Pulling no punches, Barry effectively reconstructs the history of Iraq from the end of the Ottoman Empire, through the current shrub administration.
Like Osama Bin Laden, Saddam Hussein was a monster we help create in a very big way. When he was coerced into attacking Iran, he was useful. When he gassed the Kurds and the town of Halabja, he was inconvenient, but still an ally, and was removed from the list of terrorist states. When our government (in concert with the Iranians) removed military support for the Kurdish rebellion, our government watched as he brutally massacred and gassed them with weapons he procured from us and the Germans. When he became no longer useful, we did him in. We did not allow the court to name foreigners as co-defendants, which was lucky for many in our current administration.
But what is more extraordinary, is the history of the Soviets, Israeli's and the U.S selling weapons to both Iraq and Iran during their war through the 1980's. We sold weapons to both sides (Iran - Contra Scandal), gave Saddam satellite and other intelligence, just enough to keep them both going so that, in the words of Henry Kissinger: "I hope they kill each other...".
This book provides a wealth of information for those interested in understanding some of the history of U.S interference in Iraq, and a little of the same in Iran.







