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That Saddam had been doing everything possible to be an American ally – until completely blindsided by his Kuwait mistake. Meanwhile so many Americans knew otherwise; facts be damned.
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Which mistake most likely was emphasized by the fact that Saddam talked to the US Ambassador Glaspie a week before the Kuwait invasion and informed her about it. She clearly said that the Kuwait issue was not associated with America.
transcript:
Saddam Hussein - As you know, for years now I have made every effort to reach a settlement on our dispute with Kuwait. There is to be a meeting in two days; I am prepared to give negotiations only this one more brief chance. (pause) When we (the Iraqis) meet (with the Kuwaitis) and we see there is hope, then nothing will happen. But if we are unable to find a solution, then it will be natural that Iraq will not accept death.
U.S. Ambassador Glaspie - What solutions would be acceptab le?
Saddam Hussein - If we could keep the whole of the Shatt al Arab - our strategic goal in our war with Iran - we will make concessions (to the Kuwaitis). But, if we are forced to choose between keeping half of the Shatt and the whole of Iraq (i.e., in Saddam s view, including Kuwait ) then we will give up all of the Shatt to defend our claims on Kuwait to keep the whole of Iraq in the shape we wish it to be. (pause) What is the United States' opinion on this?
U.S. Ambassador Glaspie - We have no opinion on your Arab - Arab conflicts, such as your dispute with Kuwait. Secretary (of State James) Baker has directed me to emphasize the instruction, first given to Iraq in the 1960's, that the Kuwait issue is not associated with America. (Saddam smiles).
As tw says, keep digging and you'll learn that nothing is as it seems...
Irving Kristol's motive in promoting a global American crusade is not to expand America's democratic ideology, since that is now officially defunct, but simply to expand America's power, along with his own power as the chief theorist and architect of this adventure. Indeed, now that they’ve given up even the pretense of the noble beliefs that they have loudly professed for the last several decades, what else is there?
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The world did not change on 11 September.
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It did for the neocons. Neoconservatism went into something of a slump after the demise of the U.S.S.R. because the U.S. had lost its ideological rival and main reason for international crusading; and that the September 11th attack, by forcing America back into the international arena in a more active and expansive role than ever, is the fulfilment of the neocons' deepest needs, particularly their need for power.