We also know that the intention to invade Iraq existed long before 9/11 and that this intention was based on imperial design, not concerned with Saddam’s wickedness. Professor David Ray Griffin, 9/11 Fraud
Gideon Polya who is an expert on these matters and has tracked very carefully the deaths in Afghanistan and Iraq said they’re much higher than official reports let on ... As a result of the invasion and the resulting shortage of food and water and various things, from all the factors, then something close to seven million people he concluded have been killed ... We are responsible for a carnage there, and destroying so many families. Professor David Ray Griffin, interview Guns and Butter 7th January 2009
Part of the problem was that people didn’t want the analytic process because they’d be shown up. Their assumptions would be counter-factual. And that doesn’t make anyone look good. You can’t fix a policy if you don’t admit it’s broken. Richard A Clarke, former White House Intelligence Chief
The President in a very intimidating way left us, me and my staff with the clear indication that he wanted us to come back with the word that there was an Iraqi hand behind 9/11 because they had been planning to do something about Iraq from before the time they came into office. Richard Clarke, White House Security advisor
The apparent paralysis of the American command. The absolute lack of understanding of what’s happening or any effort to get it under control. Colonel Thomas X Hammes, counterinsurgency advisor CPA retired
That’s the way they saw me, as a troublemaker, a skunk at the picnic. But it was the most absolutely blatant disregard for the federal procurement law and the process that I have ever seen. Bunny Greenhouse, former US Army procurement executive
Despite those images this remains one of the least well-covered conflicts of the modern television age. So why is it we are profoundly disconnected from the real Iraq? Jon Snow, Iraq: The Hidden Story, Channel 4 2008
In this oil-rich country, petrol is hard to come by and dangerous to buy. ibid.
In 1991 the small Arab state of Kuwait was at the centre of the last major war of the 20th Century. Saddam Hussein’s Iraq had invaded Kuwait, putting nearly half the world’s oil within his reach. Virtually everyone agreed: he had to be stopped. Peter and Dan Snow 20th Century Battlefields s1e8: 1991 Gulf War, BBC 2013
In the early hours of August 2nd 1990, Iraq’s army shocked the world by invading its neighbour Kuwait. ibid.
One of the biggest deployments of troops since World War II was underway. ibid.
Operation Desert Storm had begun. ibid.
America went to war against Iraq based on a lie. We were told in 2002 that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction – the previous administration even pursued torture to try to extract false confessions to try to justify the war. It’s time to tell the truth. The truth is we should not have prosecuted a war against Iraqi people. The truth is the Democratic Senate could have stopped the Iraq War in 2002 ... Get out of Iraq! Get out of Afghanistan! Come home, America! Come home! Dennis Kucinich, address to Congress 14th May 2009
A war shouldn’t be an opportunity for some people to get rich while our young men and women are making sometimes the ultimate sacrifice of their lives. Henry Waxman, House Oversight Committee chairman
They did not bring democracy to Iraq. They spread violence and chaos and they’ve left behind only rubble. Iraq restaurant owner near Basra, interview
In the run up to the war in Iraq the failure of mainstream news organisations to raise legitimate questions about the government’s rush to war was compounded by the network’s deliberate decision to stress military perspectives before any fighting had begun. War Made Easy: How Presidents & Pundits Keep Spinning Us to Death, 2007
During World War I 10% of all casualties were civilians ... In the war in Iraq civilians account for 90% of all deaths. ibid.
Oil: that was the reason for the first Gulf War in 1991. Oil: that is the reason before all American foreign policy since World War II. Howard Zinn, Liberty Bound, 2004
Remember this? Everyone believed this story. But there were no babies thrown on the floor. This woman turned out to be the daughter of the Kuwaiti ambassador. And coached by their PR firm to tell this story. Liberty Bound, 2004
Our men and women are coming back and being abandoned by the same government that says it is supporting the troops. And people are waiting months, people are waiting over a year for necessary medical or physical care because of the things they did, because of the things they saw in Iraq. Kelly Dougherty, US Army National Guard sergeant, Military Families Protest, Fayetteville, 2005, cited The Ground Truth: After the Killing Ends
We knew that every day that if a vehicle broke down we would have to destroy it. And these are maybe $80,000 vehicles, maybe $100,000 vehicles. They’re expensive trucks. Kelly Dougherty
There was nothing honourable about what we did. Male soldier, interview The Ground Truth: After the Killing Ends
Why do they need a H2 Hummer? Why do they have Cadillac Escalades in Iraq for Halliburton managers? What is the purpose? Ben Carter, former water purification specialist
Contracts were negotiated fast and furiously. Sums were paid, contractors went about their business. But there was very poor oversight of the performance in those contracts. Frank Willis, senior member of Coalition authority
We were known to have played football with some of the bricks of hundred dollar bills. Frank Willis
These were just wastelands. General David Petraeus, commander multinational force
In 2004 one of the producers of this film had a series of meetings with Raghad Hussein, eldest daughter of Saddam Hussein. Raghad’s story, along with those of other eyewitnesses, inspired this film. Saddam’s Tribe, Channel 4 2007
Where did it all go wrong? Oh my father. Raghad
It’s not always easy for a child of such an extraordinary man to step out from his shadow. ibid.
Saddam to child: Nothing is more important than family. Remember that. ibid.
Positions of great responsibility were given to the men of the tribe. ibid. Raghad
Jealousy is the curse of tribal people. ibid.
People with a clear conscience have nothing to be scared of. ibid. Saddam
He was surrounded by dogs. Dogs that got bigger and greedier every day. ibid. Raghad
With the madness of Baghdad behind us I thought all I needed was a few days to convince Hussein to see sense. ibid.
I found myself in the eye of an international storm. ibid.
Iraq needs me. I am the only one who can unite the tribes. ibid. Hussein
I was caught between two fires: the fire of my husband and the fire of my father. ibid. Raghad
The Jordanians refused to hand us over. ibid.
He needed me: whatever the circumstances I would stand by my husband. ibid.
My husband’s defection had almost brought down the government. ibid.
My father always said that his regime was not a monarchy. But we all understood that Uday was his heir apparent. And my son the next in line. ibid.
We would never see each other again. As the first bombs fell I fled Baghdad with my sister Rana and our children. We barely escaped with our lives. ibid.
They talked about him as though he were a monster. But all I saw was my father looking old and alone. ibid.
Many people are surprised that I stood up for my father. That I chose to defend him. Now they call me Little Saddam. But I am my father’s daughter. ibid.
In my book these men are the unsung heroes of our time. Ken Loach, Route Irish 2010 Cannes Film Festival, starring Mark Womack & Andrea Lowe & John Bishop & Geoff Bell & Jack Fortune & Talib Rasool & Craig Lundberg & Trevor Williams & Russel Anderson & Stephen Lord et al, director Ken Loach, Haynes’ eulogy for Frankie