12 June 08 - 18:36The myths of Iraq.
Here is some of the Myths of Iraq that can easily be debunkedMyth US involvement in Iraq is an "Occupation"
Umm no the UN gave the elected government of Iraq the ability to request the coalition to stay in the country and removed the idea of "occupation"
End to Iraqi Occupation
U.N. resolution on Iraq passes unanimously
Iraqi official: Measure removes 'concept of occupation'
Wednesday, June 9, 2004 Posted: 1:39 AM EDT (0539 GMT)
UNITED NATIONS (CNN) -- The U.N. Security Council voted unanimously Tuesday to approve a resolution that endorses the June 30 transfer of sovereignty in Iraq and gives authorization for a U.S.-led multinational force.
President Bush said the vote was a "great victory for the Iraqi people." Pakistan's U.N. ambassador called it the "most significant" diplomatic step on Iraq since the 1991 Gulf War.
Approval of the U.S.-British resolution came after weeks of intense negotiation, with many key diplomats seeking a better explanation of the multinational force's role after the June 30 handover.
France and Germany, two of the most strident opponents of the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq, signaled their approval of the resolution late Monday.
The compromise resolution says the multinational force will serve "at the request of the incoming interim government of Iraq" and that the force can be asked to leave at anytime.
It also says the force will be able to take "all necessary measures to contribute to maintenance of security and stability" in Iraq and gives a 12-month deadline for the force to be reviewed. In addition, it asks member states to contribute to the force.
Myth US Gave Iraq supplies for WMDs
Who Gave Iraq WMD supplies (From Wisconsin Project)
Wisconsin Project
The New York Times
April 13, 2003, pp. wk 5
As allied troops interview Iraqi scientists, the chances grow of finding the chemical weaponry that Western governments believe Saddam Hussein was hiding since the gulf war of 1991. If the troops do find it, they will also find something else: that the means for making it came primarily from Western companies years ago.
Below is a picture of the origins of what Iraq said it imported for its chemical weapon effort. The data was given to United Nations inspectors in the late 1990's, and was reconfirmed in Iraq's 12,000-page declaration last fall. But the statistical material on which it is based remained confidential until recently.
The data reveals that firms in Germany and France outstripped all others in selling the most important thing — specialized chemical-industry equipment that is particularly useful for producing poison gas. Without this equipment, none of the other imports would have been of much use.
Myth two the US gave substantual amounts of military aid to Iraq.
Graph from Swedish Peace Institute
Myth Santions imposed on Iraq caused hardships
Truth is food and medicine were never banned from going to Iraq. Only the sale of stuff that could be used by Saddam's Military.
Security Council Resolution 661
(c) The sale or supply by their nationals or from their territories or using their flag vessels of any commodities or products, including weapons or any other military equipment, whether or not originating in their territories but not including supplies intended strictly for medical purposes, and, in humanitarian circumstances, foodstuffs, to any person or body in Iraq or Kuwait or to any person or body for the purposes of any business carried on in or operated from Iraq or Kuwait, and any activities by their nationals or in their territories which promote or are calculated to promote such sale or supply of such commodities or products;
Myth Iraq had given up aquiring WMDs therefore sanctions werent needed
AS can be seen below France and Russia wanted sanctions lifted. But why ? As we all know from above the sanctions only prevented military aid from going to IRaq not food. Any nation was free to sell food to Iraq. However France and Russia wanted to start selling weapons back to the Saddam for which they had made lots of money off of.
Russia France want end of Sanctions
The sanctions stalemate over Iraq
In Iraq's case, the sanctions remain in place but changes may be afoot. Russia has called for lifting the 10-year-old U.N. trade sanctions, but linked the end of the embargo to a resumption of U.N. inspections of Iraq's alleged weapons of mass destruction.
"Russia believes that time has come for lifting the embargo but within the context of international monitoring and in accordance with U.N. resolutions," said Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov last November.
Ivanov said Russia had lost tens of billions of dollars because of the U.N. sanctions imposed on Iraq for its 1990 invasion of Kuwait. Russia hopes to recoup some of Iraq's multi-billion dollar Soviet-era debts if the sanctions are lifted.
France and Russia recently defied the U.N. committee overseeing the sanctions by allowing air flights to Iraq and other countries have since followed their lead. Some of the flights have carried humanitarian aid but others brought passengers who openly sought the possibility of business deals with Iraq.
Under the U.N. resolutions, the sanctions imposed to punish Iraq for invading Kuwait in 1990 cannot be lifted until the inspectors certify Iraq has surrendered all its weapons of mass destruction.
Myth the US brough Saddam to power
Saddam was brought to power by the Ba athis party. The Ba athist party is the Arab Communist party. The Saddam Coup took place in 1979 while Jimmy Carter was President.
Ba aathist Party
The Arabic word Ba'ath means "renaissance" or "resurrection" as in the party’s founder Michel Aflaq’s published works "On The Way Of Resurrection". Ba'thist beliefs combine Arab Socialism, nationalism, and Pan-Arabism. The mostly secular ideology often contrasts with that of other Arab governments in the Middle East, which sometimes tend to have leanings towards Islamism and theocracy.
Inspired by a German social democrat slogan [2], the motto of the Party is "Unity, Freedom, Socialism" (in Arabic wahda, hurriya, ishtirakiya). Unity refers to Arab unity, freedom emphasizes freedom from foreign control and interference in particular, and socialism refers to what has been termed Arab Socialism rather than to Marxism.
Myth because Saddam shook Rumsfelds hand he was close to him.
Here are some much closer buddy buddy freinds of Saddam
