Customer Reviews

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

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An excellent book, throughly footnoted and straight forward. Don't pay any attention to the previous reviewer who comes of as some sawed off war hack who hasn't even read the book to start with.Since he doesnt agree with Clark, he resorts to character assassination of this great man..shows the mindset of "if you're not with me, you're against me." Clark does an excellent job in exposing the US for its terror campaign in the Middle East, not just the Iraq affair. If you have open mind and a consciousness and persistance for the facts, this book is for you...if not, than keep away from this book as it may cause problems to your "patriotic" brainwashed mindset.

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 objectivity of the information that we received via the media. 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. But also that this war was carefully planned by the U.S. for years. Mr. Clark shows this with countless examples, that make you say to yourself: "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. I can hardly exagerate 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. And by the way: all this talk about U.S. attempts to eliminate Mr. Hussein is, of course, nonsense. The U.S. still need him in the saddle because he gives the U.S. the excuse for presence in the Gulf and maintaining the economic sanctions. 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.

The book is written by a respected US Gov Official. He has nothing to gain from writing this book but the contentment of disseminating the reality of US involvement in the middle east. Since writing the book, he has been chastised for being unpatriotic and even anti-semitic - all these reaction being confirmations of guilt. There is little subjectivity in this book - in fact it is not invigorating. Rather, Clark works through hard fact, in an appropriate level of detail, to describe just how misled the general public can be about war, and the incredible effects of sensationalist media and gov propaganda on the collective opinion. Read It.

This is a must read for those who want to understand the history surrounding U.S aggression against the people of Iraq. It is clear that that the true war criminals reside in the White House, Pentagon, Congress and Wall Street.

A well written view by an ex-government official on the horrors of war, especially as it effects civilians. Although extremely biased from a pacifists viewpoint, Clark has shown the evils of what sanctions against a country can accomplish.

I have read this book and given copies to my friends to read and I found it a refreshing viewpoint on a war that should not of happened

Ramsey Clark was one of the few Westerners who went to Iraq during the Gulf War. His video "Nowhere to Hide" showed horrific footage of civilian deaths and widespread, seemingly random attacks on civilian targets. The video of the bombings makes the U.S. assault on Iraq appear more like terrorism than the "pinpoint precision" attacks that we were being told of. The entire U.S. media refused to publish any of the material that Clark documented, opting instead to use heavily-censored Pentagon propaganda. If you get the opportunity, look for Clark's video. As far as "The Fire This Time." This is the stuff of nightmares--school buses being blown up, civilian bomb shelters packed with women and children being obliterated, surrendering soldiers with their hands in the air being massacred by the hundreds, children dying with dysentary and diarreah, a full blown assault to destroy the country's entire water supply, schools being bombed, mosques being bombed, the whole country being bombed from one end to the other, killing many more civilians than soldiers. Even worse than the war, Clark describes the aftermath including the revenge attacks, attacks against immigrants, mass deportations, the continuing sanctions regime that eventually killed more civilians than the War. If you have any faith left in the U.S. media, "The Fire This Time" will utterly shatter it. This book left me feeling very angry and depressed, but I consider it one of my most important lessons in how our world works. Ramsey Clark was at Nuremburg and worked as the Attorney General for the Johnson Administration. His book is a masterpiece. You will never forget it. Thank You Ramsey Clark.

This book completely shows the truth behind Western intention in the Gulf region and its persisting dominance over the Arab brothers.

In this work, Mr. Clark seems intent on placing the blame for the war on the United States-led Coalition. I understand that the title of the book includes the words "U.S. War Crimes," but even so a mention of the context in which the war was fought (illegal siezing of hostages by Iraq, the brutal occupation of Kuwait) might be useful. Instead, the reader gets the impression that Saddam Hussein, evil dictator extraordinaire, was just minding his own business when the Air War was launched. The so-called "war crimes" outlined by Clark seem to consist of three main points: 1) inflicting Iraqi casualties all out of proportion to our own (to me, a GOOD thing), 2) our failure to foresee that poor ol' Hussein would have to resort to environmental terrorism, dumping oil in the Gulf and torching Kuwait's oil wells, and 3) not allowing the Iraqi Army to withdraw from Kuwait intact. Withdraw? It was a retreat, then a rout made in the face of a Coalition land assault. This book is an excellent example of a premise (U.S. is EVIL) driving the facts, which ones are used and how they are interpreted. Clark should get an Iraqi medal from Saddam's Ministry of Propaganda for this one.

Nonsensical points of view. A fantasy view of the world.