“[Even if the U. S. doesn't attack] Saddam Hussein is not going to survive. His regime is on the verge of implosion.”

— Christopher Hitchens

Nov. 7, 2002 http://www.slate.com/id/2073634/: On Iraq
2000s, 2002

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Christopher Hitchens 305

British American author and journalist 1949–2011

Kanan Makiya (1949) American orientalist

"Edward Wong Interviews Kanan Makiya: Critic of Hussein Grapples with Horrors of Post Invasion Iraq", New York Times (March 25, 2007)

“The U. S. policy on Iraq, not just from Bill Clinton to Bush to Obama and beyond, has been consistent but that it's been consistent for six decades through eleven presidents. That included covert CIA operations, regime change, support for Saddam Hussein and a merciless policy of targeting the Iraqi civilian population.”

Jeremy Scahill (1974) American journalist

A Brief History of U.S. Intervention in Iraq Over the Past Half Century https://theintercept.com/2018/04/09/video-a-brief-history-of-u-s-intervention-in-iraq-over-the-past-half-century/ (April 9 2018), The Intercept.

“Taking the points in order, it's fairly easy to demonstrate that Saddam Hussein is a bad guy's bad guy. He's not just bad in himself but the cause of badness in others. While he survives not only are the Iraqi and Kurdish peoples compelled to live in misery and fear (the sheerly moral case for regime-change is unimpeachable on its own), but their neighbors are compelled to live in fear as well.

However—and here is the clinching and obvious point—Saddam Hussein is not going to survive. His regime is on the verge of implosion. It has long passed the point of diminishing returns. Like the Ceausescu edifice in Romania, it is a pyramid balanced on its apex (its powerbase a minority of the Sunni minority), and when it falls, all the consequences of a post-Saddam Iraq will be with us anyway. To suggest that these consequences—Sunni-Shi'a rivalry, conflict over the boundaries of Kurdistan, possible meddling from Turkey or Iran, vertiginous fluctuations in oil prices and production, social chaos—are attributable only to intervention is to be completely blind to the impending reality. The choices are two and only two—to experience these consequences with an American or international presence or to watch them unfold as if they were none of our business.”

Christopher Hitchens (1949–2011) British American author and journalist

2002-11-07
Machiavelli in Mesopotamia
Slate
1091-2339
http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/fighting_words/2002/11/machiavelli_in_mesopotamia.html: On the 2003 invasion of Iraq
2000s, 2002

“There was no evidence that Saddam Hussein was involved with the attack of 9/11, I've never said that and never made that case prior to going into Iraq.”

George W. Bush (1946) 43rd President of the United States

Reuters, December 2005, quoted in Steve Coffman, Founders v. Bush (2007)
2000s, 2005

“I despised Saddam Hussein, because he attacked Iran when my hostages were being held. It was President Reagan who established diplomatic relations with Saddam Hussein after I left office.”

Saddam Hussein (1937–2006) Iraqi politician and President

Jimmy Carter (10 September 2007), interview with Democracy Now!, http://www.cartercenter.org/peace/human_rights/defenders/news/democ_now0910.html.

“… Assad’s survival—if Saddam Hussein’s murderous rampage in 1991 is any indication—will without a shadow of a doubt translate into hundreds of thousands of Syrian dead, mostly butchered after his victory has been assured. The comparison comes to mind because the two Ba’thi regimes of Saddam Hussein and Bashar Assad bear an unmistakable resemblance—they are mirror images of one another, one might say. Both are minority dominated, single party regimes originating in the same quasi-fascist pan-Arab ideology built on the principle that any form of disagreement is an act of “betrayal” to the “revolution.””

Kanan Makiya (1949) American orientalist

"Intervention In Syria is a Moral and Human Imperative", New Republican (February 24, 2012)

“Withdrawal of U. S. troops, then confederation, then reunification [under the North Korean regime].”

Brian Reynolds Myers (1963) American professor of international studies

2010s, Interview with the Reuters War College (April 2017)

“The U. S. has enough problems without publicity seekers going out and openly mocking religion in order to provoke attacks and death. BE SMART.”

Donald J. Trump (1946) 45th President of the United States of America

Twitter - About the Muhammad Art Contest in Texas at 1st May, 2015 https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/595406508378173440 (4 May 2015)
2010s, 2015

“We must recognize that there is no indication that Saddam Hussein has any intention of relenting. So we have an obligation of enormous consequence, an obligation to guarantee that Saddam Hussein cannot ignore the United Nations. He cannot be permitted to go unobserved and unimpeded toward his horrific objective of amassing a stockpile of weapons of mass destruction.”

John F. Kerry (1943) politician from the United States

Speech to the floor of the Senate, Congressional Record, November 9, 1997 http://frwebgate3.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/waisgate.cgi?WAISdocID=14015820865+3+0+0&WAISaction=retrieve

“Here is the truth: The Earth is round; Saddam Hussein did not attack us on 9/11; Elvis is dead; Obama was born in the United States; and the climate crisis is real.”

Al Gore (1948) 45th Vice President of the United States

“[Even if the U. S. doesn't attack] Saddam Hussein is not going to survive. His regime is on the verge of implosion.”

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