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Iraq - the missing question

The question that will not be asked as part of the Chilcott Inquiry is why the rules of engagement in the southern no-fly zone were not changed to be the same as the northern no-fly zone.

Had they done this to protect the Shi'a in the south from Ba'th oppression (which was the situation in the North) then the Shi'a could have taken control.

The answer I found at the time was that the State Department did not want Iranian sympathisers to take control of the South.

However, had that happened then Saddam Hussain would have lost control of the revenue of the country as the Kurds would have controlled the North (as they did) and the Shi'a the South.

Comments

Jock Coats said…
John, this was exactly what the neo-con "Project for a New American Century" were proposing in letters and briefings to the Whitehouse and the Hill between 1996 and c 2000. I thought at the time it sounded like a remarkably good idea from such a hawkish group and I never really understood why it was not taken up seriously. They thought it would only be threee or four years at the outside by which time south and north would be sufficiently secure to be able to oust Saddam.
1:14 pm
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