I see they finally got around to hanging Chemical Ali. Ali Hassan al-Majid was the Iraqi official in charge of the gas attacks on the Kurds in 1987-88. These were a series of gruesome atrocities that only began to disturb the Washington Establishment in 1990 after Saddam gobbled up more of Kuwait than we had authorized. At the time of the attacks, particularly the main attack at Halabja, our official response was to try to blame Iran and soften the U.N.’s condemnatory language. Saddam was the enemy of our enemy until he rolled his tanks into Kuwait City and messed with Poppy Bush’s princely friends there. Ever since Saddam made that mistake, we’ve been paying the price for letting it happen in the first place. Before we needed a Zarqawi, we needed a Chemical Ali. Now, they’re both dead…no longer needed as part of our official propaganda war. The terrorists are dead, long live the terrorists.
I hope Kuwait is really enjoying that democracy we saved for them. Because everything that came after (WTC bombing, Embassy Bombings, USS Cole, 9/11, the war in Afghanistan, the second Persian Gulf War, the underwear bomber) were all direct consequences of April Glaspie getting stupid, immoral instructions. It’s not the only reason we face terrorism, but it’s the main one.
