I simply completed studying “The Achilles Trap: Saddam Hussein, the C.I.A., and the Origins of America’s Invasion of Iraq” by Steve Coll. By the onset of the US invasion and navy occupation, I used to be satisfied that (a) Iraq had no WMDs or lively WMD applications, and (b) there was no collusion between Saddam and al Qaeda.
The concept Osama bin Laden and Saddam Hussein have been allies was facially absurd. Bin Laden was a spiritual zealot and Hussein was a secular dictator. They have been enemies, not allies. And after years of looking, there was not an atom of proof for Iraqi WMDs or WMD applications after the 12 months 2000. But to the Clinton and Bush administrations, absence of proof merely proved Saddam was hiding them.
Coll confirms this, after all, and brings the receipts. So why did I learn this e book? Principally to achieve perception into Saddam Hussein and his habits. To chop to the chase, Hussein was sensible however paranoid and insular. After his failed invasion of Kuwait, he destroyed his WMD applications however needed the world to imagine he nonetheless had them. Effectively, everybody however the US. Saddam was satisfied that the CIA knew he didn’t have WMDs and so he didn’t imagine he was concealing something from the Clinton and Bush administrations.
On the American aspect, political concerns drove the infinite probing for phantom weapons. Particularly, GW Bush got here to workplace dedicated to deposing Saddam, and simply wanted the precise excuse. With 9/11, he discovered it. Sadly, after all, the following disbanding of the Iraqi navy led on to the monstrosity that was ISIS/Daesh, in addition to the deaths, maiming and dislocation of thousands and thousands of Iraqis.
May Saddam have been managed with out the US invasion and navy occupation? Coll demures on that counterfactual, however the reader can clearly see that the Bush administration was mendacity about its proof on the time. Coll is obvious about Saddam’s brutality to his fellow Iraqis, notably the Iraqi Kurds. However in the long run, the Bush administration was tolerating related brutality in Syria and North Korea. He invaded Iraq as a result of he might. It didn’t harm that he knew he might finally discover Saddam, whereas bin Laden eluded him, and that the US might management Iraqi oil.
Should you’re ambivalent in regards to the (second) Iraq battle and unclear in regards to the causes, it is a well-written, knowledgeable and unsparing account. Although it confirmed every part I already knew, I nonetheless discovered this a very good learn and deep dive into current historical past.
