WEBVTT 00:00:01.157 --> 00:00:04.037 Welcome back, friends. Welcome back to another edition of The Corbett Report. 00:00:04.217 --> 00:00:07.577 I'm James Corbett of CorbettReport.com, coming to you, as always, 00:00:07.837 --> 00:00:13.317 from the sunny climes of Western Japan here in July of 2025 with another edition 00:00:13.317 --> 00:00:14.317 of Questions for Corbett. 00:00:14.457 --> 00:00:17.717 And this time we're going to take the question from the mailbag, 00:00:17.897 --> 00:00:20.857 specifically from an email that came in from Cali, I'm going to say, 00:00:20.917 --> 00:00:24.617 or perhaps Cal, not sure how to pronounce that, who writes, Hi, Mr. 00:00:24.737 --> 00:00:29.237 Corbett, my question is about Saddam Hussein. Can you reveal connections between 00:00:29.237 --> 00:00:31.257 him and intelligence agencies? 00:00:31.857 --> 00:00:35.637 Thank you for the question, Callie. And the answer is yes. Yes, 00:00:35.717 --> 00:00:37.937 I can reveal some interesting connections. 00:00:38.457 --> 00:00:43.177 And actually, I think this is an important question because it gives us insight 00:00:43.177 --> 00:00:45.377 not only into an important piece 00:00:45.377 --> 00:00:50.017 of recent history that I think still has relevance in the world today, 00:00:50.017 --> 00:00:55.997 but also gives us insight into the broader question of how certain deep state 00:00:55.997 --> 00:00:58.917 puppets or toys or whatever they may be, 00:00:59.137 --> 00:01:03.817 operate on the geopolitical stage, which I think is valuable knowledge to have. 00:01:03.897 --> 00:01:06.277 So let's get into the details. 00:01:06.457 --> 00:01:10.897 And in order to start tracing the connection between Saddam Hussein and the 00:01:10.897 --> 00:01:11.817 intelligence agencies, 00:01:11.897 --> 00:01:18.697 I think we have to set the stage back in 1958, which was when Abdul Karim Qasim 00:01:18.697 --> 00:01:21.877 and some fellow officers in the Iraqi military. 00:01:22.577 --> 00:01:25.357 Modeling themselves after the Free Officers Movement in Egypt, 00:01:25.577 --> 00:01:28.697 which had overthrown the king there in 1952, 00:01:29.137 --> 00:01:33.337 decided to overthrow the king in Iraq, specifically King Faisal II, 00:01:33.737 --> 00:01:38.437 the Hashemite king who had been pro-British installed by, or at least propped 00:01:38.437 --> 00:01:44.997 up by the British, and was anti-Arab, which was not to the liking of many in Iraq at the time. 00:01:45.097 --> 00:01:49.837 There was a growing pan-Arab movement, obviously, and there was a lot of pro-Arab 00:01:49.837 --> 00:01:52.197 nationalist sentiment in Iraq at the time. 00:01:52.297 --> 00:01:56.537 So these officers, capitalizing on that sentiment and sharing it themselves, 00:01:56.777 --> 00:02:00.357 decided to overthrow the king and staged a bloody coup. 00:02:01.137 --> 00:02:05.457 Killing not only King Faisal II, but also many members of his family and other 00:02:05.457 --> 00:02:11.297 high-ranking members of his government, in order to topple the government and install a new one. 00:02:11.377 --> 00:02:15.617 And that was the July 14th revolution that took place there in Iraq in 1958. 00:02:15.997 --> 00:02:22.097 And as a result of which, Abdul Karim Qasim quickly consolidated power and became 00:02:22.097 --> 00:02:23.697 the new prime minister of Iraq. 00:02:24.471 --> 00:02:28.551 But as is the way of such things, quickly after becoming the new prime minister 00:02:28.551 --> 00:02:32.931 and consolidating that power, he started to turn away from the ideals of the 00:02:32.931 --> 00:02:34.851 conspirators who had put him in place. 00:02:35.131 --> 00:02:39.311 So instead of being a pro-Arab nationalist, Kassim started to become more of 00:02:39.311 --> 00:02:40.851 a pro-Iraqi nationalist. 00:02:40.991 --> 00:02:46.131 He wanted more of the power for himself and less of this feel-good Arab nationalism, 00:02:46.451 --> 00:02:49.971 pan-Arabism that was sweeping the Middle East at that time. 00:02:50.531 --> 00:02:54.151 So as a result of that, you started to get these splinter groups. 00:02:54.151 --> 00:02:57.951 People who were unhappy with the way Qasim started to wield his power. 00:02:58.251 --> 00:03:01.251 One of these splinter groups was the Ba'ath Party. 00:03:01.631 --> 00:03:07.191 And this consisted of people who were pro-Arab nationalist and were unhappy 00:03:07.191 --> 00:03:09.151 with the direction Qasim was taking the country. 00:03:09.571 --> 00:03:14.431 And within the Ba'ath Party, there formed an even smaller clique that decided 00:03:14.431 --> 00:03:20.991 to take it upon themselves to assassinate Abdul Karim Qasim and take over the Iraqi government. 00:03:21.631 --> 00:03:29.991 So this ultimately precipitated in a six-man squad that came together to assassinate Qasim. 00:03:30.171 --> 00:03:36.551 And that six-man squad included a then relatively unknown 22-year-old law school 00:03:36.551 --> 00:03:38.551 dropout named Saddam Hussein. 00:03:38.751 --> 00:03:44.391 So, Brock, let's cut to the exciting footage of the event in which this assassination 00:03:44.391 --> 00:03:47.791 squad attempted to assassinate Abdul Karim Qasim. 00:03:50.991 --> 00:03:56.451 Come on! 00:03:57.011 --> 00:04:04.071 Come on! 00:04:19.898 --> 00:04:24.278 Oh, okay, maybe that wasn't actual file footage of the dramatic assassination 00:04:24.278 --> 00:04:31.578 attempt on Qasim, but it was footage of a sort, and it's perhaps even more perplexing 00:04:31.578 --> 00:04:34.798 and intriguing than actual footage of the event would have been. 00:04:35.478 --> 00:04:40.498 Specifically, that was Al-Ayam Al-Tawila, which is apparently translated into 00:04:40.498 --> 00:04:41.898 English as The Long Days, 00:04:41.898 --> 00:04:49.558 and was a 1980 propaganda film commissioned by none other than Iraqi president-slash-dictator 00:04:49.558 --> 00:04:54.778 Saddam Hussein based on an autobiography, which was ghost-ridden for him, 00:04:54.918 --> 00:04:59.278 that told the valiant attempt of the plucky young Saddam Hussein and his road 00:04:59.278 --> 00:05:02.638 to becoming the wonderful dictator that we all know and love. 00:05:03.138 --> 00:05:09.738 Apparently, there was a six-hour version of this movie that Hussein forced people 00:05:09.738 --> 00:05:15.518 to watch on many occasions. and it was a favorite of the regime for a long time. 00:05:16.878 --> 00:05:22.418 Intriguingly, and I say intriguing because apparently it was co-directed, question mark, 00:05:22.898 --> 00:05:27.198 edited, question mark, by Terrence Young, who people in the crowd may or may 00:05:27.198 --> 00:05:31.158 not recognize as a director of at least three different James Bond movies, 00:05:31.358 --> 00:05:32.818 including Thunderball and Dr. 00:05:32.898 --> 00:05:39.238 No, and somehow or other became involved with this 1980 Iraqi propaganda film. 00:05:40.258 --> 00:05:44.858 I don't know the details of this, and unfortunately, I still don't know the details. 00:05:45.178 --> 00:05:49.998 You can go to the site MI6HQ, which purports to tell you about Terrence Young, 00:05:50.178 --> 00:05:57.258 the dictator's director, but unfortunately, the details on this are maddeningly slight. 00:05:57.558 --> 00:06:02.858 They talk about how in 1979, Young was, quote, approached about a biographical 00:06:02.858 --> 00:06:05.658 project commissioned by the Iraqi dictator. Okay. 00:06:06.218 --> 00:06:10.418 Young was commissioned to edit The Long Days, a mammoth six-hour biopic on the 00:06:10.418 --> 00:06:15.038 life of Saddam, at a time when the West's attitude to the regime was quite different 00:06:15.038 --> 00:06:17.198 than what it is today. So, okay. 00:06:18.170 --> 00:06:21.670 Who approached? In what way? Why did Young take this project? 00:06:22.030 --> 00:06:25.870 How was he involved in this? Did he co-direct, as sometimes stated? 00:06:26.370 --> 00:06:31.750 All basically question marks. But it does go on to provide some context about the film. 00:06:31.910 --> 00:06:36.810 The film was a crucial part of the personal mythology Saddam constructed around 00:06:36.810 --> 00:06:42.310 his early life, particularly his involvement in the 1959 assassination attempt 00:06:42.310 --> 00:06:46.870 on the life of Abdul Al-Karim Qasim, the brigadier who led the 1958 coup. 00:06:47.330 --> 00:06:48.590 Saddam was injured in the gunfight 00:06:48.590 --> 00:06:52.170 and fled, dressing as a Bedouin and escaping Baghdad on horseback. 00:06:52.610 --> 00:06:56.150 According to the film, he rode north for four days towards his hometown of Tikrit 00:06:56.150 --> 00:07:00.250 and almost drowned, swimming across the cold waters of the Tigris to freedom. 00:07:00.610 --> 00:07:04.330 He later relied upon his heroic account of the escape to build up the folklore 00:07:04.330 --> 00:07:06.850 that fueled his strongman image. 00:07:07.370 --> 00:07:10.950 So it was an important propaganda film, but of course propaganda. 00:07:11.290 --> 00:07:15.830 And perhaps one of the most important things that we can learn about this assassination 00:07:15.830 --> 00:07:19.570 attempt is that it was unsuccessful. They did not succeed. 00:07:20.050 --> 00:07:26.830 Despite what you would think from watching that scene, they did not succeed in killing Qasim. 00:07:27.010 --> 00:07:32.570 And secondly, there was support for this assassination attempt. 00:07:32.790 --> 00:07:36.930 And I'll give you three guesses who was supporting that. No, 00:07:36.930 --> 00:07:38.050 oh, okay, I'll give you one guess. 00:07:38.170 --> 00:07:41.030 Yes, it was the CIA. You are correct. How did you know? 00:07:41.430 --> 00:07:44.730 And we can take this advisedly from a number of sources. 00:07:44.930 --> 00:07:50.630 One of them is this important article from 2003, exclusive Saddam Ki in early 00:07:50.630 --> 00:07:56.530 CIA plot by Richard Sale, which notes, among other things, while many have thought 00:07:56.530 --> 00:07:58.630 that Saddam first became involved with U.S. 00:07:59.050 --> 00:08:02.530 Intelligence agencies at the start of the September 1980 Iran-Iraq war, 00:08:02.790 --> 00:08:04.590 his first contacts with U.S. 00:08:04.670 --> 00:08:10.710 Officials date back to 1959 when he was part of a CIA-authorized six-man squad 00:08:10.710 --> 00:08:15.830 tasked with assassinating then-Iraqi Prime Minister General Abdul Al-Karim Qasim. 00:08:16.505 --> 00:08:21.705 It goes on to talk about why the CIA and the West generally were interested 00:08:21.705 --> 00:08:27.105 in getting rid of Qasim, and they talk about this anti-Soviet Baghdad pact that 00:08:27.105 --> 00:08:30.325 Iraq was part of from the mid-1950s. 00:08:31.485 --> 00:08:36.365 Which Iraq was seen as a good buffer state against the Soviets in the Cold War. 00:08:36.505 --> 00:08:42.305 So the anti-Soviet Baghdad pact basically solidified Iraq's role on the U.S. 00:08:42.465 --> 00:08:47.445 Side of that war. but Kasim had decided to withdraw from the pact in 1959, 00:08:47.445 --> 00:08:52.245 an act that freaked out everybody out, according to a former senior U.S. 00:08:52.345 --> 00:08:53.065 State Department official. 00:08:53.605 --> 00:08:57.685 And they go on to cite CIA Director Alan Dulles, who said that Iraq was the 00:08:57.685 --> 00:08:58.945 most dangerous spot in the world. 00:08:59.125 --> 00:09:04.365 So, of course, the CIA got involved in his overthrow, specifically in the mid-1980s. 00:09:04.765 --> 00:09:09.265 Miles Copeland, a veteran CIA operative, and yes, for those keeping track at 00:09:09.265 --> 00:09:13.025 home, that is Miles Copeland, as in the father of Stuart Copeland, 00:09:13.145 --> 00:09:14.205 the drummer of the police, 00:09:14.685 --> 00:09:19.565 told UPI that the CIA had enjoyed close ties with Qasim's ruling Ba'ath Party, 00:09:19.825 --> 00:09:25.825 just as it had close connections with the intelligence service of Egyptian leader Gamal Abdul-Nassar. 00:09:26.005 --> 00:09:30.465 In a recent public statement, Roger Morris, a former National Security Council 00:09:30.465 --> 00:09:35.505 staffer in the 1970s, confirmed this claim, saying that the CIA had chosen the 00:09:35.505 --> 00:09:39.005 authoritarian and anti-communist Ba'ath Party as its instrument. 00:09:40.165 --> 00:09:44.205 So this article goes on to point out that Saddam, while only in his early 20s, 00:09:44.385 --> 00:09:47.145 became a part of a U.S. plot to get rid of Qasim. 00:09:47.325 --> 00:09:49.965 And according to this source, the State Department official, 00:09:50.225 --> 00:09:54.925 Saddam was installed in an apartment in Baghdad on Al-Rashid Street, 00:09:55.165 --> 00:10:00.125 directly opposite Qasim's office in Iraq's Ministry of Defense to observe Qasim's movements. 00:10:00.845 --> 00:10:08.205 The move was done with full knowledge of the CIA, and Saddam's CIA handler was 00:10:08.205 --> 00:10:11.765 an Iraqi dentist working for CIA and Egyptian intelligence. 00:10:12.185 --> 00:10:15.245 The article goes on to talk about the attempt itself. 00:10:15.465 --> 00:10:20.505 The assassination was set for October 7th, 1959, but it was completely botched. 00:10:20.925 --> 00:10:25.425 Accounts differ. One former CIA official said that the 22-year-old Saddam lost 00:10:25.425 --> 00:10:30.165 his nerve and began firing too soon, killing Qasim's driver and only wounding 00:10:30.165 --> 00:10:31.765 Qasim in the shoulder and arm. 00:10:32.585 --> 00:10:36.505 Darwish told UPI that one of the assassins had bullets that did not fit his 00:10:36.505 --> 00:10:41.025 gun and that another had a hand grenade that got stuck in the lining of his coat. 00:10:41.621 --> 00:10:46.881 It bordered on farce, a former senior U.S. 00:10:47.221 --> 00:10:50.861 Intelligence official said. And it notes that Saddam, whose calf had been grazed 00:10:50.861 --> 00:10:55.021 by a fellow would-be assassin, so shot by one of his own, escaped to Tigrit 00:10:55.021 --> 00:10:59.721 thanks to CIA and Egyptian intelligence agents, several U.S. 00:10:59.821 --> 00:11:00.561 Government officials said. 00:11:00.681 --> 00:11:04.101 Slightly different than that propaganda film, I suppose would have you believe. 00:11:04.641 --> 00:11:09.641 It goes on to say that while Saddam was in Beirut, the CIA paid for Saddam's 00:11:09.641 --> 00:11:13.681 apartment and put him through a brief training course, former CIA official said. 00:11:13.881 --> 00:11:16.401 The agency then helped him to get to Cairo. 00:11:16.861 --> 00:11:20.661 And in Cairo, Saddam was installed an apartment in the upper-class neighborhood 00:11:20.661 --> 00:11:24.541 of Duki and spent his time playing dominoes in the Indiana Cafe, 00:11:24.921 --> 00:11:28.361 watched over by CIA and Egyptian intelligence operatives. 00:11:28.721 --> 00:11:33.241 During this time, Saddam was making frequent visits to the American embassy, 00:11:33.441 --> 00:11:39.161 where CIA specialists such as Miles Copeland and CIA station chief Jim Eichelberger 00:11:39.161 --> 00:11:43.581 were in residence and knew Saddam, former U.S. intelligence officials said. 00:11:44.561 --> 00:11:49.021 Fast forward to February 1963, and Qasim was killed in a Ba'ath Party coup. 00:11:49.781 --> 00:11:54.921 Now, sources differ. Morris claimed recently that the CIA was behind the coup, 00:11:55.141 --> 00:11:57.061 which was sanctioned by President John F. 00:11:57.121 --> 00:12:01.661 Kennedy, but a former very senior CIA official strongly denied this. 00:12:01.921 --> 00:12:03.561 At any rate, the coup did happen. 00:12:03.901 --> 00:12:09.381 And it goes on to say that, noting that the Ba'ath Party was hunting down Iraq's communists. 00:12:09.641 --> 00:12:14.081 The CIA provided the submachine gun-toting Iraqi National Guardsmen with lists 00:12:14.081 --> 00:12:19.441 of suspected communists who were then jailed, interrogated, and summarily gunned down. 00:12:19.681 --> 00:12:25.581 At the time, Saddam was taking part in those killings. He quickly became a key 00:12:25.581 --> 00:12:28.221 intelligence operative in the Iraqi government. 00:12:28.641 --> 00:12:35.161 And eventually, in 1979, Consolidated Power became president-slash-dictator of Iraq. 00:12:35.161 --> 00:12:39.821 And that's when we got for example as this article notes the CIA Defense Intelligence 00:12:39.821 --> 00:12:44.101 Agency relation with Saddam intensified after the start of the Iran-Iraq war 00:12:44.101 --> 00:12:46.761 in September of 1980 and that's where. 00:12:47.392 --> 00:12:51.632 Most people would understand where the intelligence agency's links began, 00:12:51.632 --> 00:12:53.692 but no, they started way earlier. 00:12:53.872 --> 00:12:57.812 And again, we don't have to take this from this single article and the numerous 00:12:57.812 --> 00:12:59.032 sources that it is citing. 00:12:59.252 --> 00:13:02.252 There are other articles that make this point. For example, A Tyrant, 00:13:02.392 --> 00:13:07.672 40 Years in the Making, which gives some more context as to why the CIA would 00:13:07.672 --> 00:13:12.912 have participated in a overthrow of Qasim after the failed assassination attempt. 00:13:13.032 --> 00:13:17.212 It says, for example, By 1961, the Qasem regime had grown more assertive, 00:13:17.352 --> 00:13:22.412 seeking new arms rivaling Israel's arsenal, threatening Western oil interests, 00:13:22.912 --> 00:13:26.772 resuming his country's old quarrel with Kuwait, talking openly of challenging 00:13:26.772 --> 00:13:31.792 the dominance of America in the Middle East, all steps Saddam Hussein was to repeat in some form. 00:13:32.052 --> 00:13:36.172 Qasem was regarded by Washington as a dangerous leader who must be removed. 00:13:36.752 --> 00:13:39.792 So it talks about the various things that the U.S. 00:13:39.992 --> 00:13:45.412 Was doing in the wake of the 1963 coup. for example, sending arms to the new regime. 00:13:45.832 --> 00:13:49.692 Weapons later used against the same Kurdish insurgents the United States had 00:13:49.692 --> 00:13:51.852 backed against Qasem, and then abandoned. 00:13:52.472 --> 00:13:56.652 Soon, Western corporations like Mobil, Bechtel, and British Petroleum were doing 00:13:56.652 --> 00:14:00.692 business with Baghdad for American firms, their first major involvement in Iraq. 00:14:00.852 --> 00:14:07.152 In 1968, after yet another coup, the Ba'athist general Ahmed Hassam al-Bakr 00:14:07.152 --> 00:14:12.072 seized control, bringing to the threshold of power his kinsman, Saddam Hussein. 00:14:12.072 --> 00:14:16.832 Again, this coup, amid more factional violence, came with CIA backing. 00:14:17.532 --> 00:14:20.512 Serving on the staff of the National Security Council under Lyndon Johnson and 00:14:20.512 --> 00:14:22.352 Richard Nixon in the late 1960s. 00:14:22.552 --> 00:14:28.212 I, as in Roger Morris, the author of this report, often heard CIA officers, 00:14:28.432 --> 00:14:32.072 including Archibald Roosevelt, grandson of Theodore Roosevelt and a ranking 00:14:32.072 --> 00:14:34.532 CIA official for the Near East and Africa at the time, 00:14:34.952 --> 00:14:38.252 speak openly about their close relations with the Iraqi Baathists. 00:14:38.252 --> 00:14:42.432 We can also get more of this picture from yet another important article, 00:14:42.612 --> 00:14:49.072 this one from 1997 in The Independent, revealed how the West set Saddam on the bloody road to power, 00:14:49.732 --> 00:14:53.252 which notes, for example, new fresh evidence has emerged that popular Iraqi 00:14:53.252 --> 00:14:57.552 suspicions about the overthrow of Qasim in 1963 were correct. 00:14:57.552 --> 00:15:02.992 In a new book, Saeed Abarish, a writer on Arab political affairs, 00:15:03.212 --> 00:15:07.452 has gathered details of how the coup against General Qasim was organized and 00:15:07.452 --> 00:15:10.752 fine-tuned by, drumroll please, the CIA. 00:15:11.192 --> 00:15:18.312 We came to power on a CIA train, said Ali Saleh Saadi, the minister of the interior 00:15:18.312 --> 00:15:20.832 of the regime, which replaced General Qasim. 00:15:21.331 --> 00:15:26.291 All right, and many more details in this article and some other sources that one can find. 00:15:26.491 --> 00:15:33.231 But long story short, yes, Saddam was part of a CIA-backed assassination attempt 00:15:33.231 --> 00:15:40.711 against Qasim in 1959, and at the very least, a CIA-supported overthrow of Qasim in 1963. 00:15:41.531 --> 00:15:45.751 And it wasn't long before, as I say, he had started to consolidate more and 00:15:45.751 --> 00:15:52.211 more power, and ultimately, by 1979, installed himself as president of Iraq, at which point. 00:15:52.851 --> 00:16:01.071 Well, as has been noted, intelligence agency cooperation between Saddam's regime and the U.S. 00:16:01.471 --> 00:16:06.051 Only intensified, of course, in the wake of the 1980s Iran-Iraq war. 00:16:06.471 --> 00:16:10.371 And there is a lot that one can say about that and that has been said about that. 00:16:10.451 --> 00:16:15.531 Of course, everyone has seen the iconic handshake between Donald Rumsfeld and 00:16:15.531 --> 00:16:17.771 Saddam Hussein in December 1983. 00:16:18.411 --> 00:16:21.691 But there's much more to that story besides, and you can get it from, 00:16:21.911 --> 00:16:25.831 for example, this handy-dandy resource from Global Policy that I will throw 00:16:25.831 --> 00:16:29.651 in that has a number of reports and articles about the collaboration between 00:16:29.651 --> 00:16:31.491 the U.S. and Iraq in the 1980s. 00:16:31.891 --> 00:16:36.051 The Regal Report from 94, a report from 2002, 00:16:36.051 --> 00:16:39.071 officers say u.s aided iraq in war despite use 00:16:39.071 --> 00:16:42.051 of gas uh the true iraq 00:16:42.051 --> 00:16:45.251 appeasers morality in iraq then and now rumsfeld 00:16:45.251 --> 00:16:48.251 visits baghdad in 1984 to reassure iraqis document 00:16:48.251 --> 00:16:51.031 show etc etc there's a lot that one can dig into 00:16:51.031 --> 00:16:53.771 if one is so inclined but a lot has been said on these 00:16:53.771 --> 00:17:00.611 events in the past um but long story short in 1982 specifically um that is cited 00:17:00.611 --> 00:17:06.251 as a time in which the real collaboration really started on in earnest with 00:17:06.251 --> 00:17:11.911 the CIA and the US generally seeing from the satellite images that Iran was. 00:17:12.824 --> 00:17:17.304 On the verge of making a significant breakthrough in the Iran-Iraq war and potentially 00:17:17.304 --> 00:17:22.424 rolling in on Baghdad and fulfilling Ayatollah Khomeini's promise to string 00:17:22.424 --> 00:17:26.024 Hussein up from the nearest Baghdad light pole. 00:17:27.104 --> 00:17:33.224 Well, they were quite freaked out about this potentiality. So the Uncle Sam 00:17:33.224 --> 00:17:36.964 started sharing satellite imagery with Saddam Hussein. 00:17:37.064 --> 00:17:45.484 And in fact, that is when, in 1982, the CIA started a small one-man-at-first 00:17:45.484 --> 00:17:53.244 mission in Baghdad that was supplying satellite imagery throughout the Iran-Iraq war to the Iraqis. 00:17:54.264 --> 00:17:59.764 And this was in the face and in the wake of the fact that, the known fact at 00:17:59.764 --> 00:18:04.624 the time, that of course Saddam was using chemical weapons, not only against 00:18:04.624 --> 00:18:07.404 the Iranians, but also against the Kurds. 00:18:07.704 --> 00:18:11.284 And that is something that, for example, I talk about in reportage, 00:18:11.484 --> 00:18:16.144 Essays on the New World Order, specifically in my essay on Escaping the Grand Chessboard. 00:18:16.144 --> 00:18:23.244 I outline exactly how that occurred and what that was about and where the arms 00:18:23.244 --> 00:18:25.744 were coming from, of course, the chemical weapons. 00:18:25.904 --> 00:18:31.584 As the old joke goes, of course, the U.S. knew that Saddam had chemical weapons 00:18:31.584 --> 00:18:33.764 because the receipts were in the basement of the Pentagon. 00:18:34.484 --> 00:18:38.604 Well, yes, it was not only the U.S. that was helping with some of the precursors 00:18:38.604 --> 00:18:45.304 and materials for that chemical weapons program in Iraq, but it was the Europeans as well. 00:18:45.584 --> 00:18:51.524 And this is documented in a number of places. I'll throw in this trench of declassified 00:18:51.524 --> 00:18:57.084 CIA documents on Iraq's use of chemical weapons in the 1980s that show that, of course, 00:18:57.224 --> 00:19:01.164 as we all knew and has been reported many times, but here are the documents themselves. 00:19:01.444 --> 00:19:05.864 Of course, they knew that Iraq had chemical weapons and was using them, 00:19:06.024 --> 00:19:08.504 were using them in the Iran-Iraq war. 00:19:08.664 --> 00:19:14.024 And yes, here's a specific document in which they say Iraq began an aggressive 00:19:14.024 --> 00:19:16.864 program to produce chemical weapons munitions in 1981. 00:19:17.676 --> 00:19:21.596 Chemical agent precursors, munitions, equipment, and expertise were purchased 00:19:21.596 --> 00:19:26.996 in Western Europe and Egypt with a view toward development of both mustard and nerve agents. 00:19:27.156 --> 00:19:29.956 And then it goes on to talk about the mustard program was successful, 00:19:30.516 --> 00:19:32.196 etc., etc. Okay, wonderful. 00:19:32.436 --> 00:19:37.916 Great stuff. So all of that is documented on the record. We do not have to speculate about that. 00:19:38.116 --> 00:19:44.556 Even the CIA admits it at this point. So yes, we all know about the 1980s Iran-Iraq 00:19:44.556 --> 00:19:50.256 war and the demonstrable on-the-record help that the CIA was giving in a number of different ways, 00:19:50.256 --> 00:19:54.996 including providing the satellite imagery, which was so vital for the Iraqis 00:19:54.996 --> 00:19:58.856 to fight that war to the stalemate that it ultimately arrived at. 00:19:59.176 --> 00:20:05.656 But of course, that brings us to the events of 1990 that we all now remember so well. 00:20:09.316 --> 00:20:16.316 This is NBC Nightly News with Tom Brokaw. Reporting tonight from NBC News headquarters in New York. 00:20:16.936 --> 00:20:21.796 Good evening. It is a prescription for war, this Iraqi invasion of Kuwait, 00:20:21.916 --> 00:20:25.896 the tiny country that is a primary source of oil for much of the Western world. 00:20:26.016 --> 00:20:30.636 But tonight, the United States, the Soviet Union, Israel, and other powers are 00:20:30.636 --> 00:20:36.216 concentrating on diplomatic and economic solutions to this surprising and dangerous development. 00:20:36.656 --> 00:20:42.116 The invasion by 100,000 Iraqi troops backed by air cover and tanks was brutally efficient. 00:20:42.756 --> 00:20:47.436 Iraq wants control of Kuwait's territory, its oil, and the money that comes with it. 00:20:49.616 --> 00:20:54.756 Ah, yes, who can forget the dramatic events of August 2nd, 1990, 00:20:54.996 --> 00:20:59.476 when Saddam Hussein just went absolutely berserk, and for no particular reason 00:20:59.476 --> 00:21:01.676 at all, just rolled tanks on Kuwait. 00:21:02.356 --> 00:21:06.596 Well, okay, there's more to the story than most people understand or realize. 00:21:06.596 --> 00:21:10.196 There was some history there, not only between Iraq and Kuwait generally, 00:21:10.416 --> 00:21:14.776 but specifically with regard to the aforementioned Iran-Iraq war, 00:21:15.356 --> 00:21:19.276 which Iraq had depleted its resources fighting for eight years, 00:21:19.576 --> 00:21:24.056 and Saddam Hussein, perhaps not unreasonably, thought that the entire Arab world 00:21:24.056 --> 00:21:27.956 owed him a solid for having done that and been at the front line of that war 00:21:27.956 --> 00:21:30.296 and kept the Iranians at bay all that time. 00:21:30.416 --> 00:21:34.596 But as a result of that war, he was deeply indebted to a number of nations, 00:21:34.856 --> 00:21:39.816 including Kuwait, and Kuwait was pumping too much oil, driving the price down, 00:21:39.876 --> 00:21:45.616 and for every dollar that the price went down on the international markets for a barrel of oil, 00:21:46.256 --> 00:21:49.116 the Iraqis lost something like a billion dollars in revenues. 00:21:49.156 --> 00:21:51.416 So he wanted them to stop drilling. 00:21:51.656 --> 00:21:55.316 There was the slant drilling, all of that. So clearly Hussein had his issues 00:21:55.316 --> 00:21:58.796 with Kuwait, which the U.S. definitely didn't know about. 00:21:59.501 --> 00:22:05.881 And that culminated in what has now become the iconic July 25th meeting in which 00:22:05.881 --> 00:22:09.801 Hussein summoned the United States ambassador to Baghdad, 00:22:10.241 --> 00:22:16.361 April Glaspie, to his office for a high-level diplomatic meeting between the two sides, 00:22:16.561 --> 00:22:22.001 the results of which were then released as a transcript by the Iraqi foreign 00:22:22.001 --> 00:22:26.321 minister at the time, and then was published in the New York Times in September. 00:22:26.321 --> 00:22:30.781 And although I guess there has been some dispute about the accuracy of this 00:22:30.781 --> 00:22:34.741 transcript over the years, there have been a number of releases and things which 00:22:34.741 --> 00:22:39.281 have basically confirmed that this is right in its particulars. 00:22:39.801 --> 00:22:46.741 Specifically, for example, Saddam Hussein, we do not want too high prices for oil, etc., etc. 00:22:46.961 --> 00:22:50.081 Glassby responds, we have many Americans who would like to see the price go 00:22:50.081 --> 00:22:54.281 above $25 because they come from oil-producing states, dot, dot, dot. 00:22:54.361 --> 00:22:59.141 But we have no opinion on the Arab-Arab conflicts, like your border disagreement 00:22:59.141 --> 00:23:01.981 with Kuwait, etc., etc. And you can read through the transcript. 00:23:02.261 --> 00:23:06.381 But that has been interpreted over the years by different parties in different ways. 00:23:06.581 --> 00:23:11.001 There are those who definitely see that there were green lights being given 00:23:11.001 --> 00:23:14.161 to Hussein, or at least what was being interpreted as green lights, 00:23:14.341 --> 00:23:18.181 as in, yes, go ahead, roll in on Kuwait, we're not going to stop you. 00:23:18.681 --> 00:23:21.321 Others have interpreted that as a yellow light of some sort. 00:23:21.321 --> 00:23:26.821 At any rate, it seemed that there was some miscommunication or potentially deliberate 00:23:26.821 --> 00:23:32.281 miscommunication, and Saddam Hussein and the Iraqi government at least thought that the U.S. 00:23:32.381 --> 00:23:35.281 Were not going to be actively opposed to the invasion of Kuwait. 00:23:35.361 --> 00:23:38.941 But boy, were they wrong about that. And of course, we got the dramatic events 00:23:38.941 --> 00:23:43.261 of the Gulf War as the direct consequence of his decision. 00:23:43.421 --> 00:23:48.961 So the real question then is, what was this meeting about? What was Glaspy saying? 00:23:49.161 --> 00:23:51.101 On what authority was she saying it? 00:23:51.721 --> 00:23:56.521 Essentially, the question is, was Saddam Hussein set up? 00:23:56.741 --> 00:24:00.181 Was he given the green light? Go ahead, we won't do anything. 00:24:00.401 --> 00:24:03.141 And then down comes the hammer. And if so, why? 00:24:03.601 --> 00:24:10.441 Wasn't Hussein this serviceable puppet for the CIA and US and Israeli intelligence 00:24:10.441 --> 00:24:12.061 operatives over the years? 00:24:12.221 --> 00:24:16.641 Hadn't he done his job in, at the very least, keeping Iran at bay throughout 00:24:16.641 --> 00:24:20.181 the 1980s? Why, if he was set up, why would that happen? 00:24:20.461 --> 00:24:23.061 Well, again, there are a number of different interpretations of this. 00:24:23.181 --> 00:24:28.161 So here's an example of one scholar who believes that, yes, Saddam Hussein was 00:24:28.161 --> 00:24:33.101 deliberately set up to take the fall, essentially, with the Gulf War. 00:24:34.462 --> 00:24:41.282 The then U.S. ambassador in Baghdad met Saddam a week before the invasion of Kuwait. 00:24:41.442 --> 00:24:47.142 On 25th July 1990, she was an articulate Arabic speaker. 00:24:47.362 --> 00:24:51.062 She spoke Arabic very well. She was former U.S. ambassador in Kuwait. 00:24:51.202 --> 00:24:59.482 She met Saddam on 25th July 1990. A week later, 2nd August, Saddam invaded Kuwait. 00:24:59.482 --> 00:25:05.502 And during that interview, the full text of it was published by Iraq. 00:25:06.322 --> 00:25:11.882 And the long extracts of it were published in New York Times. 00:25:12.122 --> 00:25:20.682 She told him verbatim that we do not interfere in inter-Arab conflicts and relations, 00:25:21.062 --> 00:25:24.442 giving him the green light to go and invade Kuwait. 00:25:24.742 --> 00:25:32.802 And it was a trap, obviously. They interrupt him in order to proceed because during that time, 00:25:33.322 --> 00:25:40.082 during that year before he invaded Kuwait, there were military exercises in the United States. 00:25:41.065 --> 00:25:45.205 Led by General Schwarzkopf. Schwarzkopf 00:25:45.205 --> 00:25:49.845 became the overall commander of fighting Iraqi forces in Kuwait. 00:25:50.165 --> 00:25:57.445 And he was training his forces in the United States for the moment when Iraq 00:25:57.445 --> 00:25:59.405 crosses the border into Kuwait. 00:25:59.565 --> 00:26:05.865 For a whole year, American forces in the United States were being trained how 00:26:05.865 --> 00:26:09.085 to fight Iraqi forces when they enter Kuwait. 00:26:10.085 --> 00:26:15.945 And the moment they crossed, Schwarzkopf, and this is in his own memoirs, 00:26:16.125 --> 00:26:22.865 phoned Powell, the then Defense Secretary, Powell, to tell him they have crossed the border. 00:26:22.945 --> 00:26:25.385 I'm coming to Washington. 00:26:25.705 --> 00:26:30.265 So the entrapment of Saddam was in full view. 00:26:30.485 --> 00:26:36.525 And this is not new, by the way. The United States turning against its own people. 00:26:38.305 --> 00:26:42.085 Well, that's one perspective. On the other hand, you have, for example, 00:26:42.285 --> 00:26:46.385 Scott Horton, who in his book Enough Already seems to take the side that it 00:26:46.385 --> 00:26:49.545 probably was not a setup, it was a genuine miscommunication. 00:26:51.465 --> 00:26:55.965 If the administration had plotted to set up Hussein and snare him in a trap 00:26:55.965 --> 00:27:00.885 in the first place, it would probably not have looked much different than what actually took place. 00:27:01.645 --> 00:27:06.405 Still, the simplest interpretation is that there was a massive failure to coordinate 00:27:06.405 --> 00:27:09.005 between the various U.S. government departments. 00:27:09.625 --> 00:27:13.625 Even though the Defense Intelligence Agency was warning that Hussein was, 00:27:13.725 --> 00:27:17.905 quote, not bluffing, end quote, when it came to his threats against Kuwait, 00:27:18.085 --> 00:27:22.605 the State Department was signaling at least a yellow light to Iraq to proceed. 00:27:23.345 --> 00:27:28.705 Meanwhile, the CIA and military central command decided to encourage the Kuwaitis 00:27:28.705 --> 00:27:33.725 to continue taking an intransigent stance against Iraq's demands for new negotiations. 00:27:34.525 --> 00:27:38.965 Back at the Pentagon, Secretary of Defense Dick Cheney and Undersecretary for 00:27:38.965 --> 00:27:43.525 Policy Wolfowitz had given a public warning to Iraq, claiming the U.S. 00:27:43.705 --> 00:27:45.485 Was obligated to defend Kuwait. 00:27:46.065 --> 00:27:49.005 But their spokesman Pete Williams had walked it back. 00:27:49.645 --> 00:27:54.685 The darker hypothesis that this divided response was a deliberate trap set for 00:27:54.685 --> 00:27:56.605 Hussein does not seem to hold up. 00:27:56.765 --> 00:28:01.165 But as a prominent Kuwaiti businessman explained, quote, I think that if the 00:28:01.165 --> 00:28:05.165 Americans had not pushed, the royal family would never have taken the steps 00:28:05.165 --> 00:28:08.045 that it did to provoke Saddam, end quote. 00:28:10.851 --> 00:28:14.371 All right. Two competing views of what may or may not have happened in that 00:28:14.371 --> 00:28:16.851 July 25th meeting between Hussein and Glaspy. 00:28:17.471 --> 00:28:21.051 Make of it what you will. Although I will note that at the very least, 00:28:21.251 --> 00:28:27.011 Scott Horton does admit there that if this was a setup to get Hussein to invade 00:28:27.011 --> 00:28:30.551 Kuwait so that he could then be smart bombed to death. 00:28:31.031 --> 00:28:34.211 Well, they couldn't have done it any better if they were trying. 00:28:34.531 --> 00:28:38.851 So whether this was just an actual miscommunication or an intentional setup, 00:28:38.851 --> 00:28:46.591 It looks very similar from the outside. So if it was a setup, if the U.S. 00:28:46.711 --> 00:28:51.451 Deep state, the Western forces that had been propping up and aiding Saddam for 00:28:51.451 --> 00:28:55.651 so many years suddenly decided they wanted to bring the hammer down on him, why? 00:28:55.891 --> 00:28:59.471 What was the reason behind that? Well, there are a few things we could point 00:28:59.471 --> 00:29:06.291 to, one of which comes from this book, Crusade, The Untold Story of the Persian Gulf War. 00:29:06.451 --> 00:29:09.331 And if you turn to this book, 00:29:09.771 --> 00:29:15.011 specifically page 107, you can read, the central command that Schwarzkopf inherited 00:29:15.011 --> 00:29:21.991 in 1989 had focused on a Soviet thrust south into Iran, a hypothesis obviated 00:29:21.991 --> 00:29:24.231 by the collapse of central authority in Moscow. 00:29:24.691 --> 00:29:30.251 Almost immediately after assuming command, he, Schwarzkopf, began looking at other threats. 00:29:30.251 --> 00:29:35.451 In September 1989, with encouragement from Undersecretary Paul Wolfowitz, 00:29:35.851 --> 00:29:41.551 the CINC asked the Defense Intelligence Agency to scrutinize Iraq as a potential foe. 00:29:41.811 --> 00:29:46.211 By July 1990, he had assembled portions of a secret battle plan, 00:29:46.591 --> 00:29:53.791 Operations Plan 1002-90, Defense of the Arabian Peninsula, which was designed 00:29:53.791 --> 00:29:57.751 to parry an Iraqi invasion of Saudi Arabia through Kuwait. 00:29:58.917 --> 00:30:01.937 All right, so there's another interesting piece on the table. 00:30:02.077 --> 00:30:05.837 There is an actual operations plan, defense of the Arabian Peninsula, 00:30:05.837 --> 00:30:12.257 that was being war-gamed out by Schwarzkopf there in July of 1990 as Glaspy 00:30:12.257 --> 00:30:13.437 was meeting with Hussein. 00:30:13.517 --> 00:30:19.137 They were already working on the plans to strike Iraq, at any rate, 00:30:19.237 --> 00:30:22.417 to parry an Iraqi invasion of Saudi Arabia through Kuwait. 00:30:22.517 --> 00:30:26.677 So they were already working on defending Kuwait there in July 1990 before any 00:30:26.677 --> 00:30:28.137 of this had actually transpired. 00:30:28.717 --> 00:30:33.957 And who was this being encouraged by? Oh, that's right, Undersecretary Paul Wolfowitz. 00:30:34.237 --> 00:30:39.037 That name rings a bell because, of course, he was part of the PNAC gaggle of 00:30:39.037 --> 00:30:42.577 neocons who, of course, infested the Bush, the George W. 00:30:42.837 --> 00:30:47.757 Bush administration there in the early 2000s. And from the moment of 9-11, 00:30:48.037 --> 00:30:51.897 in fact, before 9-11, they were advocating for the ouster of Saddam. 00:30:52.017 --> 00:30:55.537 But obviously, from the moment of 9-11, they saw their great golden opportunity 00:30:55.537 --> 00:31:02.997 to try to use the events of 9-11 as some sort of excuse for re-invading Iraq. 00:31:03.017 --> 00:31:06.037 So that's, of course, all in the future at this point. 00:31:06.157 --> 00:31:12.257 So what does 1989-1990 Paul Wolfowitz, why is he so interested in trying to 00:31:12.257 --> 00:31:16.157 topple Saddam in Iraq? What was the point of that? 00:31:16.317 --> 00:31:21.377 Well, maybe, just maybe, it's related to what his neocon fellow travelers were 00:31:21.377 --> 00:31:25.697 writing about in their Clean Break document just a few years later. 00:31:27.277 --> 00:31:32.457 In 1996, a group of prominent neoconservatives, including Richard Perle, 00:31:32.697 --> 00:31:34.217 Douglas Feith, and David Wormser, 00:31:34.737 --> 00:31:37.917 wrote a report for then-Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. 00:31:38.657 --> 00:31:42.597 Titled, A Clean Break, A New Strategy for Securing the Realm, 00:31:42.857 --> 00:31:46.737 the report urged Israel to shape its strategic environment by weakening, 00:31:46.917 --> 00:31:48.917 containing, and even rolling back Syria. 00:31:49.737 --> 00:31:54.797 The way to do this, the report concluded, was to focus on removing Saddam Hussein 00:31:54.797 --> 00:31:58.777 from power in Iraq, an important Israeli strategic objective in its own right, 00:31:58.937 --> 00:32:01.377 as a means of foiling Syria's regional ambitions. 00:32:03.809 --> 00:32:09.269 Oh, of course, those neocons, or at least proto-neocons there in 1990, 00:32:09.629 --> 00:32:13.309 like Wolfowitz, may have had the concern that they demonstrated throughout the 00:32:13.309 --> 00:32:18.849 1990s and into the 2000s, which was toppling Saddam in Iraq as part of Israel's 00:32:18.849 --> 00:32:21.789 larger security operations. 00:32:22.169 --> 00:32:27.629 So maybe that was what they were already starting to plan and think about there, 00:32:27.729 --> 00:32:31.889 as clearly Iran had been contained, at least for the time being after the Iran-Iraq 00:32:31.889 --> 00:32:35.909 war, So the next big threat Israel was worrying about was Saddam in Iraq. 00:32:36.089 --> 00:32:39.749 So that does make sense. That does check out. That would certainly be one reason 00:32:39.749 --> 00:32:46.069 why the deep state would set up and prop up and support this dictator for decades 00:32:46.069 --> 00:32:49.129 and then drop him at the drop of a hat because. 00:32:49.549 --> 00:32:55.449 Hey, you know, he's served his role and now his role is to be the boogeyman and ultimately to fall. 00:32:55.449 --> 00:33:01.869 And in addition to that obvious and on-the-record documented operations plan 00:33:01.869 --> 00:33:04.749 that was already underway in July of 1990, 00:33:05.029 --> 00:33:10.049 we can also put this in the broader context and framework of the coming New World Order, 00:33:10.069 --> 00:33:16.629 because of course there in 1990 slash into 1991, that was the time not only 00:33:16.629 --> 00:33:21.229 of the fall of the Soviet Union and the reordering of the world at that time, But obviously, 00:33:21.429 --> 00:33:25.489 major shifts were taking place on the global chessboard at that time that were 00:33:25.489 --> 00:33:28.189 being capitalized on by Uncle Sam. 00:33:28.429 --> 00:33:35.689 And of course, extolled in that infamous September 11th, 1990 speech by George H.W. 00:33:35.889 --> 00:33:41.289 Bush, specifically talking about the Gulf War and the New World Order. 00:33:43.069 --> 00:33:46.869 And we stand today at a unique and extraordinary moment. 00:33:47.849 --> 00:33:53.869 The crisis in the Persian Gulf, as grave as it is, also offers a rare opportunity 00:33:53.869 --> 00:33:57.929 to move toward an historic period of cooperation. 00:33:58.709 --> 00:34:06.949 Out of these troubled times, our fifth objective, a new world order, can emerge, a new era, 00:34:07.849 --> 00:34:13.489 freer from the threat of terror, stronger in the pursuit of justice, 00:34:13.729 --> 00:34:17.329 and more secure in the quest for peace. 00:34:17.989 --> 00:34:24.529 An era in which the nations of the world, east and west, north and south, 00:34:24.829 --> 00:34:26.689 can prosper and live in harmony. 00:34:27.309 --> 00:34:32.329 A hundred generations have searched for this elusive path to peace, 00:34:32.329 --> 00:34:36.429 while 1,000 wars raged across the span of human endeavor. 00:34:37.549 --> 00:34:43.769 And today that new world is struggling to be born. A world quite different from the one we've known. 00:34:44.109 --> 00:34:48.089 A world where the rule of law supplants the rule of the jungle. 00:34:48.569 --> 00:34:55.429 A world in which nations recognize the shared responsibility for freedom and justice. 00:34:56.409 --> 00:35:00.509 A world where the strong respect the rights of the weak, 00:35:01.519 --> 00:35:06.079 This is the vision that I shared with President Gorbachev in Helsinki. 00:35:06.479 --> 00:35:11.859 He and other leaders from Europe, the Gulf, and around the world understand 00:35:11.859 --> 00:35:19.079 that how we manage this crisis today could shape the future for generations to come. 00:35:21.859 --> 00:35:28.799 Yes, indeed, out of these troubled times can emerge the new world order, as George H.W. 00:35:28.919 --> 00:35:32.019 Bush intoned there. Yes, Christ-a-tunity, guys. 00:35:32.319 --> 00:35:40.419 And to top it all off, the Gulf War, of course, also was the excuse that was used to station U.S. 00:35:40.539 --> 00:35:44.219 Troops in the Holy Land of the Arabian Peninsula for the first time, 00:35:44.539 --> 00:35:50.799 thus creating the excuse for Al-Siaida to start its reign of terror, 00:35:50.799 --> 00:35:55.279 as in how dare you occupiers set foot on the Holy Land. 00:35:55.419 --> 00:36:00.399 So it's win, win, win, win, win for the deep state, unless, of course, you happen to be Saddam. 00:36:00.479 --> 00:36:04.919 Hussein, I suppose there's a significant loss there, which does beg the question, 00:36:05.039 --> 00:36:07.079 then what was Saddam's role in all of this? 00:36:07.219 --> 00:36:14.359 Was he a willing and conscious collaborator with these intelligence agencies and deep state forces? 00:36:14.499 --> 00:36:17.959 And if so, what was his read on his ultimate downfall? 00:36:18.159 --> 00:36:21.339 Well, there's a lot that can and should be said about that, one of which is 00:36:21.339 --> 00:36:26.419 the observation that there is a difference, for example, between a patsy and 00:36:26.419 --> 00:36:32.219 a willing puppet and a collaborator and a toy, for example. 00:36:32.319 --> 00:36:37.959 There are different ways in which assets can be deployed and sometimes even 00:36:37.959 --> 00:36:39.099 used without their knowledge. 00:36:39.099 --> 00:36:43.399 And I would say that if you do go and watch False Flags, A Secret History of 00:36:43.399 --> 00:36:50.279 Al-Qaeda, I think there is the sense in which some of those LCIA agents, easy for me to say. 00:36:50.699 --> 00:36:56.179 Were genuine true believers in their cause, but had no idea, 00:36:56.179 --> 00:36:58.879 did not really understand that doors were being opened. 00:36:59.039 --> 00:37:03.839 Certain things were being facilitated. They were allowed to use these heavily 00:37:03.839 --> 00:37:07.499 surveilled communications. They were able to waltz in and out of countries and 00:37:07.499 --> 00:37:10.279 through borders because they were being allowed. 00:37:10.439 --> 00:37:15.499 Those doors were being opened for them by forces that they did not understand or control themselves. 00:37:15.739 --> 00:37:19.159 And so the question might be, well, maybe Saddam was just an unwitting pawn 00:37:19.159 --> 00:37:23.219 in all of these intelligence agency machinations. Well, there is to some extent 00:37:23.219 --> 00:37:24.739 we can document that that is not true. 00:37:25.019 --> 00:37:29.979 He certainly knew, for example, knew, obviously, that he was receiving the satellite 00:37:29.979 --> 00:37:34.619 data from the U.S., specifically from the CIA, who he allowed into the country 00:37:34.619 --> 00:37:38.299 in the Iran-Iraq war to provide him with that data. 00:37:38.839 --> 00:37:43.219 But from what we now know from the documents that have been declassified and 00:37:43.219 --> 00:37:44.999 released, we now know... 00:37:45.351 --> 00:37:48.591 That Saddam certainly didn't take any of that at face value. 00:37:48.771 --> 00:37:52.451 He certainly knew that there could have been a much bigger operation. 00:37:52.611 --> 00:37:58.351 And in his new book on the Achilles trap, Steve Call, who was one of the sources 00:37:58.351 --> 00:38:01.651 for one of the many, many books cited in that False Flags documentary, 00:38:02.031 --> 00:38:06.591 he has gone through those records and talked, for example, about how in the 00:38:06.591 --> 00:38:11.231 early 1980s, Saddam was very, very cautious and curious about the satellite 00:38:11.231 --> 00:38:15.611 data and assuming that the CIA was also sharing satellite data with Iran so 00:38:15.611 --> 00:38:16.691 that they could battle themselves, 00:38:17.011 --> 00:38:20.571 Iran and Iraq could eventually battle themselves to a stalemate, 00:38:20.691 --> 00:38:21.771 which they eventually did. 00:38:21.971 --> 00:38:26.291 And he was not without cause or reason for suspecting that would be the case. 00:38:26.471 --> 00:38:30.911 I mean, from what we now know, for example, Kissinger had the plan, 00:38:31.091 --> 00:38:36.671 the plot, to arm the Kurdish insurgency in Iraq just enough to undermine Saddam, 00:38:36.831 --> 00:38:38.351 but without actually winning. 00:38:38.631 --> 00:38:42.451 No one should be able to win a decisive blow. 00:38:42.931 --> 00:38:47.231 And similarly, between Iran and Iraq, it was, I believe, again, 00:38:47.331 --> 00:38:48.591 Kissinger who opined that it 00:38:48.591 --> 00:38:51.751 would be great if they could just basically fight themselves to nothing. 00:38:52.871 --> 00:38:58.531 So Saddam was very cautious about what information was being provided to him and for what reason. 00:38:58.891 --> 00:39:03.931 And apparently, even before it became public knowledge in 1986, 00:39:04.291 --> 00:39:07.951 he was telling his own cabinet, who was apparently disbelieving of him. 00:39:07.951 --> 00:39:09.111 No, you don't understand. 00:39:09.291 --> 00:39:13.871 The U.S. are providing arms to Iran through the Israelis. 00:39:14.331 --> 00:39:18.091 And that seemed like a crazy conspiracy theory until, oh, it came out. 00:39:18.271 --> 00:39:21.571 Oh, Iran-Contra. Yeah, what was going on there and who was providing what to whom? 00:39:22.151 --> 00:39:25.411 Turns out Saddam was a conspiracy realist in certain ways. 00:39:26.251 --> 00:39:31.871 So the question is, well, what happened there and what was he aware of and what was he not? 00:39:32.071 --> 00:39:35.991 Let's turn to the aforementioned Steve Call, who in a recent podcast appearance 00:39:35.991 --> 00:39:39.851 talking about his new book on the Achilles trap does raise some of these points. 00:39:41.615 --> 00:39:48.795 But just to set the story briefly, of course, Saddam started a war with Iran in 1980. 00:39:49.215 --> 00:39:54.975 He got bogged down. And in 1982, the Iranians, through counterattack, 00:39:55.775 --> 00:39:57.315 looked like they might be about 00:39:57.315 --> 00:40:01.795 to break through Iraqi lines and drive on Baghdad and overthrow Saddam. 00:40:02.695 --> 00:40:08.255 Ayatollah Khomeini had vowed to do that, to hang Saddam from the nearest lamppost. 00:40:08.255 --> 00:40:12.955 Well, the Reagan administration saw these developments through satellite photography. 00:40:14.095 --> 00:40:18.515 It wasn't available, obviously, to either of the combatants, and they panicked. 00:40:18.755 --> 00:40:23.195 They said, we can't afford to have the Iranian revolution expand through the 00:40:23.195 --> 00:40:28.975 conquest of Iraq with all of its oil, not to mention its population and so on. 00:40:28.975 --> 00:40:32.335 So they sent a CIA officer, Thomas Twenton, 00:40:32.395 --> 00:40:38.975 who you might have worked with or come across, who was basically empowered to 00:40:38.975 --> 00:40:45.595 carry satellite photography evidence of Iranian military positions into Saddam and say, 00:40:45.795 --> 00:40:48.555 look, we're here to help you avoid losing this war. 00:40:48.555 --> 00:40:53.835 And that started a liaison that lasted for six years. 00:40:54.635 --> 00:41:00.855 And during it, the United States provided secretly, primarily through the CIA, 00:41:01.295 --> 00:41:04.375 a considerable advantage to Saddam. 00:41:04.815 --> 00:41:09.975 And throughout, Saddam was suspicious about what the Americans were doing. 00:41:10.135 --> 00:41:13.695 He didn't trust this. I think at first he sort of said, I don't believe these 00:41:13.695 --> 00:41:14.935 photographs are accurate. 00:41:15.075 --> 00:41:18.455 Like, what if they're being doctored to get us, lure us into an ambush? 00:41:18.735 --> 00:41:23.255 But I think his generals made it clear, well, actually, this stuff's pretty valuable. 00:41:23.475 --> 00:41:26.275 It's got to be accurate. We can look over the hill. And yes, 00:41:26.375 --> 00:41:33.555 they are there. So gradually, the military became advocates for continuing and 00:41:33.555 --> 00:41:35.795 even expanding this information sharing. 00:41:35.955 --> 00:41:40.415 But Saddam always harbored suspicions. And in meetings, he would say to his 00:41:40.415 --> 00:41:47.355 colleagues, you know, look, I think, suppose these photographs are accurate. 00:41:47.735 --> 00:41:51.695 I'll bet you the Americans are giving the exact same ones to the Iranians because 00:41:51.695 --> 00:41:55.175 what they're trying to do is to make us fight into a permanent stalemate. 00:41:55.175 --> 00:42:00.635 And finally, in late 1986. 00:42:01.795 --> 00:42:06.695 Then Attorney General Edmund Meese revealed that, in fact, Saddam was right, 00:42:06.695 --> 00:42:14.455 that we had been collaborating for a brief period, relatively, a year, year and a half, 00:42:15.410 --> 00:42:20.990 with the Israelis to provide arms to Ayatollah Khomeini's regime to fight against 00:42:20.990 --> 00:42:27.730 Saddam in the hope that this would liberate hostages that Iranian proxies held in Lebanon. 00:42:28.170 --> 00:42:32.750 And as people will remember, it was a huge scandal, went on for years, 00:42:32.970 --> 00:42:33.930 there were prosecutions. 00:42:35.290 --> 00:42:38.630 A lot of people in the Arab world were shocked that the Americans were doing 00:42:38.630 --> 00:42:40.290 this. Saddam was not surprised. 00:42:40.490 --> 00:42:43.590 There are these wonderful tapes of him the morning after the press conference, 00:42:43.590 --> 00:42:48.230 basically saying to his comrades, see, I told you, I've told you this for years. You didn't believe me. 00:42:49.110 --> 00:42:53.650 This is the permanent state of conspiracy. The Americans, the Israelis, 00:42:53.970 --> 00:42:59.510 and Ayatollah Khomeini, the Americans created the Iranian revolution. Don't you understand? 00:42:59.850 --> 00:43:02.950 Now it's a project of America and Israel. 00:43:03.190 --> 00:43:06.970 And this reveals that I understood this correctly all along. 00:43:07.110 --> 00:43:13.690 All right. So the point in terms of its impact is what you were alluding to, 00:43:13.850 --> 00:43:20.590 which is that he never changed his mind about the existence of this conspiracy 00:43:20.590 --> 00:43:22.050 against him. He held on to this. 00:43:22.150 --> 00:43:25.750 And there are tapes years later in the 90s where something completely different 00:43:25.750 --> 00:43:28.270 comes up in his relations with the Americans. And he says, look, 00:43:28.330 --> 00:43:31.530 the answer is what happened in 1986. 00:43:31.730 --> 00:43:33.910 That's still going on. Don't you understand? 00:43:34.630 --> 00:43:42.410 Even though we know that it wasn't. And so, yeah, it had an enormous reinforcing influence on him. 00:43:42.550 --> 00:43:47.510 It made him confident about his suspicions about who was out to get him and 00:43:47.510 --> 00:43:52.310 about this conspiracy that he saw, this trilateral conspiracy between the United 00:43:52.310 --> 00:43:54.310 States, Israel and revolutionary Iran. 00:43:56.390 --> 00:44:00.510 If you're interested in that, I will, of course, provide the link to that full 00:44:00.510 --> 00:44:04.170 podcast, as well as everything else that I am talking about and citing in today's 00:44:04.170 --> 00:44:06.790 episode. So you can go and explore that to your heart's content. 00:44:07.390 --> 00:44:10.490 But let's summarize what it is we have learned today. 00:44:11.310 --> 00:44:15.450 First of all, let's be clear. Saddam was not an idiot. 00:44:15.710 --> 00:44:20.050 He did not survive the decades that he did survive playing the Game of Thrones 00:44:20.050 --> 00:44:24.690 of Iraqi politics and the many assassination attempts and intrigues and plots 00:44:24.690 --> 00:44:28.230 that were happening internally there in Iraq, let alone the many enemies that 00:44:28.230 --> 00:44:29.230 he had crewed around the world. 00:44:29.370 --> 00:44:31.950 He did not survive for so long because he was a complete idiot. 00:44:32.170 --> 00:44:36.630 He did have some sense. He certainly knew that there was active intelligence 00:44:36.630 --> 00:44:38.390 agency complicity and cooperation. 00:44:38.670 --> 00:44:43.470 Of course, he would have known, given that he was involved with CIA handlers as far back as 1959. 00:44:43.650 --> 00:44:47.390 So he played that game and he played it well enough to survive, 00:44:47.610 --> 00:44:50.690 at least up until the early 2000s. So there's that. 00:44:50.890 --> 00:44:54.050 Of course, this is not to say Saddam was a good guy, guys. No, 00:44:54.150 --> 00:44:58.610 he was a tyrant. He was a thug. He was a brutal, murderous dictator, of course. 00:45:00.098 --> 00:45:05.938 He was aware that he was playing a game with the intelligence agencies and that 00:45:05.938 --> 00:45:09.418 that game could come back and burn him, and it did ultimately do so. 00:45:09.678 --> 00:45:12.738 So there's a lot to be said about that. But it does, at the very least, 00:45:12.838 --> 00:45:16.038 I think, again, this is a good illustrative example, not only of an important 00:45:16.038 --> 00:45:21.898 part of political history, our recent political history, that it would behoove us not to forget. 00:45:22.298 --> 00:45:25.718 It's already starting to go down that rabbit hole. Oh, remember that whole Iraq 00:45:25.718 --> 00:45:27.238 war thing and all that stuff? 00:45:27.358 --> 00:45:30.958 Ah, whatever, you know, ancient history. No, it is important for us to know 00:45:30.958 --> 00:45:37.138 about that and how those millions of Iraqis and many others died in the process 00:45:37.138 --> 00:45:41.758 on the basis of all the lies that were told in the intelligence agency manipulations. 00:45:41.758 --> 00:45:48.658 But even just on the broader scale, it is interesting to note how these puppets slash agents, 00:45:48.978 --> 00:45:54.058 patsies, toys of the intelligence agencies can be used and manipulated and discarded 00:45:54.058 --> 00:45:56.858 at a moment's notice, as they inevitably are. 00:45:57.358 --> 00:46:01.058 Gaddafi and others being good examples of how that process works. 00:46:01.198 --> 00:46:05.918 And maybe a sober example for would-be dictators of the future maybe don't play 00:46:05.918 --> 00:46:10.038 that game with the intelligence agencies because they are going to double-cross you at some point. 00:46:10.698 --> 00:46:14.818 Anyway, I just want to thank you, Kelly, for allowing me to put all of this on record. 00:46:15.138 --> 00:46:19.578 I think there's some important information in here. And if you think so as well, 00:46:19.658 --> 00:46:23.918 I would invite you to go to CorbettReport.com so you can peruse all of the many, 00:46:24.018 --> 00:46:25.678 many show notes for today's episode. 00:46:25.798 --> 00:46:29.298 But I think we're going to leave that here for today. Thank you for the question. 00:46:29.738 --> 00:46:33.138 And this is James Corbett of CorbettReport.com. Looking forward to talking to 00:46:33.138 --> 00:46:34.058 you again in the near future. 00:46:37.158 --> 00:46:44.778 We all know the story of Osama bin Laden and al-Qaeda. Bin Laden was responsible for today's attack. 00:46:46.998 --> 00:46:51.438 So often was that story repeated in the wake of 9-11 that the hypnotized public 00:46:51.438 --> 00:46:55.798 forgot that it was, at base, just that. A story. 00:46:56.738 --> 00:47:00.618 If they didn't have an Osama bin Laden out there, they'd invent one. 00:47:02.918 --> 00:47:07.358 In False Flags, The Secret History of Al-Qaeda, you will learn the truth behind 00:47:07.358 --> 00:47:10.438 that story and uncover the lies that led to the War of Terror. 00:47:11.518 --> 00:47:16.618 Our war on terror begins with Al-Qaeda, but it does not end there. 00:47:17.938 --> 00:47:23.298 Watch the documentary for free at corbettreport.com slash al-Qaeda or support 00:47:23.298 --> 00:47:27.778 the filmmaker and purchase the documentary on DVD at newworldnextweek.com.