Saddam Hussein's secret tapes: Author reveals never-before known details about the Iraqi dictator

Steve Coll, author of "The Achilles Trap," talks to CNN's Christiane Amanpour about what Saddam Hussein misunderstood about America ahead of the 2003 invasion. #CNN #News

[@uchennaabosi7651]

It's not a blunder madam, it was a crime.

[@user-yn8jy1lt6q]

Basic moral facts are not allowed on CNN.

[@sinner186951]

Both blunder and crime.

[@abulkalammusthafa]

worst war crime

[@user-yn8jy1lt6q]

@@sinner186951 Which part was a blunder? What was the mistake?

[@Muz889]

And it wasn't a war. It was an invasion

[@moremidimetri3554]

If he had those weapons, American will never attack. He never did. They knew at the time.

[@SomeMan001]

It was to steal the gold of Iraq as we all saw the photos of US soldiers with huge piles of Iraqi gold.

[@CaDzA818]

They don't care, it was just about taking resources.

[@bigtimepimpin666]

​@@SomeMan001yes, the US spent 20 billion dollars to get 20 million worth of gold bars... did your parents have any children that lived???

[@lqr824]

@@bigtimepimpin666 The total cost of the war was more like $1 trillion. $1,000 billion.

[@lqr824]

@@SomeMan001 > It was to steal the gold of Iraq as we all saw the photos of US soldiers with huge piles of Iraqi gold. Could you share a link? I've never seen such photos.

[@user-rn4kr5iv2p]

not a blunder, but a crime and you were complicit

[@Tech.Library]

Iraq should sue the U. S at international court and claim for $100 trillion compensation

[@zeek765]

And claimed back : OIL and Gold !!!!!!

[@KAAN_TR]

You can’t sue usa at international court

[@alancantu2557]

It’s 2024 and you still believe in international institutions’ ability to enforce anything? 🤣

[@thealhayy]

Like ICJ will listen to them. Oh come on buddy

[@bucktis9]

When criticism of Israel upsets some people more than the genocide of 30,000 innocent civilians ~ Being lost for words is an understatement ~

[@Stevef2022]

How many Hamas and Islamic Jihad militants are dead along the 30,000?

[@elizabethflynr7561]

And how! People getting nuttier and nuttier! Thanks for your reasonable , sane and thoughtful comment!

[@SouthsideEnglewoods]

Right

[@Stevef2022]

How many Hamas and Islamic Jihad militants are among the 30,000 dead in Gaza?

[@Stevef2022]

What is the ratio of Hamas & Islamic Jihad militants compared to civilians who have died in Gaza?

[@Touchlineteaser]

“He deceives, he delays, he denies.” Sounds like he could be talking about any US president.

[@EddieEads]

The irony 🤣

[@I_Have_The_Most_Japanese_Music]

Says a Russian government propaganda worker.

[@Summitic]

US intelligence helped Saddam's Ba`ath Party seize power for the first time in 1963. Evidence suggests that Saddam was on the CIA payroll as early as 1959, when he participated in a failed assassination attempt against Iraqi strongman Abd al-Karim Qassem. ... In the 1980s, the US and Britain backed Saddam in the war against Iran, giving Iraq arms, money, satellite intelligence, and even chemical & bio-weapon precursors. As many as 90 US military advisors supported Iraqi forces and helped pick targets for Iraqi air and missile attacks. More than 60 US Defense Intelligence Agency officers provided combat planning assistance.... Saddam was a CIA and MI6 Project !

[@janetmccusker9185]

We all knew who was in power then it was baby Bush and daddy bush

[@seanrowshandel1680]

Nobody "saves" w3apons "for later". So it's clear what was going on, but I just don't understand why anyone cared. It seems like The Bad Kids got paranoid and incited the anger of foreigners and even Iranians. It's all a bunch of nonsense that stemmed from bad education. Naturally it led to war. Teachers define "neutrality". People listen to wives' tales too much (because their unmarried mom won't stop repeating them), and THAT'S why the war took so long: if it's hard to tell when you're being rebellious and when you're not, you better go off to war and never be seen again (just kidding, I'm a teacher after all, aren't I? I couldn't say such a thing.).

[@sufiahmed100]

They lied, it was about Oil.

[@carolinemuoio8304]

Israel wanted the war

[@user-eu5ji8og6b]

um you really don't know? The WMD plot was hoax to get Saddam out of power after he invaded Kuwait If you were right and it was about oil which is is not then that mean you consumed the oil and are the real perp lol

[@zeek765]

And GOLD !!!

[@sufiahmed100]

Correct 👍

[@alancantu2557]

No it wasn’t. It was for Israel’s protection. Had it been about securing oil, it would’ve been perhaps worth it, even though most of our oil was already coming from a secure Saudi Arabia. Look up the Clean Break Memo for more info. Written by fierce Zionist Jewish think tank policy makers Richard Perle, David Wurmser, and Douglas Feith, the memo was composed for Netanyahu in 1996 and it outlines the top priorities for securing Israeli interests in the 21st century. The gist of the paper was that it suggested Iraq, Syria, and Iran be invaded and toppled IN THAT ORDER. The craziest part? All 3 authors of the Clean Break Memo ended up serving in the Bush admin and overseeing the invasion of Iraq. Then, of course, the civil war in Syria started with heavy US/Israeli involvement, and now they are trying to topple Iran. Don’t make it any more complicated than it needs to be. It’s not about oil. It’s not about democracy or human rights, especially because the US explicitly supported Saddam in the 80s. The US didn’t suddenly have a change of heart and become enlightened. It’s about protecting Israel. Simple as that.

[@pa7447]

He possessed the 3rd largest reserves of oil in the world That was the real reason. It's like the reason why someone moves a pro football team to another city.

[@ShootRapids]

And after war China was the biggest oil trade partner for Iraq… sorry to ruin your theory 😅

[@thewolfofswingthat2035]

@@ShootRapids China bought it from exxonmobil. Exxon was the one that profited from the contracts to drill the oil. China got the oil but they have to pay for it, in USD.

[@ryancasey919]

Should have been called “Operation Iraqi Liberation” (O.I.L) I recently watched the video of troops chaotically taking down his statue. It’s so embarrassing now. I cringed and face palmed. A bunch of cowboys making a huge mess of things.

[@markokrompic]

​@@ShootRapidsSo no oil from Iraq is coming to US?And no other country in the world is forced to buy Iraq oil and not to buy Russian oil?You should inform yourself what US ambassadors are doing around the world and how they are pushing sovereign leaders to do what they want and how US world dominance is functioning.But hey which American knows what each senator is doing inside US and what is each of 200 amabasors doing in each county.

[@user-bs3vs2dm8b]

Saddams son Uday he was guilty of rape, murder, and torture of little girls

[@basfarissah8004]

The blood of innocent civilians who perished during the US unjustified invasion of Iraq will always be on George Bush's hands and will haunt him until his final breath.😢😢😢

[@aljay2955]

I doubt he even thinks about it but I remember when the US started that war and told myself "this is wrong there is no justification for this invasion."

[@dwizzle2132]

does saddam have any blood on his hands from his killings of civilians?

[@friendship9904]

​@@dwizzle2132did sudden Hassan hired Isis and didn't forget sudden Hassan was hired by the USA and Israel he worked for G W bush for a long time

[@richarde6817]

Yes he has...

[@get2dachoppa249]

No, they won't.

[@johnjonathan7312]

U knew, Iraqis knew, the whole world knew that Iraq doesn't have it. It was never about these weapons

[@ryancasey919]

Release the tapes, please!

[@lordchaa1598]

This piece is 20 years to late unfortunately. I’ll never forgive our government and certain citizens for the way they treated anyone who was anti Iraq War at the time. I lost so many friends over there, all for a petulant child coming in and finishing what his father failed to do.

[@lordchaa1598]

Our generation was deemed expendable. All so the US could go in and protect and take Iraqs Oil and Oil refineries.

[@aljay2955]

No actually the Democrat party railed against Bush Sr because they created a false story for political purposes that he should have gone into Iraq. They never stopped using it as a political tool. Then when Bush Jr was elected he did go into Iraq because of the Democrat BS about his father. I remember it like it was yesterday.

[@zaprowsdower9471]

"I’ll never forgive our government and certain citizens for the way they treated anyone who was anti Iraq War" Recall the treatment Janeane Garofalo received at the hands of the war obsessed right wing? How she was mercilessly mocked and ridiculed for even suggesting that "hey, hold on a second, maybe dropping bombs on innocent people and invading the wrong country isn't such a great idea after all?" GWB admin was an unparalleled epic disaster. Imagine the pain, death, suffering that could have been averted were Al Gore pres. The Iraq war is what happens when your country is tricked into handing the reigns of power over to a developmentally disabled drunken frat-boy

[@babupasha3491]

Without Satan's involved no war's

[@janetmccusker9185]

Absolutely right that's what they did it was all about money and our guys died for them doing that it was wrong Annie wars wrong we have not learned our lesson yet we should never buy any circumstances listen to a idiot president like Donald Trump to go to war for that piece of s*** because that's what he wants to do when he gets in the office

[@TimelessTyranny]

I'm 64 yrs old. I remember one time on the news before Saddam invaded Kuwait, there was a news broadcast that showed a female member of bushes cabinet met with Saddam, and he asked point-blank if I invade Kuwait will the USA interfere, and he was told NO! It never aired again but was on one of the major news broadcast's at the time.

[@pjc87guy]

Haliburton was given control over Iraq before war was declared, and the newspaper article on it was buried way back in the paper, and so it goes.

[@mandarinandthetenrings2201]

You don't understand since the 1960's the American CIA laid out a "white paper" who was long term threat in Middle East. It was non-secular "Ba'ath" because of their education system and ability to maintain large western armies.

[@mandarinandthetenrings2201]

So Nassar of Egypt is mysteriously assassinated. George W. Bush invades Iraq and take out Saddam Hussain why? It was believe even before the Iran/Iraq ended that he would invade the Southern Arab kingdoms. Then the west joins in the Syria Civil War to break apart al-Assad's Ba'ath party. If you look at what has happen the American CIA has gotten it's way and in removing the "Ba'ath party" in the Middle East.

[@lukkyluciano]

amazing how you twist this story. But so have many people over the years to make Miss Glaspie a scapegoat. She may have given an opinion she should not have but she didnt say anything close to what you say. #1 she was not a cabinet member, she was the US Ambassador to Iraq speaking to the President of Iraq. A Cabinet member would know exactly what the President's opinion is, Miss Glaspie, an Ambassador in a country we had relations with for 5 entire years , would not. She reiterated a diplomatic opinion from the 1960s, that US diplomatic staff should express no opinion on Arab-Arab conflicts. Some people see this as her giving a green light but fail to read the next paragraph where she asks his intentions, which he doesnt give a straight answer to. He says Iraq has a right to prosper and lists some grievances, Arab bs. She then MAKES IT CLEAR the US will protect it's interests but doesnt spell out what that means because even Bush didnt know what that meant at that point, clearly she was told to go there and say that when Saddam summoned her. #2 Saddam never mentions he intends to invade Kuwait but by July 1990, a week before he invaded, it was pretty obvious in the same way in retrospect it was clear Russia was going to invade Ukraine, massive troop build ups on the border. Saddam painted Kuwait as the aggressor and says to her after she makes it clear the USA will protect it's interests. Saddam: "We do not ask people not to be concerned when peace is at issue. This is a noble human feeling which we all feel. It is natural for you as a superpower to be concerned. But what we ask is not to express your concern in a way that would make an aggressor believe that he is getting support for his aggression." #3 you can't go back and watch it because it never aired on television, not in Iraq, not here in the US. You never saw what you think you saw. There is no known tape of them talking, if someone taped it, it would of been Saddam himself for his own reasons which is possible I guess but it's never been released. You may have seen her testify to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee a year later after the war ended and repeat what she said but you didnt see footage of April Glaspie speaking to Saddam on on July 25 1990 on any news . The entire transcript is available to read online in many places, but there never was or never will be a tape to confirm what is said. You wont find many television crews in meetings between Ambassadors and Heads of States. Anywhere. Let alone the middle east. Thanks to wikileaks you can read the cable she sent back after the meeting, that we arent supposed to be able to see. It's clear she didnt believe invasion was coming a week later and Bush would need to create a coalition with Arabs in it to expel Iraq from Kuwait. Let's also remember the US won this war handily. Arguably the most successful large-scale military operation the US has ever executed, the only reason people remember her is because what happened later.

[@larsrons7937]

I too saw that broadcast, and it was referred to in the newspapers the next day. I still keep those articles. [Edit] I could have seen it on CNN but I believe it was on BBC World that I saw it. Those two channels were the only international news TV options I had at that time.

[@Ogofor3913]

SOME WAR CRIMINALS LIVING THEIR LIVES LIKE NOTHING HAPPENED. But other with much less crimes are quickly sanctioned or ordered to be arrested for trial.

[@alejandronopasanada5302]

Every time they come out with something, I think of Snowden and Assange.

[@davidhollenshead4892]

@@alejandronopasanada5302 Assange released intelligence which allowed for the "Assets" of the CIA to be identified and eliminated. Colin Powell was right...

[@michaelndungu6303]

Not blunder but crime against humanity

[@MrBassflute]

And my proudest moment as a Canadian came when our Prime Minister at the time, the venerable Jean Chrétien, whom I never actually voted for, stood up to Tony Blair and George Bush and said ‘no’. That took a LOT of guts, for a small country like Canada, whose leaders generally bend over to the US and the UKs every whim and and only ask ‘is this is far enough’? We were not part of this, Chrétien made sure of it, and he was the only one of the three that was right. A great moment in Canadian history.

[@user-sg6nc1is3j]

Nice piece

[@user-sg6nc1is3j]

Nice piece

[@labib1990]

He said Sooory, then no.

[@tradingliveG]

but you guys still arming Israel, different country same shit lol.

[@moos5221]

I remember that in Germany it was official common knowledge at the time that Iraq does NOT possess the weapons of mass destruction that the CIA claimed they had and that the intel provided by the CIA was fake. Sadly nobody cared about what Germany said.

[@antshaq1]

If he said there was no WMDs they would call him a liar

[@davidhollenshead4892]

Saddam had WMD's left over from using them on the Iranians & certain ethic groups in Iraq: The VA Hospital is treating US personnel who had the task of destroying the Iraqi weapon dumps. And yes, they have exposure to the Chemical Agents of Saddam's Chemical Weapons left over from the Iran Iraq war. Unfortunately they were labeled as conventional artillery shells & rockets. American Veterans of the Iraq war wouldn't be dying from exposure to said Chemical Agents if there were only Conventional Munitions in these dumps. Of course if said Chemical Weapons had been deployed as designed and properly maintained these Veterans would have died in Iraq as well as many Iraqi Civilians. The only question is how many of these Chemical Weapons were transferred to Assad in Syria and if any are still buried in the Iraqi desert...

[@asdf-mg7tu]

You accused him using lies, and he refused to deny, the burden of proof was on you not him

[@snakejuce]

It's fascinating the utter disconnect Americans on average seem to have. They can readily admit the IRAQ INVASION WAS/IS a CRIME, yet they'll close their eyes, ears, and hearts when it comes to America aiding and abetting a genocide in Occupied Palestine.

[@salman406]

As an iraqi who was born in iraq in 93's raised and witnessed and experienced the war of 2003! I must say it's the worst as we fall a victim instead we had to pay the price unfortunately. " Iraqi war will scar me for life ".

[@davidhollenshead4892]

I wish that your region had never been under the British & French plan for the former Ottoman Empire. That's when the European Colonialism games started... A few years before you were born, I knew an Iraqi who would buy pharmaceuticals in the US just before or after they expired for cheap. As the Hospitals in Iraqi had nothing on their shelves so these western pharmaceuticals would be used before they actually spoiled... He told me about the children's hospital Saddam named after himself, but that had an empty pharmacy, dirty sheets, etc. He also told me about the people who disappeared thanks to Saddam the Goat Farmer...

[@user-jg1tg4fd2m]

did he just say that Israel conspired with Khomeini against sadam and that Khomeini is a US product . Am I the only one that finds this disturbingly shocking !!

[@Tribuneoftheplebs]

He is saying that is what Saddam thought of Khomenei

[@lymitutit3046]

NO. Sadam thought that Israelis was conspiring with Iran against him.

[@TheCinderellaman10]

Who toppled the Shah of Iran? Who did the US back in Iran to overthrow the Shah? It definitely was the Ayatollah

[@user-jg1tg4fd2m]

the same Ayatollah that is so called the enemy of the United States currently

[@Rudolf_Bottler]

Iran is an absolute ally of the USA in terms of reaching its goals by playing the game

[@user-xx3ov1vg5p]

Bush and Dick Chaney should be in prison for WAR crimes and all the money they made during the war should be given to the fallen and injured soldiers families

[@butdoyou1970]

Absolutely...

[@zahrafahad4380]

What about millions iraqi killed in that war who destroyed Iraqis dams their infrastructure other are animals

[@lucschoesetters4307]

Excuse me. You voted these two lying criminals into office, no indemnities to US citizens, but huge indemnities to their victims, the Iraqi

[@andrewm000]

Why does the Pentagon hold Iraq's historical documents???

[@RedorblueDontcareaboutyou]

We found the tapes but couldn’t find the WMD

[@user-eu5ji8og6b]

everyone knows the WMD plot was just a hoax to get Saddam out of power after he invaded Kuwait Kuwait also kicked out their Palestinians because they helped Saddam

[@davidhollenshead4892]

Saddam had WMD's: The VA Hospital is treating US personnel who had the task of destroying the Iraqi weapon dumps. And yes, they have exposure to the Chemical Agents of Saddam's Chemical Weapons left over from the Iran Iraq war. Unfortunately they were labeled as conventional artillery shells & rockets. American Veterans of the Iraq war wouldn't be dying from exposure to said Chemical Agents if there were only Conventional Munitions in these dumps. Of course if said Chemical Weapons had been deployed as designed and properly maintained these Veterans would have died in Iraq as well as many Iraqi Civilians. The only question is how many of these Chemical Weapons were transferred to Assad in Syria and if any are still buried in the Iraqi desert...

[@CharlesBudde-vx6vi]

Where is the justice for dead American troops? Where is justice for dead Iraqis? Debacle does not even begin to cover it. Moreover, since we know that we will NEVER see justice and the cowards Cheney and Bush will not even deign to apologize for their actions can we publicly agree on the facts here? Can American conservatives (!) have the blunt honesty to admit that they were 100% wrong on this one?

[@kevinjenner9502]

Like most countries the US does not prosecute its own for International crimes.

[@BillyColeII-dr6dk]

@@kevinjenner9502 They could be prosecuted....that's why the U.S. president needs an immunity clause.

[@kevinjenner9502]

The US is not a signatory of the Rome Statute and the ICC. We do not prosecute our own for International crimes…Bush, Cheney,, Obama, Kissinger, CIA, etc.

[@GiftJerome]

Saddan was evil

[@lordchaa1598]

There is a reason Bush and Chaney don’t leave the country often and when they do it’s to places with no extradition policies to the UN courts. They’re considered war criminals throughout the world.

[@DydellRay]

Definitely a war we should have never been in. Imo

[@lymitutit3046]

You were dragged into this war. One of the main sources of information for CIA on that time was MOSAD. Look at the video when Netanyahu in his speech, on the US congress , advocated for the necessity of destroying Iraq. Dick Cheney and Donald Rumsfeld, backed up by the military industry lobby and AIPAC, were the most fervent outspoken persons over the 'wright doing ' of attacking Iraq. They even mislead J.W Bush in his decision making process over this very sensitive subject.

[@dariusburkeofficial]

It was a war crime not a blunder

[@user-qh7rj9wj4p]

Scott ritter did the testing and said NO WMDs . Forget about what saddam said to his generals .

[@_DREBBEL_]

I want to hear every second of these tapes.

[@shahramaziz6575]

trust me not worth wasting ur time. it is like listening to a bunch of old washed-up dudes talking in a coffeeshop

[@fahid3342]

@@shahramaziz6575okay Iranian

[@MrBrock314]

@@shahramaziz6575 Except about things that are actually important instead of what they'd talk about in a coffee shop generally. :)

[@cgall4444]

No One TRUSTScnnCommirs.

[@shahramaziz6575]

@@MrBrock31499% of it is just conspiracy theories/Zionists, talking about his people/country like he is in an alternative reality, talking about how they should support Palestine + his henchmen sucking up to him etc. it get really cringe. I will give you an example, during the 1991 war (when everybody begged him don't Effing do it and retreat but he refused), they are talking about how nobody is helping them (after being hostile to almost all of his neighbors), then they discuss stupid ideas like "we should embarrass Soviets and Algerian so that they would be forced to send some weapons" hahaha If you can stand having grown ass men sucking up to a delusional man living in an alternative reality, it is not that bad :)

[@elizabethflynr7561]

Let’s not for a moment leave Israel out of this horribleness.

[@jon9625]

Oh the puppet trope

[@GiftJerome]

Saddan was evil same as hamas

[@Richard01234]

Is there a area where you me and other nazis can hang out?

[@nerome619]

How could you given your focus?

[@Mr.Monta77]

How about the evil Hamas release the hostages?

[@RoyalBlue292]

George Galloway win again 20yrs later!

[@iconoclast2679]

You understood well before you invaded that there were no WMDs, the invasion was and is a crime of waging aggressive war and war crimes.

[@mnsawmill2904]

The USA is still struggling with credibly both home and abroad from this huge blunder.

[@MrBrock314]

Whatever was left, the US lost during the current Israel-Palestine genocide.

[@mnsawmill2904]

@@MrBrock314 Certainly doesn't help

[@ValeriaMessalina1]

Steve Coll is a revisionist manipulator. Because there was no MISCOMMUNICATION between Nations. Hussein's private diaries are Irrelevant. At the Time Iraq did Gas the Kurds, and Saddam did Float Balloons, and say publicly, to deter U.S.A. that he indeed have WMD's. Today, we see this with Iran announcing they have Houthis, Islamic Brotherhood, Hezbollah, Hamas, etc. In Iran's misdirection. Russia reports their Economy & War products under sanctions are at their best! It is propaganda. This Author falsly reports that Saddam could not call White House & it was all "Miscommunication." Kuwait attack, nor Ukraine attack are matters of Miscommunication! In years, we'll have another Steve Coll, citing tapes of what? Putin lamenting having to invade Georgia, Crimea? What a poor twist from a sham author. A revisionist whou ought never teach History. This is B.S. !

[@federalreservebrown2507]

the blunder being septoneone

[@rumee4u]

"...this huge blunder." - Only one?

[@o2kala649]

And who got punished for lying to the world and the destruction that continues to fold? Nobody!!!

[@castanza128]

Israel. Eventually... Just takes a few more people finding out the truth.

[@Nanaoui]

Don’t worry , hellfire exists for a reason

[@stavorulaalexandridis3351]

Truth teller 👏 👏

[@lehmejoun]

Wait, if there's thousands of hours of records, why were these not presented in court before he got the death sentence?

[@castanza128]

Because it takes a long time to edit out all of the stuff he said about Israel. That's my guess.

[@iainwade]

Because he was charged and convicted for a massacre inside Iraq following an assassination attempt. Nothing to do with wmd or American shenanigans.

[@Superratis]

Because they wanted him gone.

[@Tanzbd123]

@@Superratis Exactly.

[@Hereford1642]

@@iainwade Well, one can only presume that if Saddam was meticulous in keeping such recordings and records then there would be some information relevant to his trial? I agree with another poster. They simply wanted him dead and gone and that was going to happen no matter what.

[@Elatenl]

I'm pretty sure the goverment knew before the invas1on that Sadam did not have WMDs since they straight up made that up and photoshopped images to appear like they had WMDs 😂

[@CannibalCowboy51]

*knew, jackass.😂

[@Vbluevital]

I agree

[@brad3706]

The Bush Admin knew as the Clinton Admin blew up the last of the stockpile. That came out if the 911 report. We let Nixon, Reagan, Bush 1, and Bush II walk which allowed a real live criminal in the office in 2017. As long as there's flag graphics and fake patriotism, Americans are easily duped.

[@obviouslytrollmster1532]

There was a lot of stuff, chemical weapons etc - that wasn't actually the reason behind the war though. Read the new york times report. Saying sadam "did not have wmds" is a gross misinterpretation of everything that happened - How do you think Isis was able to use chemical weapons? They diy made mustard gas? We didn't totally destroy or secure their arsenal - including chemical weapons, and that bit us in the ass years later. We misunderstood the criticality of that decision when enemies used them albeit ineffectively years later. Isis did use chemical weapons and assad still posssess his. The "WMD" lie was based on a kernel of truth, and instead of invading the 5 countries we wanted to we invaded iraq and Afghanistan. The reality is America wanted to INVADE AT LEAST 5 COUNTRIES after 9/11, and they used whatever excuse based on whimsical information to invade Iraq. Bush allowed a cabinet full of special interests to plunge us into an unnecessary conflict when we needed to secure Afghanistan. Overlooking this is akin to repetition of history through failure from learning because we are literally plunging ourselves into multiple conflicts across the world, and the running leader behind "iraq war was bad" mr. Barry obama escalated things so badly we are still embroiled in conflict. BUY HAY ORANGE MAN BAD, CNN MAKE REPUBLICAN LOOK BAD FOR JOE BIDEN & STATE DEPT..WEEEEEEEEE

[@user-dh6bj2me5p]

"knew." Not, "new." Learn very simple words.

[@BSelf1derTrip]

I'm not a Sadam apologist by any means but it sounds like the abuser is blaming the abused for their own violation.😮

[@farahabdulahi474]

It's also a straight-up lie. Revisionism of what happened and blaming it on miscommunication

[@seanrowshandel1680]

Nobody "saves" w3apons "for later". So it's clear what was going on, but I just don't understand why anyone cared. It seems like The Bad Kids got paranoid and incited the anger of foreigners and even Iranians. It's all a bunch of nonsense that stemmed from bad education. Naturally it led to war. Teachers define "neutrality [itself]". People listen to wives' tales too much (because their unmarried mom won't stop repeating them), and THAT'S why the war took so long: if it's hard to tell when you're being rebellious and when you're not, you better go off to war and never be seen again (just kidding, I'm a teacher after all, aren't I? I couldn't say such a thing.). Anyone who willfully decides to use any w3apon IS IN A SORT OF CONTRACT WITH HIMSELF in which it is implied that HE HIMSELF MAY "UN-DECIDE" to use a w3apon... That's the "definition" of a "w3apon". I think there's another word for what dictators force everyone to use (without free will). So weapons don't really GET "saved for later" because "free will" exists, but not everyone understands it because they are uneducated.

[@fan2hd277]

sounds famliliar with Israel...

[@ahmedrasoul6674]

How can we see the full interview?

[@TonyMontana-ks3qh]

It’s truly frightening to know how a combination of appalling assertions/ judgments from political leaders/ governments can fragment the direction of the world’s landscape and its people. So many lives lost from all sides..it’s just tragic…..

[@DominiAeternum]

This wasn't any accident at all. Wake up. It was all intentional.

[@melissaabbott6829]

So interesting. What a tangled web we weave when first we practice to decieve.

[@mandarinandthetenrings2201]

This Bullshit. The CIA released a "white paper" in 1960's that the threat in the Middle East was the "Ba'ath's party" because their non-secular and engineering educational system. This allowed manufacturing within Middle East and poised a threat to the West.

[@mandarinandthetenrings2201]

If you look what has happen since "Nassar" of Egypt was assassinated. Syria Civil War was backed west and destroyed. President George W. Bush went and destroyed Saddam Hussain and made sure the "Ba'ath Party" was destroyed in Iraq. Now Middle East is hopelessly dependent on West for technology even Iran.

[@robertmarley8852]

Welcome to my web said the spider to the fly 👀

[@AbeTheFakeSage]

@@bradh1810that’s the Talmud

[@Godliftsthelow]

interesting but not Interesting at thsame time

[@kevinjenner9502]

International Commission of Jurists in Geneva. “The invasion of Iraq was neither in self defense against armed attack, nor sanctioned by the UN Security Council authorizing the use of force by member states and thus constituted the Crime of War of Aggression”

[@ecurewitz]

Thank you, Captain Obvious

[@Vbluevital]

Absolutely! An illegal US invasion.

[@SalSanchez-dy6cn]

Hmm it's like the gov wants you to take their side

[@evanb4189]

Saddam Hussein was 100x the war criminal compared tl Bush or Cheney. By this standard, you'd support the Iraq War.

[@lecorbusier6791]

Russia making the same mistake with Ukraine. It'll cost them dearly for decades to come

[@markokrompic]

And he was right that it was not about weapons of mass destruction.

[@sajjshahrabi]

"miscommunication" & "misunderstanding" hahahah CNN with a masterful spin!! 😂😂

[@VPrivateVpersonal]

Remember when Nethanyu went on public television and hold up maps showing where Saddam wmd located.

[@robertmarley8852]

Oh yeah he was foaming at the mouth

[@federalreservebrown2507]

I remember 5 dancers getting arrested

[@cazza6944]

Yes and we know he knew full well there were no WMDs

[@VPrivateVpersonal]

@@cazza6944 and yet we are rally behind Israel Netanyahu today. How can we instate Netanyahu as a lead after such lies? Just imagine if we still had T.Blair and G.Bush still running office.

[@sclogse1]

Either it was Newsweek or Time, but when the U.S. moved on Irag, they had a two page spread showing above and below ground in Baghdad by use of an illustration showing what the nuclear weapons storage looked like. (According to someones imagination) If that wasn't advertising, I don't know what is.

[@chozusmakavelli]

who are the people who fabricated the evidence, and why are they not held accountable??

[@rashmigupta9]

Just like Israel presents "evidence" in Gaza.

[@jamiearan]

I think it was the Afghanistan war when they showed an al-Qaeda multilevel bunker complex in the Tora Bora mountains, and it looked like a James Bond villain lair. It was all fake, but I think it reflects the time when people couldn't really fathom that a non-state entity like Al-Qaeda could attack the US. It just to be some well-organised advanced army.

[@jenskarlsson4744]

CNN loved the war in Iraq !!

[@alejandronopasanada5302]

I remember that. I saw it as an idiot and kept going. Then years later I saw it again in a documentary and just couldn’t believe that a serious news outlet was publishing imaginary pictures.

[@adam1st1984]

He didn't want to look weak in front of Iran. France knew he didn't have them. Shame on saudi for letting that go down

[@cazza6944]

Israel knew he did not have them too

[@adam1st1984]

@@cazza6944 taking saddam out benifited them the most...who do you think gave the us the" intel"

[@user-kd1gj4dm9l]

Being a leader means being responsible for others.

[@Blackbriar747]

So long as Dick Cheney wanted this war, there is no amount of misunderstanding to prevent it.

[@luismeza4613]

Dick Cheney was a liar, Saddam Huessein was an idiot…

[@user-dh6bj2me5p]

See "PNAC."

[@rasul407]

That’s why Liz Cheney should never be allowed in office

[@luismeza4613]

@@rasul407 what does Liz have to do with her dad? Just say you love daddy Trump and go 😭😭😭🤣🤣

[@rasul407]

@@luismeza4613 idiot! Hating on Liz doesn’t mean I support Trump 🤦‍♂️ Liz will start a war with Iran or Venezuela wherever the oil is-as long as shes in power

[@dzobie]

Who believed this was a blunder? I'm pretty sure it was a calculated plan to acquire oil....

[@gavinmc5285]

i don't think they knew what they were doing. you can see that they were stumbling around and fumbling and desperately groping for a light switch. if they had actually got their act together they would have secured what they were looking for and we would all be up to date with the latest developments on everything we need to know. as it is we have too many unanswered questions and they keep trying to evade the level of proportionate scrutiny that their adventurism has promoted.

[@dzobie]

@@gavinmc5285 they knew good and well what they were doing. I watched the oil being pumped.

[@castanza128]

Where's the oil, then? No... this was a war for Israel. That's why Saddam launched his scuds at them. Remember?

[@dzobie]

@@castanza128 it obviously didnt go to the US.

[@Rubango]

I need to read this

[@bankergeorge]

They basically gave him the tapes they wanted him hear.

[@seidahmed-kd5er]

You have any tapes of Bush and tony blaires conversation

[@samfisher7953]

Iraqis hung him to please Washington DC, and embraced our democracy. Now look at Iraq. Is it a prosperous nation? The same with Libya and other countries.

[@user-dh6bj2me5p]

Iraq is a puppet state of Iran.

[@puraLusa]

Same with lybia?!?! The lybian generals who killed ghadafi did for themselves, they couldn't care less about usa. Iraqis hanged sadam cause sadam did purges, aka, killed political personalities, making of their familly members enemies, not to please usa. No one around the world save few exceptions does things to please usa, they do it out of their interests.

[@kevinjenner9502]

Vietnam is a successful communist country with a promising future.

[@nicholasmarnitz]

Under Saddam Hussein, Iraq was a concerntration camp above ground and a mass grave underneath it. Hussein's Iraq was marked by numerous human rights abuses, including an estimated 250,000 arbitrary deaths and disappearances. It was a death sentence to own a cell phone or a salletite dish. Today Iraq has elections, a free press, and is at relative peace. There were terrible blunders during the Iraq War, and it went on far too long. But saying "Now look at Iraq" as if it's worse off today, is either not knowing or not caring about facts. Get real.

[@abderahmanrejeb4423]

@@nicholasmarnitz iraq now is a very poor nation, and people are struggling even to get electricity.

[@somedude4652]

Fascinating!! to have lived through these world events and then for the back story to surface

[@backommd]

Complicated, mental health, ... get away words

[@adamd5989]

I want a follow up on this. I also don't mind hearing every second of those tapes.

[@user-op2tx9rk7n]

Bush should be made accountable for his killing!

[@jakeroper1096]

How do you know Saddam wasn’t going to get WMDs and use them eventually? (Like he constantly repeated he was doing)

[@toddlawrence6872]

Saddam was tried and convicted by Iraq not the US. He was a pretty evil guy.

[@kevinjenner9502]

War Criminals Bush and Cheney “Thank god we’re not a signatory to the ICC”. Hague invasion clause

[@kevinjenner9502]

UN Secretary General Kofi Annan declared the US invasion of Iraq illegal on Sept 15, 2004.

[@nobs997]

By who? Social media court of public opinion?

[@tyhughs9619]

I saw a top secret report that said he always had diarrhea

[@ghostirq]

This dude really said he started a war with Iran unprovoked when Khomeini started that war and dragged it for 8 years

[@andyroo9381]

I wish this interview could go on for more time.

[@adandylife329]

I'm ordering the book!

[@elizabethflynr7561]

When you have one egotistical sociopath going against another, you have only tragedy. U.S. please come to your senses before it’s too late!

[@ghostirq]

Who is the egotistical sociopath?

[@FrequencyHorizon]

For some reason, I thought this said "Saddam Hussein's secret recipes" and now I'm crestfallen :(

[@Kiwiadventurerandoverlander]

US needs to focus on its domestic policy rather than worry about or focus on foreign policy

[@k-unitylo5897]

Our Government knew. Hold Bush and his committee accountable, don't let old age take him like it did for Kissinger.

[@toms.7913]

Very interesting discussion.

[@grantbattison7948]

Fascinating!

[@MidwestCoupe]

And yet here we are doing the same thing today , as back then.

[@kuchojoe500]

They killed Saddam and Libya's Gaddafi just for the safety and Israel but today middle eastern group fighting Israel

[@Dan-nx9zn]

You clearly do not know history

[@asharahmad1068]

​@@Dan-nx9znwell if you know about aipac the more you will know us policies. Saddam Gaddafi and king Faisal they all had one thing in common. All of them were nightmare of Israel

[@Dan-nx9zn]

@asharahmad1068 israel has always been a close ally of the US they are our one ally in a region that hates us. It makes sense strategically to keep at least one ally in region

[@Dan-nx9zn]

@asharahmad1068 the thing they had in common is they are muslim and Muslims hate jews so it makes sense they had that in common

[@egarza9241]

“He[Trump] said, Hitler did some good things”: Ex-chief John Kelly says Trump praised Hitler

[@QuantumOfSolace1]

Ridiculous and dumb

[@puraLusa]

The topic is the 2 george's and sadam U: need to coment on trump Me: dude, usa has nasa cause hitler had a science program which developed the basis for the invention of rockets. Yup, the same crazy ass racist scum. Same with stalin and it's space program, it gave knowlege of space to the world meanwhile causing the havok we know still persists in central asia and east europe. Conclusion: even the worst dictators can achieve 1 good thing and 1000 bad stuff.

[@sclogse1]

” Former White House chief of staff, retired Marine Gen. John Kelly, said, "President Trump is the most flawed person I've ever known. The depths of his dishonesty is just astounding to me. The dishonesty, the transactional nature of every relationship, though it's more pathetic than anything else. He is the most flawed person I have ever met in my life," Gary Cohn, Trump's chief economic advisor, said, "It's worse than you can imagine. An idiot surrounded by clowns. Trump won't read anything--not one-page memos, not the brief policy papers; nothing. He gets up halfway through meetings with world leaders because he is bored. And his staff is no better. Kushner is an entitled baby who knows nothing. Bannon is an arrogant prick who thinks he's smarter than he is. Trump is less a person than a collection of terrible traits. No one will survive the first year but his family. I hate the work, but feel I need to stay because I'm the only person there with a clue what he's doing. The reason so few jobs have been filled is that they only accept people who pass ridiculous purity tests, even for midlevel policy-making jobs where the people will never see the light of day. I am in a constant state of shock and horror."

[@halfmoon5]

Very excited to read the book

[@am_ma]

That was not what is it about for the second Gulf war . Read a book called I think " Memoir of Economical Assassin".

[@jamesswanson4391]

He was right tho, the U.S. knew he didn't have WMDs - hence the Colin Powell magic vial of mystery

[@rogerthat4545]

What about the ones he used on Iran and the Kurds?

[@ecurewitz]

@@rogerthat4545they were destroyed shortly after W stole the election

[@coshyno]

How do you think Iraq built those gas bombs he threw at Iranian civilians ? US gave Iraq the plans to build them. @@rogerthat4545

[@jesan733]

No, the US didn't know. It fooled itself, much like Russia has e.g. fooled itself Ukraine consists of nazis. The top kindof orders its apparatus to find more evidence of a loose idea, and the apparatus proceeds to filter info in such a way that it looks like evidence, and then the top believes it.

[@MrBrock314]

@@rogerthat4545 You mean the gas given to him by the US and the UK to use on Iran? Yes, he used it on the Kurds instead. But let's not pretend he had that gas for good reason and that the UK and US weren't backing war crimes. As specified in this interview, he destroyed all of it in 1991.

[@MA-do9vr]

Thank you Steve Coll for exposing the truth to the world. We need to know the truth so that those we elect to lead are held accountable.

[@jakobthelibrarycard6261]

Fear not. Bush, Blair and all their cronies will never be held to account.

[@davidhollenshead4892]

Saddam had WMD's: The VA Hospital is treating US personnel who had the task of destroying the Iraqi weapon dumps. And yes, they have exposure to the Chemical Agents of Saddam's Chemical Weapons left over from the Iran Iraq war. Unfortunately they were labeled as conventional artillery shells & rockets. American Veterans of the Iraq war wouldn't be dying from exposure to said Chemical Agents if there were only Conventional Munitions in these dumps. Of course if said Chemical Weapons had been deployed as designed and properly maintained these Veterans would have died in Iraq as well as many Iraqi Civilians. The only question is how many of these Chemical Weapons were transferred to Assad in Syria and if any are still buried in the Iraqi desert...

[@asadnama]

6:00 what do you mean by 'khomeni is an American project"?

[@Tpk1976]

WELCOME TO THE CIA STUDIOS 😂😂😂 in collaboration with AIPAC 😂😂😂

[@shigshug8581]

Trump likes dictators....Trump is the American version of Saddam Hussein.

[@seanschisler4287]

Says the person who votes Democrat.

[@rarirover44]

are you riturded😂😂 u just call anybody a dictator while she just said the war was american blunder and he ddnt have weapons! technically usa the world terrorist invading a country

[@Vbluevital]

Trump would be much worse for the US and worldwide.

[@kgosisimanyana]

​@@VbluevitalObama killed more people than Trump though

[@kgosisimanyana]

Between Obama and Trump who killed millions of people😂😂

[@bucktis9]

They used to say Palestinians fight like heroes, now they say heroes fight like Palestinians.”

[@deanl0]

In 20 years they will say the same about the situation now in Palestine

[@johnmorganjr769]

He had detailed overviews of every mine they ever laid.👍

[@anandsharma7430]

Saddam dared challenge the petrodollar. Gaddafi too. Whatever you do, don't challenge the petrodollar if you don't have nukes.

[@JoseSanchez0795]

That's why they are so afraid of China.

[@ChinkataVictoriaOkwudiri]

But then, there was Russia🇷🇺

[@nobs997]

I would keep my regular job and leave conspiracy theories to people who can cook up stories

[@rogerthat4545]

😆 "petro dollar"! Oil price goes down, the dollar remains strong. While the ruble gets flushed down the toilet

[@jesan733]

Sorry, conspiracy theory. No conflict has been about the petrodollar.

[@theantagonizer9835]

The US had no reason to go into Libya, Iraq and maybe Afghanistan.

[@ChronicExcessiveManliness]

Or Vietnam or Korea. The USA has not won a war since...1945. Ironically, the last time we were attacked by a sovereign nation was Pearl Harbor. #Karma?

[@larsrons7937]

Without any weapons of M.D. found and no United Nations resolution the invasion of Iraq can't be justified. Afghanistan on the other hand was a response to Al Qaeda directly attacking the US, and Afghanistan's Taliban regime not working against Al Qaeda but on the contary hosting and to some extent helping them. That should give justification. But certainly not the Iraq invasion.

[@bober1019]

the US are idiots. that is all.

[@gavinmc5285]

L.ibya. I.raq. A.fghanistan. R.egional. fire. fight.

[@asharahmad1068]

​@@larsrons7937nope Afghanistan invasion was also not justified. In Afghanistan usa only killed civilians and made them poor drug addicts. Now look at Afghanistan no mass shootings even though everyone has guns, sharp decline in drug addictions and corruption, increase value of their currency etc etc

[@SpazzyMcGee1337]

Very interesting. This makes more sense than any of the other their out there

[@radhawe]

And how could you understand these records?

[@adrianacanavati8212]

Ask Collin Powell

[@kevinjenner9502]

Powell was provided with CIA lies and fabrications prior to his UN presentation.

[@meenakshighosh8584]

Dead is he

[@YanPutrisuryo]

In his grave???

[@ThanatosSK]

You're gonna need a Ouija board connection to hell for that.

[@salman406]

He might still has the MDW samples! Could ran another forensic test perhaps might work this time considering using an AI. pfffft USA is just full of shit

[@hollylynn8619]

We went to war over control of his oil.

[@gavinmc5285]

wmd - get with the program

[@cazza6944]

Still controlling and stealing Syrian oil

[@curious493]

He held the oil, he stood up to Bibi, he had to go. In simple terms.

[@RamosCristobalChavez]

Good Analyse

[@samanthaw4955]

Say no to war. Stop the normalcy of endless wars. Walking from one to another helps who exactly?🤔✌️

[@jm9371]

Fantastic insight.

[@elpablitorodriguezharrera]

I think the world has already know all of that, the problem is that nobody can change that

[@davidmathews9633]

Just remember one thing. Saddam's own people. His own country carried out his execution

[@Uliengue]

Analytical mystake? They lied.

[@ecurewitz]

It was w wanted that war, and was hell bent on getting it

[@jesan733]

No, it was mostly an analytical mistake. It was created by a form of bias and unsound incentives, but still.

[@nobs997]

He serves as a reminder that cowboy mentality is still alive and well despite 'civilization'

[@ammaroda9409]

Why not just admit that it was Netanyahu demand to invade and destroy Iraq?

[@user-ct6pv4nc5s]

А почему вы считаете, что США развязала войну только в Ираке А война в Югославии, а война в Сирии в Вьетнаме Ливии Украине

[@richarde6817]

Because they wewe stupid ..

[@nathanbanks2354]

It's pretty obvious that the US started the war with Iraq and Afghanistan. Ukraine & Georgia wanted to join NATO, so Russia invaded them--with an active border dispute they can't join. Armenia joined the CSTO instead, but no one seems to be helping them fight Azerbaijan, so it's understandable that Georgia & Ukraine (& Finland, Estonia, etc) would prefer NATO.

[@burntorangehorn]

I can't wait to hear your logic on this. Russians will blame Ukraine for anything.

[@burntorangehorn]

Yeah, blame the USA for the war in Ukraine. 🙄

[@mediawired]

In a decade or so, the truth behind the war in Ukraine may be uncovered, but no politician will accept responsibility for their mistakes. Many people will pay the ultimate price, including their own lives, while politicians remain unaccountable.

[@sadragon76]

I cried whatching this

[@Survival.Institute]

That wasn't just blunder, rather perpetual Crimes Against Humanity. And those crimes along with their blunders are continued till today.

[@johnnylafayette]

Wasn't a misunderstanding. Was about oi)oil oil

[@Dan-nx9zn]

We never took oil though

[@MrBrock314]

@@Dan-nx9zn Boy, do you misunderstand what oil is in that case. Oil = money - which the US took lots of in corporate terms. It cost the US government money and it made massive amounts of money for the arms manufacturers and the companies that exploited Iraqi oil and the war like Haliburton. There was no shortage of money made in the war, it just went to US private corporations, as intended.

[@puraLusa]

Biggest myth. Usa has partial control over oil market thru pricing, it doesn't need to be fiscally be present in an oil drill site. The part where usa has less control over is in the refined oil marker, that's opec who has partial control. If tomorrow oil stoped being used, usa would be just fine, other parts of the world not so much.

[@wamingo]

For Bush it wasn't about oil. It was about beating up on America's enemies post 9/11, disarming a terrorist sympathizer / financier, and bringing democracy to the ME. But believing it was just about oil, is simpler, of course.

[@PetriTemiseva]

​@@Dan-nx9znHow many billions were paid to Haliburton? In which company Dick Cheney worked before becoming Vice-President?