Customer Reviews

The Fire This Time: U.S. War Crimes in the Gulf

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Since the British lost their grip on the Middle-East, the U.S. have taken over. Mr. Clark very accurately describes how the role of the U.S. during the Gulf war fits into the bigger picture of how the U.S. have tried (and succeeded) for decades to remain the world's number one power.
At first, I only wanted to read the book because I had some little doubts about the how objective the information that we received via the media was. On the whole, I agreed that action was needed, and that the war against Iraq could not be avoided. Until I read this book... It was like shells fell from my eyes. I realise now that not only there was a lot more violence used against Iraq than we were told, and that the purpose of this war was not to get Iraq out of Kuwait (which was indeed the 19th province of Iraq before England "created" Kuwait out of it in 1922), but to cripple an entire nation for decades to come. And also that this war was carefully planned by the U.S. for years. Mr. Clark shows this with countless examples, that make you think: "yes, I always had doubts about that". One of them is that although the CIA was already aware for sixth months that during the Iran-Iraq war, Iraq used poison gas against the kurds in the North of Iraq, it never revealled this information to the press until after the Iran-Iraq ceasefire in 1988, 3 hours before an Iraqi delegate arrived in the U.S. and gave a press conference. This delegate was rather taken by surprise by the questions he got at this press-conference. This is striking evidence of how the stage was about to be set for the next act: if Iraq and Iran stop killing each other (mind you: with military aid of the US to both sides, I trust we have not forgot about the Iran gate scandal http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iran-Contra_Affair) then we (the US) must find other ways to destabilise the region. Let's start by discrediting Iraqi delegates.
And the same Saddam, who had been the ally of the US from 1973 was demonized from that moment onwards.
I can hardly exaggerate the need for everybody to read this book, and learn what price the Iraqi people had to pay to secure U.S. access to cheap oil... that's what bothers me most: this war was not about democracy or human rights, it was about money and power only.
READ THIS BOOK!!! And see, among other things, that not only the Iraqi people were informed very subjectively by their media. We were also by ours.

This book is an indispensable documentation of the truth behind the concerted government and media 'processing' of the US/British Persian Gulf war crimes that left even thousands of US troops sick and damaged for life. Even more necessary now on the brink of an abyss that would wrap human progress on this planet in darkness for decades to come. You'll find that another obscene assault on Iraq could pave the way for further 'wars' on independent nations, political assassinations ad lib., witch hunts on US and other citizens in disagreement. Some US citizens may think they're paying to be safe, but may actually be paying to get smashed. When Will They Ever Learn? Everybody should read this. Ask for the new 2002 edition that includes powerful documentation on US war strategy since 9/11.

Ramsey Clark (RC) has been an inspirational voice for those who love peace and justice in this world. Even more so as a former senior member of the U.S. government who has the courage to speak out against the nefarious history of U.S. foreign policy. From 1991 and much earlier, the U.S. role in the middle-East has been one of coddling dictators and tyrants, condoning and even assisting Israel's illegal occupation and mass murders in Lebanon and Palestine, and inflicting unprovoked wars, death and destruction upon millions of innocent human beings, all in the quest for maintaining Empire's grip on oil and energy profits.

Through his words and actions of courage and conviction set against the dark forces of power and greed, Mr. Clark has stood even higher than the likes of Richard Clarke, John Dean, Joseph Wilson and others. His only close parallels would be Bill Moyers and Paul Craig Roberts (former government insiders), but RC to me goes even farther through his direct participation in the efforts to stop US-sponsored genocide and terror.

Absolutely essential for anyone interested in the persian gulf "war". Former US atty general Ramsey Clarke gives a no holds barred account of US war crimes in the Gulf. The book reads like it was written yesterday while nearly a decade of US occupation has lapsed since it was published. Really an argument for humanism framed within the murderous Persian Gulf War Clarke lays out the moral historical and legal(domestic and intl) reasons why US "participation" in the "war was wrong. The story the "media", who observed the war in press pools, will never tell you this is an ongoing human tragedy which sadly Ramsey predicts. It's not hysterical in tone just factual, describing the US rape of Iraq in the wake of the Panama invasion. Absolutely, essential reading.

I eagerly began reading this book in the hope of obtaining a new perspective on a war which has been mostly glorified. However, the author's lack of a vaild perspective on war itself, and disdain for fact raises questions about the intellectual honesty of the entire book.

For example, the author insists that the military intentionally magnified the strength of the Iraqi army and demonified its citizens. In reality the American's were only fighting the last war, General Schwarzkopf's statements to the contrary notwithstanding. America's last war was Vietnam, where the military mistake was underestimating the enemy. Schwarzkop had no intention of repeating the mistake and likely disregarded opinoins to the contrary offered by his staff. All societies try to set apart the enemy as "the other." To engage in war we must overcome the horror of taking our neighbor's life.
The author perseverates on how the war was an unfair fight. However, war is supposed to be unfair. It is not NFL sunday. It is a battle to the death. He wants you to believe that being buried alive or blasted by a fuel air explosive is less humane than being incinerated alive or shredded by shards of metal fragments.

Most certainly the military has not been completely honest with the public or even itself. Direct injury to civilians was remarkably light. However, the destruction of the Iraqi infrastructure coupled with sanctions and a lack of governmental cooperation in helping the average citizen has led to continued suffering. These valid arguements are thoroughly buried in hyperbole and misinformation. The distorted truth presented in this book prevents the reader from drawing reasonable conclusions and therefor fails to contribute to the reader's understanding of the Gulf War

In The Fire This Time Clark has managed a remarkable feat: he has managed to find a way to blame the United States for every bad thing that happened during the First Gulf War, even things that Saddam himself initiated. Saddam put civilians into a command bunker but the United States committed a war crime by destroying it and killing the occupants. Saddam allowed his army to be caught in a trap in Kuwait but the United States committed a war crime by bombing his army before it could flee back to Iraq with the booty it stole. Saddam dumped oil into the Persian Gulf but the U.S. committed a war crime... we KNEW he was going to do that if we entered Kuwait but we liberated it anyway.

I am not exaggerating the "logic" of this book one bit. But then, what would you expect of a lawyer who tried to defend Saddam at his trial by giving him DNC talking points to read?

One of my least favorite books of all time. Other bad books are just poorly written or poorly researched this one. This one is deformed.