Friday, June 25, 2004
A Very Alarming Story, If True
This item has been bouncing around sorta just under the waterline for a couple of days now. (Melanie I believe had it, and it's been cited in Billmon's comment thread.)
It comes to us via Asia Times, a paper I know little about. It appears to be based in Hong Kong and cover primarily business matters.
The fact of the matter is (I hope you have read the whole thing at this point) this story is almost too perfect. It reads like a damn Tom Clancy book in fact, and I say that with great respect because I like Tom Clancy books.
Trying to Google the author I wasn't able to find much. Alix seems to have written from some of the nastier trouble spots in the world, but not many from the same ones. Of course he/she seems to write mostly in French, which I read almost as poorly as Google translates, so I could be missing something.
Possibilities include: (1) Every word of this story is completely true (2) parts of it are true (let's say the statements by the interviewees) while others, like the dramatic trip to get to the interview, are fabricated to some degree, possibly at the insistance of the interviewees to (3) it's all fabrication and fabulation, an elaborate attempt to get somebody a movie deal or book contract, or at least to promote a writing career.
Taken at face value it explains a lot. If either (1) or (2) turns out to be accurate at all, our people had better be looking VERY hard at the possible routes out of the country. And be prepared to abandon their baggage.
It comes to us via Asia Times, a paper I know little about. It appears to be based in Hong Kong and cover primarily business matters.
By Alix de la Grange
BAGHDAD - On the eve of the so-called transfer of sovereignty to the new Iraqi caretaker government on June 30, former Saddam Hussein generals turned members of the elite of the Iraqi resistance movement have abandoned their clandestine positions for a while to explain their version of events and talk about their plans. According to these Ba'ath officials, "the big battle" in Iraq is yet to take place.
"The Americans have prepared the war, we have prepared the post-war. And the transfer of power on June 30 will not change anything regarding our objectives. This new provisional government appointed by the Americans has no legitimacy in our eyes. They are nothing but puppets."
Why have these former officers waited so long to come out of their closets? "Because today we are sure we're going to win."
The fact of the matter is (I hope you have read the whole thing at this point) this story is almost too perfect. It reads like a damn Tom Clancy book in fact, and I say that with great respect because I like Tom Clancy books.
Trying to Google the author I wasn't able to find much. Alix seems to have written from some of the nastier trouble spots in the world, but not many from the same ones. Of course he/she seems to write mostly in French, which I read almost as poorly as Google translates, so I could be missing something.
Possibilities include: (1) Every word of this story is completely true (2) parts of it are true (let's say the statements by the interviewees) while others, like the dramatic trip to get to the interview, are fabricated to some degree, possibly at the insistance of the interviewees to (3) it's all fabrication and fabulation, an elaborate attempt to get somebody a movie deal or book contract, or at least to promote a writing career.
Taken at face value it explains a lot. If either (1) or (2) turns out to be accurate at all, our people had better be looking VERY hard at the possible routes out of the country. And be prepared to abandon their baggage.
