Before the fall: Saddam Hussein appears among Iraqis holding -
and
firing - an antique shotgun: After decades of unimaginable pain
and
suffering, who should Iraqis hold most responsible?
Saddam is Most Responsible
for Our Pain; Best Wishes to George H.W. Bush (Al
Iraq News, Iraq)
"Liberating
Kuwait, after Saddam conquered it under the cover of night, dispensed huge
amounts of pain and suffering among Iraq's people. Thanks to Saddam, Iraq's people
were scattered across the nations of the earth. ... We still remember the hum
of warplanes piercing our ears and Tomahawk missiles roaming for targets to
attack and destroy, and taking the lives of innocents, making orphans of sons
and daughters, and bereaving widows and mothers."
Clockwise from top: U.S. warplanes fly over burning Kuwaiti oil wells; British troops from the Staffordshire Regiment in Operation Granby; camera view from a Lockheed AC-130; The Highway of Death; an M728 Combat Engineer Vehicle.
Who doesn't remember Desert Storm in 1991? It
was an overpowering one. It bore no resemblance to the hurricanes and storms that have hit the
United States, the Indian subcontinent or the Philippines. But liberating
Kuwait after Saddam conquered it under the cover of night certainly dispensed huge
amounts of pain and suffering among Iraq's people. Thanks to Saddam, Iraq's people
were scattered across the nations of the earth. Not knowing where to go, their gaze
was fixed on Iraqi officers and troops looting Kuwait City, only too happy to "liberate"
a place that decades later they remembered as their own!
We still recall the hum of warplanes piercing our ears
and Tomahawk missiles roaming for targets to attack and destroy, and taking the
lives of innocents, making orphans of sons and daughters, and bereaving widows and
mothers. When the war ended, they found their country in ruins, destroyed, and in
a condition that reminded them only of the catastrophe that befell it. It was a
disaster that through a decade and a half, sucked Iraqis into an embargo that
they paid for with their souls, lives and money. Without anyone once
considering their plight, they wailed through the sorrow, hunger, oppression
and suffering.
Military planner General Norman Schwarzkopf, with his warlike
gait and camouflage that reflected the sand and hot wind of the desert, and who
came from the north and Gulf, was the man who led the awesome attack on Iraqi units
stationed on the Gulf coast, in the center of Kuwait City and its suburbs, as
well as along the southern border between Saudi Arabia and Kuwait. Under his
command, American forces executed one of the most famous battles in military history.
The Iraqi army was forced to retreat hundreds of miles into Iraqi territory,
and almost all of their equipment was destroyed, including military vehicles,
missile bases and military storage areas, and their communication networks were
completely disabled.
Posted By Worldmeets.US
After a long illness, General Norman Schwarzkopf passed
away in the United States at the age of 78, leaving behind a rich history of tall
tales and rumor. But some of the truer stories form an exciting military legacy
drawn from a harsh era, when the world and Middle East witnessed major shifts
that altered the planet's political and economic map.
General Norman Schwarzkopf visist U.S. troops on the eve of Desert
It was an era that cost the governments and peoples
caught up in it a very heavy price, which they are still paying for today and for
the foreseeable future, will keep on paying. What happened in the past between brothers
in Kuwait and Iraq is not so different from what's happening today, in terms of
lengthy negotiations to remove Iraq from the clutches of Chapter
VII [of the U.N. Charter]. Because of the Kuwait invasion, its fallout, and
the resulting international resolutions, Chapter VII has been like a catastrophic
ball and chain around the neck of Iraq.
[Editor's Note: Under Chapter VII of the U.N. Chapter, the
Security Council authorized military action against Iraq and imposed punishing
sanctions, which include reparations to be paid by Iraq to Kuwait as a result
of its invasion].
We appreciate the positions of our brothers in Kuwait and
their efforts to help Iraq with the damands of Chapter
VII [Kuwait
and Iraq have formed committees to discuss releasing Iraq from the
sanctions imposed on it after Desert Storm]. It's funny, while at the same time
not so funny, that former U.S. President George Bush Sr. is himself ailing and may
soon pass away. He was the supreme commander of U.S. forces when Iraqi forces
invaded Kuwait, and he supervised Desert Storm from beginning to end. Best
wishes to you, George H.W. Bush.
