PAYBACK?
Geoff Metcalf
April 14, 2003
NewsWithViews.comAs Operation Iraqi Freedom winds down with more of a whimper than a bang already the posturing and positioning has started.
The recalcitrant, obstructionist usual suspects are cranking up the itching and moaning and trying to get their toes and saggy butts into the process of rebuilding Iraq.
· The United Nothing, who proved to the world their incompetence at maintaining the fiction they are worth even a bucket of spit on the worldwide geopolitical scene will no doubt get 'some' piece of the action.
· The French, Germans, Belgians et al may even get some table scrapes.
· Obfuscating democrats are already bitching about Halliburton's contracts.
· Dumb and dumber politicians are ignoring wise counsel to shut up and sit down and continue to routinely demonstrate that smart people can do incredible stupid things.
Meanwhile the London Telegraph reports, "Top Secret Documents Obtained by The Telegraph in Baghdad show that Russia provided Saddam Hussein's regime with wide-ranging assistance in the months leading up to the war, including intelligence on private conversations between Tony Blair and other Western leaders." It is no big surprise Moscow was cozy with Hussein. However, initial indications were that Russian 'support' was largely linked to billions of dollars Iraq owed Russia and that Russia needs like breath. It is common knowledge Iraq owed Moscow over £8 billion for arms shipments. Russian oil companies have been Jonesing to help develop Iraq's vast oil reserves.
However, notwithstanding the financial self-interest imperative, Russia shot themselves in the foot. "Moscow also provided Saddam with lists of assassins available for 'hits' in the West and details of arms deals to neighboring countries. The two countries also signed agreements to share intelligence, help each other to "obtain" visas for agents to go to other countries and to exchange information on the activities of Osama bin Laden, the al-Qa'eda leader."
These kinds of "signed agreements to share intelligence" should result in 'some' consequences.
Ever since the collapse of the Soviet Union the United States has been showering Billions of dollars on the struggling new Russian Federation. It defies common sense that we have not, do not, or should not require 'some' quid pro quo for our efforts (and money).
When President Bush told us he had "looked into the eyes" of Vladimir Putin and was somehow satisfied, he obviously overlooked that Putin is a world class, successful, former KGB, professional liar. This is classic 'Scorpion and the Frog' stuff.
The Telegraph reports on "documents detailing the extent of the links between Russia and Saddam were obtained from the heavily bombed headquarters of the Iraqi intelligence service in Baghdad." The documents are not diplomatic smooze. They are precise, detailed, and shocking in detail.
Reportedly no one knows how the Russians got their hands on the sensitive information they shared with Baghdad but for sure it will impact relations between Britain and Russia. It is also a personal slap in the face to Tony Blair who had claimed a "new era" in relations with Moscow. Putin played Blair like a balalaika and even stroked his way to have tea with the Queen.
In addition to the apparent offer of assassins, one March 2002 document seems to confirm that Hussein "had developed, or was developing nuclear weapons."
Osama bin Laden's name appears in several of the Russian reports.
Speaking of smarmy s.o.b. types, the incompetent 21st century Neville Chamberlain, Hans Blix is mouthing off.
Blix has accused the US and Britain of planning the war "well in advance" (which by the by is a GOOD thing) and of allegedly "fabricating" evidence against Iraq to justify their campaign.
Two points for the empty suit Blix:
1. 'Planning' for wars "well in advance" is and has been routine. As a student in Command and General Staff College we fought assorted 'what if battles' over and over again in war gaming. We have (or should have) plans, we hope never to have to implement, for
a. Korea
b. Iran
c. Syria
d. Russia
e. China
f. And assorted tertiary variables2. As for "fabricating" evidence….the Coalition 'inspectors' accomplished more in a few weeks than the United Nothing inspectors did in 12 flipping years!
The Blix rant claimed Iraq was paying a "a very high price in terms of human lives and the destruction of a country" when the threat of banned weapons could have been contained by UN inspections." BULLFEATHERS!
UNMOVIC was stroked, out maneuvered, manipulated, lied to, and conned from the moment they laid a Nike in country. They were less effective than a paper tiger in a monsoon.
My March 9th column noted, "Chief U.N. weapons inspector Hans Blix has proven himself to be a disingenuous, duplicitous slug, and reportedly U.S. officials are p.o.-ed about his fictional objectivity.
The U.S. was at the time major league 'annoyed' at Blix for not telling the Security Council what he found and then trying to bury the data in a 173-page sing-spaced epic he expected no one to read.
Honoré De Balzac once observed, "A flow of words is a sure sign of duplicity." The noted cultural scholar Ann Douglas said, "The truths we accept are so multiple that honesty becomes little more than a strategy by which you manage your tendencies toward duplicity."
Putin and Blix have a debt to pay that cannot be mitigated by words. Do we have the 'stones' to collect?
© 2003 Geoff Metcalf - All Rights Reserved
Geoff is a veteran media performer. He has had an eclectic professional background covering a wide spectrum of radio, television, magazine, and newspapers. A former Green Beret and retired Army officer he is in great demand as a speaker. Metcalf has hosted his radio talk show on the ABC/Disney owned and operated KSFO and in worldwide syndication. www.geoffmetcalf.com