[Stuart W]

Originally Posted by Damien

I supported the war but we where very wrong not to get involved 10 years ago the irai war was critised for other reasons and the bbc showed both sides

We DID get involved (and it was around 10 years ago) Worse than that, we helped put our new trusted friend Saddam Hussain in power.

History being what it is... anyone remember a place called Mesopotamia?....

THE FOREIGN OFFICE, 2002.
Junior: Remind me again why weâ₠¬ÃƒÂ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ã‚¢re invading.
Minister: Because it is our sacred duty to liberate the population from, what did Jack Straw call it? †œOne of the most vicious and evil regimes in the history of mankindââ‚à ‚¬Ã‚ÂÂ�.
Junior: Yes itâ₠¬ÃƒÂ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ã‚¢s Saddam Hussein, but didnââ‚ ¬Ã¢â€žÂ¢t he use to be our ally?
Minister: Well I mean there was a time when he was the bulwark of stability against the fanatics of Iran, but weâ₠¬ÃƒÂ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ã‚¢ve got to forget all about that.
Junior: Of course. Heâ₠¬ÃƒÂ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ã‚¢s a threat to our oil supplies..
Minister: How many times do I have to tell you Tristram this has got nothing whatsoever to do with oil.
Junior: Sorry yes. So this is an historic moment then?
Minister: It certainly is. Nothing like this has ever happened before....................

OR HAS IT???

THE FOREIGN OFFICE 1917.
Junior: Remind me again why weâ₠¬ÃƒÂ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ã‚¢re invading.
Minister: Because it is our sacred duty to liberate the population from one of the most vicious and evil regimes in the history of mankind.
Junior: Oh you mean the Turks? But didnâ₠¬Ã¢â€žÂ¢t they use to be our allies?
Minister: Well thee was a time of course when the Turks were a bulwark of stability against the Russian Empire, but we have to forget about all that.
Junior: And of course theyââ‚ ¬Ã¢â€žÂ¢ve just discovered oil there havenââ‚ƚ¬Ã¢â€žÂ¢t they?
Minister: This has nothing whatsoever to do with oil.
Junior: But itâ₠¬ÃƒÂ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ã‚¢s an enormous country.
Minister: Yes of course it isnââ‚Âà ‚¬ÃƒÂ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ã‚¢t a country at all is it, just a lot of mud and sand and mountains. But weââ‚ ¬ÃƒÂ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ã‚¢ll make it a country.
Junior: Are we going to invent a whole new country?
Minister: Yes, we often do that in the British Empire. Havenââ‚ƚ¬Ã¢â€žÂ¢t you ever done it?
Junior: No.
Minister: Well nowââ‚Âà ‚¬ÃƒÂ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ã‚¢s your chance.
Junior: And weâ₠¬ÃƒÂ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ã‚¢ll call it..... It says here Mesopotamia.
Minister: No no no, Mesopotamia takes too long to write. No we need something short and snappy.
Junior: Well anyway, after weâ₠¬ÃƒÂ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ã‚¢ve invaded, it will just be a wreck.
Minister: Yes. What? What did you say?
Junior: It will just be a wreck.
Minister: Ireq. I like the sound of that. Iraq.

And so Iraq was created. By us. The trouble was it had never been a country. Just a collection of tribes. Kurds, Marsh Arabs, Shiites, Sunnis, Turcomans, Jews, Assyrians. Mostly they detested each other, so you would think it would be a tough job for Britain to unite them.
But we did it. Less than 3 years after we took over, they all got together...... to throw us out. That revolt was put down by British troops but the Arab tribesmen and the Kurds kept on causing trouble. How did we deal with that? We all know how Saddam Hussein dealt with it 60 odd years later. He bombed the villages.
So what did we do? We bombed the villages. The RAF had a big airbase at Habbaniya, outside Baghdad, from where they sent lumbering Handley-Page biplanes to blitz them at the first sign of trouble. In fact there didnâ₠¬Ã¢â€žÂ¢t need to be any trouble at all before a place was bombed. Perfectly peaceful villages got the treatment if the tribesmen were thought to be to slow paying their taxes. This was the first systematic bombing of civilians in history. Another gift to a grateful world.
.


Script (C) Rory Bremner - Between Iraq and a hard place.
Irony (C) Historical Fact.