Billmon on a CIA asset.
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August 13, 2004
Billmon: Saddam Lite
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OH yes – let’s not forget another CIA asset – Viet Nam’s Ngo Dinh Diem. The 1954 Geneva Peace accord called for elections in 1956 and unification of the divided country. With American support, Ngo cancelled the elections, knowing full well that Ho Chi Minh would have easily won the presidency. We used Ngo to delay the election of 1956 until? Oh yes, until it didn’t matter. He was murdered in November 1963.
We all know how well that Viet Nam adventure turned out. In case you cannot remember, visit the Wall in Washington and count ’em.
I would advise Allawi to take out some insurance – NOW! Because his time will soon be over. Let’s hope Allawi never has to make a call like this one:
http://vietnam.vassar.edu/~vietnam/doc8.html
Negroponte would protect him? Wouldn’t he?
Posted by: Anonymous | Aug 13 2004 13:10 utc | 1
BUSH: We’ve got a great leader in Prime Minister Allawi. He’s a tough guy who believes in free societies. … And more and more Iraqis are stepping up to do the hard work of bringing these terrorists, these former Baathist and some foreign fighters to justice. Transcript
Allawi was an active supporter of the Iraqi Ba’ath Party in its early days when it was still banned. In 1971 he moved to London in order to continue his medical education. Some have reported this as an exile, but some of Allawi’s old counterparts have claimed that he continued to serve the Baath Party, and the Iraqi secret police, searching out enemies of the regime. During this time he was president of the Iraqi Student Union in Europe. Seymour Hersh quotes former CIA officer Vincent Cannistraro: “[…] Allawi has blood on his hands from his days in London […] he was a paid Mukhabarat agent for the Iraqis, and he was involved in dirty stuff.” A Middle Eastern diplomat confirmed that Allawi was involved with a Mukhabarat “hit team” that killed Baath Party dissenters in Europe. However, he resigned from the Baath party for undisclosed reasons in 1975 Iyad Allawi
Posted by: b | Aug 13 2004 14:00 utc | 2
This whole thing feels like the last hurrah of the pro-occupation guys in Baghdad and the U.S.
If they don’t have the political capital to rout Al-Sadr and a bunch of guys with Ak-47’s , then the dreams of a pro-west Iraq are over.
Which is a good thing.
@big bay
When you see the photos that Nemo posts here of Iraqi Police supporting Sadr, you know that it’s fubar for Blair and Bush.
Posted by: Cloned Poster | Aug 13 2004 17:07 utc | 4