Page 1 of What`s Saddam Hussein ever done to us?

It looks as though this country is going to be dragged into a war which it seems the majority of people are opposed to.

I have nothing against Sadam Hussein whatsoever. I don`t see him as a threat to me or to the country at large. He`s never harmed me or anyone I know and is very unlikely to do so.

Why can`t we just negotiate with the guy and sort it all out?

Probably because the Americans want a regime change and a pro-western government so they can control the Iraqi oil supplies.

Then the French and Russians will get all the big contracts to re-build the country`s infrastructure thus leaving Blair to look like the poodle he truely is.

Anyway, hands-off Iraq that`s what I say.

tony blair is a ass kisser

Have you forgot about Sept 11 and who do you think funds the finances the al-Qaeda not tony blair thats for sure.Open your eyes and see wot this mad man is doing or could do to this country.You wont be saying that he has done nothing to you when he sends an unmaned aircraft with chemical weapons to bomb us.Think about it?

Too right, how easily people forget? We not only have to worry about the things he could do to us, but the things he has already done to his own people!!

As an Iraqi with family still in Iraq I know how evil Saddam is. I`m not convinced that military action is the right solution, but I do think he has to go. The question is, who (or what) would replace him?

A lot of arabs have a sneaking respect for Saddam, however much they despise him. Does that sound odd? But consider; despite running a small relatively backward country he persists in cocking a snoot at the vastly superior western forces arrayed against him. In many ways he is the classic underdog. On the other hand, he has no compunction about murdering his own people, never mind others. Despite this, there are many people of many races, religions, political colours, whatever, who view Saddam as somone akin to the characters in that old Ealing film `The Mouse That Roared`.

There are also those who consider the terrorists who engineered the WTC attacks to be brave heroes; they did give their own lives to further their cause, remember. I watched the whole thing unfold on my PC at work with a mixture of horror, revulsion and sadness. My boss was so affected that she offered us all the afternoon off if we felt too upset to stay at work. Later, I was sickened by the images of afghans, arabs, whoever, dancing and cheering in the streets at the news. But I can understand why they did.

To many, USA is a vast, evil superpower with no respect for their religion, their culture, etc. USA perpetuates their poverty for it`s own benefit and props up what are seen as corrupt but compliant regimes (Saudi Arabia, etc.). Unfortunately, there are degrees of truth in this view.

The trouble is many arabs see the whole middle east `problem` as mainly a western creation. The Allies created Israel after WW2 and oversaw the `ethnic cleansing` of the region - moving Palestinians out; classing them as second class citizens. In many ways, the situation echoes Northern Ireland; it`s religion, not race that separates jews and arabs - in the same way that Catholics and Protestants in NI are mainly caucasian, jews and arabs are mainly semites. Perhaps it doesn`t matter whether the conflict stems from race, religion or shoe size; but I think it helps to understand.

I think I`m rambling a bit; it is Sunday morning. I may be an arab, but I`m not a Muslim and I have a hangover.

The point I`m trying to make is that the problem is not simple enough to be solved just by replacing Saddam; any action in the Middle east will reverberate around the world one way or another. In a (simplistic) nutshell, the current conflict is in many ways the legacy of WW2, which was caused by the scale of the war reparations imposed on Germany by the Allies - the same reparations that were intended to cripple Germany`s state war machine. WW1 was kicked off by the assassination of one person, Archduke Ferdinand. If he had lived, how different might the twentieth century have been?

Thangyewverramooochferlissnin,

Eb

There are plenty of other evil tyrants around the world who we totally ignore - but I suppose they aren`t sitting on massive oil fields. Is it really likely that Saddam Hussein will attack us directly? What would he gain from this? He`d have no chance of destroying the west in one hit - which he`d need to do to avoid retaliation.

If we go it alone with the Yanks on this one, we could be opening ourselves up to decades of terrorism.

Dont` get me wrong, when it comes down to it, I`m on the west`s side, but we need world wide support (or at least a good chunk of it) in our actions, or we`ll be up s*** creek.

As the philosopher Lisa Stansfield once said "War`s bad tha` knows!"

No people in the world should have to live their life under a dictatorship..

It is up to us to see that democracy is adhered to the world over... If Iraq was a democracy and Saddam was the legally elected ruler.. then we would have no business doing what we are doing...

But he`s not..

If you want to talk dictatorship in a post relating to the US you are on sticky ground.
You are talking about an impossition of ethics, way of life, repression etc and lack of care for the suffering of others, whether using military might, money and influence and power, etc it doen`s nt have to be all about one demonised figurehead.There are plenty of Americans who suffer ill health and even death because of what corporations can get up to or away with. And even more who suffer directly and indirectly because of the wests influence and manipulation in the world.
Look at the enviroment for instance what America is doing on that threatens our lives and especially our childrens much more and more definately than anything saddam will likely russle up and they don`t care.
So should the UK lauch strikes against the US if it doesn`t clean up its act on that. The US actually is embarking on even more pollution at the present regardless of dissasters happening all over the world because of climate change and even in their own country its hitting them..
The US spent an amazing 18 billion looking into climate change to just say sodd it, load up the 4 miles to the gallon 4 wheel drive with steaks and the grill and of we go in a sense.
Just imagine what they could have done with that money to actually do something about it.
If we start this war we will be opening a true Pandoras box and the thing that amazes me is that not just innocents over there will suffer and die but so will many of us inevitably due to the knock on effect of even more hate etc.
We will actually have even more terrorism as we ring the recruitment gong even louder for these groups, so what the hells it all about never even mind the innocent people we seem to think we have a right to kill.
I have a great respect for the ordinary American and I think many do feel violence begats violence etc and feel very uneasy with this situation where our and their country feels we have a right to kill.
This is trial and executuion before a possible crime has even been commited!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
i just hope we can see sense and I wish Tony B would start to act in relation to his countries wishes as he knows most people here opose any war for a whole variety of reasons never mind the most blatently obvious of making a bad situation much worse.

A former head of UN weapons inspectors (an American) is against a war on Baghdad.
This recent BBC news article is worth a read
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/2243627.stm

Why do Politicians not listen to people who probably know a damn sight more than them on the particular subject.

I think this is all about Oil, Oil and Oil. It is becoming increasingly likely there may be a revolution in the (USA supported) dictatorship of Saudi Arabia and that USA cant rely on the Saudi Oil supply. So, they are going to try and replace Saddam with a USA friendly leader who will no doubt have to promise a steady supply of cheap oil to the USA in return for his appointment.

Cynical me? never!

This item was edited on Sunday, 8th September 2002, 13:10

I was hoping this would be a good discussion. I stand by what I wrote earlier.

Anyone who thinks Iraq is a direct threat to the UK is a bit bonkers. They couldn`t even make a decent stab at attacking Israel the last time and that`s only a few hundred miles away!

So are we seriously expecting rockets to be launched at us?

The Arab countries are keen to take western help when they feel threatened by Iraq but they wont help us ie. denying us use of their air-space.

Basically, the Arabs don`t like the west so why should we bother defending them, let them fight their own battles and "to the victor go the spoils".

Why should the west try and impose democracy on Iraq, is it such a wonderful system? It seems a bit strange that most of the Arab countries we protect are undemocratic, talk about double-standards!

I don`t remember anyone blaming Iraq for September 11th. In fact, we should look at Saudia Arabia, but of course we can`t blame them as we need their oil.

Did the west intervene when the Taliban took control and destroyed Afghanistan, of course not, we did nothing until it suited us.

Blair as a socialiast (he doesn`t know the meaning of the word) and a Christian, should be trying to defuse the situation not stoke the fires even more.

If I knew he was going to end up like Thatcher then I wouldn`t have voted for him.

In someways I want the Iraqis to kick our ass (well at least the American`s big assess) but I know that`s wrong.

At the end of the day, it`s our soldiers fighting and I feel a moral obligation to support them but I just don`t see the need for them to sacrifice their lives for such a cause.

So let`s hope it doesn`t get to that stage.

This item was edited on Sunday, 8th September 2002, 15:33