I recommend this article as a prelude to a new book to be published in March.
"Cobra II: The Inside Story of the Invasion and Occupation of Iraq" will be published in March by Pantheon Books in the United States and by Atlantic Books in Britain. It was written by Michael R. Gordon and Bernard E. Trainor, a retired lieutenant general of the U.S. Marines and a former military correspondent for The New York Times.
I am sure that most can guess why the Germans were reluctant to support the war openly, yet quietly provide intelligence to the U.S. military.
The fear of what happened in France late last year, was in fact, a distinct possibility in Germany, as well. The Muslim population has swelled greatly since I lived there and I do not imagine that the German government wanted to deal with that kind of fallout, if there was any way to prevent it. In addition, the enormous number of leftists that supported Schroeder would have had a cow if they had only known this prior to the recent German elections.
But the fact that this information is now coming to light also tells me that some how, some way, they knew the German was Saddam was enough of a significant risk, if not removed.
2 comments:
Germany shares common values and interests with the US, though it did not send troops to Iraq. This article is worth to get much attention.
I suspect there was some "quiet" help from other countries. Did France reject B2 bombers from Britain to fly over its territory? Though De Villepain was a vehement critic the Iraq War, France did not prevent the Coalition once the war broke out. It is possible that France did some kind of secret help to the US-led forces.
Turkey might have done some help. It did not allow the coalition to use air force bases, but could have aided some secret activities in northern Iraq.
Shah,
I suspect you are right. When Bush told Anericans that many countries would be helping in a quiet and covert manner, we all surmised that he meant Arab countries. We may now be finding out that not only did he mean them, he meant some European countries, as well.
Good point, sir. Thanks for your input, it is greatly valued here.
Post a Comment