to home. December 29, 2000 - Fidel, Saddam and Hugo --An improbable but growing friendship of three military revolutionaries***The Castro-Hussein-Chávez connection is anti-American and anti-capitalistic, but not in an ideological way. What matters to the three is domestic power built upon a base of nationalism that they believe legitimizes their policies

In a way, this bizarre trio represents the rebirth, a half century later, of the kind of nationalist populism spawned by General Juan Perón in Argentina and Gamal Abdel Nasser in Egypt. Mr. Castro and Mr. Saddam gained power through armed revolutions; Mr. Chávez, a paratroopers' lieutenant colonel, was democratically elected in 1998, after serving time for trying to overthrow the government in 1992.

Mr. Chávez is the most intriguing new leader to emerge in Latin America since Mr. Castro - and he is the lynchpin between Mr. Castro and Mr. Saddam. Although Cuba had been sending doctors and health workers to Iraq for years, there had not been any major contacts between the two countries until Mr. Chávez appeared on the scene. This fall, Mr. Chávez became the first democratically elected foreign head of state to visit Iraq since the Gulf War, ostensibly to invite Mr. Saddam to a summit of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries. But it also was an in-your face gesture toward the United States.***

[Blueflag]

This is another reason to keep the UN out. we need time, unemcumbered, to mine the data we find.

The UN would only seek to protect its lackeys.

[XHogPilot]

Exellent read!

[sonrise57]

bump for later read

[randita]

American agents working with Iraqi intermediaries were able to cut deals with some division commanders (as well as making different deals with other Iraqi officers). Their units would not surrender outright - no white flags would go up - thus preserving their pride and maintaining a degree of unit integrity.

This jibes with the pre-war reports that we had the phone #'s of Iraqi military commanders and were attempting to cut deals with them. Appears some of them were convinced.

Also jibes with a report by Drudge last night saying that Rumsfeld was insistent on having large #'s of Special Ops deployed in Iraq. Rumsfeld keep pressuring for more and more special ops than called for in the original plan.

[JohnBovenmyer]

Even more useful than what Hillary gained by looting FBI files. Most of the people she investigated were fairly clean. Iraq kept information on all the filth of the middle east. Come to think of it I suspect they had extensive files on Bill and Hill. Hopefully some of them will show up on FR.

[kidd]

The destruction of Saddam's regime will result in the greatest intelligence coup in history.

This alone could pay for the cost of this war.

[js1138]

No Arab leader will know what was or wasn't in those files. Each will have to fear the worst. President-for-life X will always have to wonder what we know as we sit across the negotiating table.

Interesting.

[Eagle9]

BTTT

[MizSterious]

"But the information of far greater value will be what we learn about the regime's relationships not only with other rogue states, but with our long-term "allies" in the Arab world and beyond. "

Perhaps even closer to home. I'd be curious to know what might be those files about terrorist acts from New York City to Oklahoma City, to name two.

[Gritty]

Up to now, one could only speculate what sort of back-door deals Clinton made that allowed Saddam to stay in power.

Now, we may know.

[FBD]

PING :
"It has been noted that the French and Russians did not want this war because they knew we would learn how they cheated on U.N. sanctions against Iraq. But the treasure trove of information we will collect on the Arab world and other Islamic states will be much more important. It will enable us to see into previously opaque issues and to squeeze many a corrupt leader who believed he was safe from external scrutiny.

The Iraqi archives will be a mother lode of information for scholars. But there is much we will choose to keep under lock and key for strategic purposes. The psychological effects of our access to those archives and to former regime officials anxious to tell all will be even greater than the practical information we accumulate.

No Arab leader will know what was or wasn't in those files. Each will have to fear the worst. President-for-life X will always have to wonder what we know as we sit across the negotiating table. "

[Vets_Husband_and_Wife]

Wow.. you sure you got the newspaper name right?

Seems when Bill O'Reilly did his show on the blatant anti American bias on the front page of the New York Post (and others).. he did some good. Perhaps they DO have a concious?

Nice to see they are attempting to get back on the side of their country!!

Vets

[sultan88]

Very Interesting Indeed!