April 20, 2001

5:18 AM

The Gulf War: Hidden agenda?A documentary just released suggests that the Gulf War was a staged American effort to put American forces into the Gulf region and that there was no abiding reason our troops had to be sent to Desert Storm. You read; you decide.
posted by Postroad (20 comments total)

This is the well-worn April Glaspie story, no?
posted by insular at 5:44 AM on April 20, 2001

Why are people still talking about the Gulf War? Surely it did not take place.
posted by freakytrigger at 6:05 AM on April 20, 2001

Why are people still talking about the Gulf War? Surely it did not take place.

"Whoa! - Keanu Reeves"

I'm not too familiar with the incident, but wasn't it all about the oil anyway?
posted by tiaka at 6:10 AM on April 20, 2001

Well, seeing as the article itself only speculated about the possibilities, and gave no factual evidence, I don't think I can form any opinion from the article.

But, if I saw the movie, that would be something entirely different.
posted by da5id at 6:14 AM on April 20, 2001

Well anyway the premise of the film sounds just about spot on.
posted by lagado at 6:54 AM on April 20, 2001

"You read; you decide."

The article is a sensationalized piece of crap and the movie's assertions are total hogwash.

"Yet for a large number of Americans, the reasons behind the conflict remain unclear and its consequences obscure."

Huh? 40-50 people is "a large number of Americans"????

"One result has been a drastic increase in cancer among ..... American soldiers"

What I've read says their is no statistically significant increase.

"The United States government ...... deliberately exaggerated Mr. Hussein's threat"

He *invaded*!!! That's not a threat. It's an invasion.

"But the filmmakers are unable to find photographic proof of the 250,000 Iraqi troops said to have been poised at the Kuwaiti border."

What the hell? You mean they can't find a photo of 250,000 solders all lined up waving at the camera? And how is this the US government lying? Hussein is the one who claimed he had 250,000.

Doh.

Crap and crap.
posted by y6y6y6 at 7:11 AM on April 20, 2001

And Israel invaded the GAza strip last week.


Why no task force this time?
posted by Elfin OAk at 7:20 AM on April 20, 2001

There has long been evidence that Daddy Bush's ambassador to Kuwait knew all along that Iraq was going to invade, funneled that info to DC, and then nothing was done about it (in fact, the ambassadsor was even ordered to hint that the US would not act). She was scapegoated after the US responded by sending troops and starting the carnage. A ruse all along to goad Hussein into sending troops, allowing the US juggernaut to flex its muscle, and thereby later claim they needed more funding.....Oh, and y6: "One result has been a drastic increase in cancer among.....American soldiers"

What I've read says their is no statistically significant increase.

That's what was said about Agent Orange, too, at first.
posted by mapalm at 8:09 AM on April 20, 2001

It was also said about Marshmallow Peeps, but...
posted by sonofsamiam at 8:27 AM on April 20, 2001

Whatever grain of truth may lie in the basic premise of this film, the whole Depleted Uranium thing blows if for me. I'm slowly learning that those who cite the "disastrous effects" of Depleted Uranium are pretty much crackpots. There isn't a shred of evidence for their accusations. This whole thing would have gone away if we didn't have some ingrained fear of Radioactive Winter left over from the Cold War.

The filmmakers say the conflict has left large portions of the country littered with radioactive spent rounds made from depleted uranium.

Guess what, folks. Depleted Uranium is depleted. It is not radioactive any more. I'm usually the first in line to accuse the US government of having ulterior motives and conspiring to do all sorts of nasty things. But here, I just don't see it.
posted by jpoulos at 10:01 AM on April 20, 2001

three things I guess, 1. test defensive and offensive readiness of U.S. military forces-here and abroad. 2. let the Arabic nations that they cannot unite and invade other countries 3.let the rest of the world know that the U.S. is up to multiple military comments if required. Solders on the street may be a norm for non-u.s.folk, but troops visible in this country stirs people a bit. plainly, we don't like it- that happens elsewhere. big, dumb, hypocritical, perhaps, but hey, thats america-grinning and hard to figure out.
posted by clavdivs at 10:13 AM on April 20, 2001

Good question, Elfin OAk. My partial answer is that there juz ain't no oil in them thar hills. I'm with tiaka; it was all about the oil, and flexing military muscle -- it had nothing to do with "doing the right thing" for the Kuwaiti people since they were pretty much incidental.

Either that, or it was an excuse to bring minor-league celebrities together to sing "Voices That Care."
posted by lia at 11:02 AM on April 20, 2001

clavdivs, just a question: are you part of the 75% of U.S. citizens that don't hold passports?
posted by lia at 11:04 AM on April 20, 2001

This then is what many in Kuwait seem to feel:
http://www.arabia.com/article/0,1690,News|44694,00.html
posted by Postroad at 12:43 PM on April 20, 2001

now that would be telling. Why pay 40$ when i can ride the cheap seats. NYC. 5.5 hrs. Chi-town-4.7 hrs. Canada, next door. and what better neighbor then Canada, it is gorgeous. I'm going to Memphis next week any suggestions?
posted by clavdivs at 1:18 PM on April 20, 2001

Guess what, folks. Depleted Uranium is depleted. It is not radioactive any more. I'm usually the first in line to accuse the US government of having ulterior motives and conspiring to do all sorts of nasty things. But here, I just don't see it.

Um, hate to break it to you, jpoulos, but you are just plain mistaken. Depleted Uranium is still indeed radioactive. No one disputes this. What is disputed are the levels one can be exposed to before they suffer unhealthy consquences. And, of course, the US and NATO say those figures are much higher than many other experts say. The Italian gov't did an exhaustive study detailing this, which NATO at first endorsed, and then at the urging of the US, turned against. (Wish I had links, but they seem to be expired).
posted by mapalm at 1:34 PM on April 20, 2001

What does "depleted" actually mean exactly?

I'm assuming that its the 98% of uranium that is of the isotope 238 which is not fissionable. You can't use it for making bombs (unlike isotope 235). In the process of refining uranium this stuff needs to be removed. Is this correct?

238 is still radioactive btw, but not as much as 235.
posted by lagado at 8:26 PM on April 20, 2001

This might help you sort out what you need to know about depleted uranium

Uranium Fact Sheet

A scary quote for Iraqis, Kuwaitis, and the people in the country formerly known as Yugoslavia now called the country formerly known as Yugoslavia:

"Depleted uranium thus has the unusual property that it becomes more hazardous with time - an effect that has to be taken into account for its long-term management as a waste"
posted by srboisvert at 8:41 PM on April 20, 2001

Um, hate to break it to you, jpoulos, but you are just plain mistaken. Depleted Uranium is still indeed radioactive.

I didn't mean to suggest that there was no radioactivity left in DU (although, clearly, i admit, that's what it looked like). But there are low levels of radioactivity all over the place. When you consider how small the "doses" are, and how limited the exposure to them is, the idea that cancer is showing up within a couple of year is pretty much ludicrous. There's plenty to get down on the governent/military for without making stuff up.
posted by jpoulos at 10:30 AM on April 21, 2001

Perhaps some people forget (or just weren't told by the propaganda networks) that Iraq invaded Kuwait because Kuwait owed Iraq land and failed to pay up.

Of course, most media outlets failed to mention this, and just harped on about how Saddam was invading Kuwait because he's an evil megalomaniac and such. That is probably true.. but he did have a semi-understandable reason to invade Kuwait. They owed him shitloads for the Iraq-Iran war, and would not give Iraq what it was owed.
posted by wackybrit at 8:17 AM on April 22, 2001