PBS' Frontline Show "Blair's War" a Must See

Laid it out well...

It confirmed what I thought happened between USA/Powell and France/de Villepin.

 

From Frontline:

Oct 2002

According to reports, the U.S. begins to circulate a [1441]draft resolution to Security Council members that calls for weapons inspectors to reenter Iraq; it also demands that the U.N. authorize force if Saddam doesn't disarm immediately.

The draft is unacceptable to France. French President Chirac indicates that he supports a two-step approach -- first, the Security Council needs to pass a resolution on weapons inspections; then, the Council should reconvene to assess whether Saddam Hussein has cooperated and to determine what action should be taken.

After Powell gets assurances from French Foreign Minister Dominique de Villepin that France won't block a vote for war if the U.S. goes along with the two-stage approach, Bush finally agrees to a watered-down resolution that gives the French some of what they want.

The U.S. agrees to go back to the Security Council for another discussion and a possible resolution if Iraq doesn't comply with the requirements of the first resolution.

 

From Frontline:

Jan 2003

At a Jan. 20 press conference that Powell doesn't know about, Dominique de Villepin goes on record saying France believes there is no reason for war: "Since we can disarm Iraq through peaceful means, we should not take the risk to endanger the life of innocent civilians or soldiers, to jeapordize the stability of the region, and further to widen the gap between our people and our cultures."

Powell feels betrayed. "I happened to see Colin Powell pretty soon after the meeting on Jan. 20," says Christopher Meyer, Britain's ambassador to the U.S. at the time. "I think what I would say to you is that their remarks were bordering on the unprintable."

Germany has just joined the Security Council as a new rotating member and it, too, voices opposition to war. German Foreign Minister Joshka Fischer declares that his country "will not be part of military action as the Federal Republic of Germany. And we want to avoid military action by a successful implementation of Resolution 1441."

With tempers fraying on both sides of the Atlantic, U.S. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld bluntly discounts the influence of France and Germany in the debate. "You're thinking of Europe as Germany and France," Rumsfeld says. "I don't. I think that's Old Europe. If you look at the entire NATO Europe today, the center of gravity is shifting to the east."

 

No comments about the French/Foreign Minister Dominique de Villepin stabbing Powell in the back?

 

[grantt]

No but there have been lots of comments about Powel bullshitting about chemical weapons and WMD.
Also you don't hear the Kurds crying when the U.S. stabbed them in the back not once but twice. Three times if you want to count the bomb they just dropped on them.

On 28 February 1991, Papa Bush gave the order to cease fire. Britain was informed of this decision but not consulted. The declared aims of Operation Desert Storm had been achieved: the Iraqi army had been ejected from Kuwait and the Kuwaiti government was restored. But Saddam kept his deadly grip on power.

After the ceasefire, Bush encouraged the Iraqi people to rise up, only to betray them when they did so. When the moment of truth arrived, Bush recoiled from pursuing his policy to its logical conclusion. His advisers told him Kurdish and Shia victories in their bids for freedom may lead to the dismemberment of Iraq.

Behind this theory lay the pessimistic view that Iraq was not suited for democracy and that Sunni minority rule was the only formula capable of keeping it in one piece. Once again, the Iraqis were the victims of cruel geopolitics.

In order to topple Saddam, it was not necessary for the allies to continue their march to Baghdad, my hometown. It would have been sufficient to disarm the Republican Guard units as they retreated from Kuwait through the Basra loop. This was not done. They were allowed to retain their arms, to regroup and to use helicopters to ensure the survival of Saddam and his regime. The Kurds in the North were crushed and fled to the mountains. The Shias in the South were crushed and fled to the marshes.

In calling for Saddam's overthrow, Bush Snr evidently had in mind a military coup, a reshuffling of Sunni gangsters in Baghdad, rather than establishing a freer and more democratic political order. As a result of his moral cowardice, he snatched defeat from the jaws of victory. Saddam stayed in power and continued to torment his people, while Kuwait remained a feudal fiefdom.