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POPSIranian Trade With Iraq But since Saddam's ouster, there has been deluge of Iranian goods into the country, particularly in the strip from Baghdad to Basra, said anthropologist Hosham Dawod from the French national center for scientific research. "Some sources quote figures such as $8 billion," for the value of Iranian imports in 2008, he said, but added there were no official figures on import levels. 'Iranian products are not truly political tools' - shoppers in the Shiite district of Kadhimiyya in northwest Baghdad snatch up not only Iranian-made cookers, fridges, air conditioning units and generators, but also toys, rugs and medicines.
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POPSwhat our leaders should be discussing...America's responsibility We must pursue a utilitarian government and substance over symbolism. The primary focus of any act of a governing body should always be the realistic result of that act. When analyzing a proposed policy, do not be swayed by emotional promises of an idealistic nature. Only consider whether it will logically result in a solution to a problem, while simultaneously not causing worse problems in the process.
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POPSThe Burdens of General Petraeus MORE FROM THE ARTICLE= "..............it is hard to recall of any war in our history — the Vietnam hysteria aside — that a sitting Senate majority leader declared it lost in the middle of hostilities. We have not previously witnessed senior opposition senators alleging that their own American servicemen were analogous to Nazis, Stalinists, Cambodian mass murders, Saddam’s Baathist killers, or engaging in habitual terrorizing and killing of innocent civilians." ".......This is the first extended American ground war in the era of instantaneous global communications.The result is that U.S. military officials recognize that any possible strike on the Syria border would be broadcast worldwide as carpet bombing of a wedding party or tribal reunion, while the enemy’s mass beheadings and torture will often go unreported."
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POPSHistory of How the Bushes Brought Bedlam to Iraq, permanently?!
That despite the strong warnings of his own Cabinet against such reckless policies, and a 1989 report by the CIA that Iraq had greatly accelerated its nuclear program, and was now the world's largest maker of chemical weapons. Bush also used the global criminal network of the Bank of Credit and BCCI to secretly funnel cash and weaponry to Saddam – then intervened to quash federal investigations of the scam. What was BCCI? Only "one of the largest criminal enterprises in history," according to the Senate. What did BCCI do? "It engaged in pandemic bribery of officials in Europe, Africa, Asia and the Americas," says journalist Christopher Bryon, who first exposed the operation. "It laundered money on a global scale, intimidated witnesses and law officers, engaged in extortion and blackmail. It supplied the financing for illegal arms trafficking and global terrorism. It financed and facilitated income tax evasion, smuggling and prostitution." An early version of the Bush Regim
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POPS10 Reasons Why Russia Can’t Trust Uncle Sam It failed to recognize that the Soviet Union is gone and that Russia is, of course, not our enemy." Putin called the move "a mistake." 9. "Mission Accomplished" - On March 20, 2003, the United States - without a mandate from the United Nations, and against the heated objections of France, Germany and Russia - invaded Iraq on the pretext that the secular Baathist state of Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction and was a proud sponsor of terrorism. Both accusations were proven wrong. Former UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan told the BBC in an interview that the attack was a violation of international law. "From our point of view and the UN Charter point of view, it was illegal."
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POPSHow the left betrayed my country: Iraq It's interesting when you listen to what the Iraqis have to say about all this. But of course, people like Cindy Sheehan won't answer the question "what will happen to the Iraqis when we leave?"
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POPSRemember: Saddam Was Our Man NY Times OpEd from March 14, 2003. The United States also sent arms to the new regime, weapons later used against the same Kurdish insurgents the United States had backed against Kassem and then abandoned. Soon, Western corporations like Mobil, Bechtel and British Petroleum were doing business with Baghdad -- for American firms, their first major involvement in Iraq. This history is known to many in the Middle East and Europe, though few Americans are acquainted with it, much less understand it. Yet these interventions help explain why United States policy is viewed with some cynicism abroad. George W. Bush is not the first American president to seek regime change in Iraq. Mr. Bush and his advisers are following a familiar pattern.
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POPSIsrael gives up on disarming Hizbullah Michael Totten adds: Those inside and outside Israel who believed disarming Hezbollah by force was possible in a short time frame were supremely delusional. It’s not 1967 anymore, when Israel could defeat three Arab armies in six days. Hezbollah is a guerilla army, as well as a terrorist army, and assymetrical warfare is hard. Look at how much longer it is taking the US to put down a Baathist insurgency in Iraq compared with the Baathist army in Iraq when Saddam Hussein was in power.
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