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April 01, 2003
Repeating the mistakes of 1991
Looks like we are repeating the mistakes of the 1991 Gulf War, and letting our fear of Iranian influence in Iraq cause us to make enemies with Iraqis who we should be trying to befriend. I would ask "Haven't we learned anything since then?" but what do we expect, when Rumsfeld and Cheney (the same guys who were in charge back then) are the ones calling the shots today.
This article is the most informative yet on the crisis, as it unfolds:
A major reason for the lack of a Shiite uprising in southern Iraq could lie hundreds of miles away in the Iranian capital, Tehran, where the leading Iraqi Shiite cleric has lived in exile for more than 20 years.Ayatollah Muhammad Bakr al-Hakim has sent instructions to his supporters and secret cells in Basra, Najaf, Karbala and other southern Iraqi cities not to start an uprising or support the American-led coalition in any way, according to two of his top advisers. Al-Hakim also issued a "message to the Iraqi people" last week urging them not to side either with the United States or the Iraqi regime.
"The Americans and their allies betrayed the Shiites of Iraq once before, and they might do it again," said an adviser to Al-Hakim, who spoke in a phone interview from Tehran and asked not to be named. "This time we know better than to trust the Americans."
In 1991, al-Hakim's fighters came pouring over the border from Iran into southern Iraq to help support the Shiite uprising after the Gulf War. The presence of Badr fighters - and larger fears of Iranian influence over Iraqi Shiites - were the main factors behind the U.S. decision not to support that uprising.
Posted by Mike at April 1, 2003 09:30 AM
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