http://www.arabwomanblues.blogspot.com/
An Arab Woman Blues. Reflections in a sealed bottle…
An interview with Malcolm Lagauche by Layla Anwar (in Two Parts)
The Fall of Baghdad as seen by an American – 2
April 10, 2009
Since most of you out there have short attention spans, and reading long articles does not “turn you on” – I am presenting you with part 2 of my interview with Malcolm Lagauche – hoping you have already digested part 1 of the “Fall of Baghdad.”
Layla: Hello again Malcolm, let’s continue…
If I “hear” you right, Americans absolutely had to demonize Saddam to get to Iraq. I am thinking if it was only a question of getting rid of Saddam Hussein, they could have gotten rid of him without having to destroy Iraq and the decades of hard work. Why did they need to destroy the Iraqi infrastructure, the cultural and historical “patrimoine” and more importantly why did they need the collaboration of another country on the axis of evil – Iran – to achieve their aims?
Malcolm: The propaganda was all aimed at Saddam, yet some politicians realized that the country consisted of more than one person. By publicly demonizing Saddam, it was automatic that the U.S. citizenry would extend its hatred to Iraqis as well.
The scenario leading up to the March 2003 invasion was quite bizarre. We kept hearing that Saddam was a butcher who did not allow students to have pencils. There was not one word saying that the U.S. would not allow pencils into Iraq during the embargo. One leftist journalist wrote an article in 2006 titled “Education System in Iraq Is in Danger.” I thought to myself, “Finally, a look at the reality of the invasion.” He began by saying that Iraq had a great education until Saddam came to power. Then, he ruined it. The writer claimed that no teacher could leave Iraq for any reason. If he/she did, the penalty was death. I was aghast to read this. In 1973 and 1974, Iraq sent thousands of teachers overseas to obtain advanced degrees. I wrote to the scribe, yet never received an answer.
The U.S. tried at various times to get rid of Saddam. They were all unsuccessful. In 1996, Allawi, the British citizen from Wimbledon, had wormed his way into the good graces of the U.S. He planned an overthrow of the Iraqi government using Kurdish troops. From day one, the Iraqis knew all about the plan. When the Kurds began to march, they were massacred by Iraqi forces. That was the last direct intervention the U.S. had in trying to kill Saddam. From that time on, the U.S. government used proxy elements, such as Ahmed Chalabi to try to do the job. As we now know, they all failed. These attempts made the Keystone Cops look like world class detectives.
