9 Lives

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9 Lives

• The Many Uses of
• Saddam Hussein
• by
• Timothy McGettigan, Ph.D.
• Department of Sociology
• Colorado State University Pueblo
• Timothy.McGettigan_at_colostate-pueblo.edu

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The 1980s

• Our boy Saddam slugs it out with Iran.

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Hes a Hero!
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• Actually, Saddam is kind of creepy.
• He murders Kurds, tortures and terrorizes his
  own citizens, and brutally attacks his neighbors.

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But hes a strong, steady ally in a volatile
region.

• So, we give him benefit of the doubt.

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Indeed, the US goes to great lengths to preserve
its strategic alliance with Iraq.
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Even going so far as forgiving Iraq for firing
two friendly Exocet missiles at the USS Stark
(killing 37 US sailors).
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After all, Saddam was our friend.

• He was one of the good guys

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So it was during the Iran-Iraq War (1980-1988)

• However, on August 2, 1990, Saddam Hussein made
  a fatal mistake.
• Hussein invaded Kuwait.

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Our boy was behaving erratically.

• Saddam was murdering Kurds, torturing and
  terrorizing his own citizens, invading his
  neighbors

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• Admittedly, those were our heros primary forms
  of recreation throughout the 1980s.
• But in 1990 our hero changed.

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• Our knight in shining armor had gone over to the
  dark side.
• Saddam had become an evil tyrant.

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Fortunately, another hero was prepared to step in
and save us.
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Our new hero stood up to our former hero
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and kicked his butt.
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Well, sort of

• Hussein remained in power.
• Poppy succeeded in expelling Hussein from Kuwait
  while simultaneously winning a huge, albeit
  short-lived, PR victory at home.
• You cant win em all.

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(Eerie Foreshadowing)
Or can you?
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For the balance of the 1990s, conflict between
the US and Iraq was ongoing, but low-intensity.

• Having trounced Iraq during Desert Storm, the US
  viewed Saddam as little more than a malingering
  second-rate nuisance.

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Amidst the exuberance of the 1990s Saddam became
an afterthought.

• Clinton had other fish to fry.

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This all changed on 09/11/01
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• OK, rumor has it that W began plotting Saddams
  overthrow as early as 01/2000.

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• Leaving aside (for the moment) Paul ONeills
  rather serious allegations, following 9/11/01 the
  US was once again gunning for Saddam.

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• The fact that Osama took credit for 9/11/01
  created a brief distraction.

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Nevertheless, the Bush Administrations focus
soon returned to Saddam.

It would take some doing, but the
Bush Administration was determined to rekindle
US fear and hatred of
The Ace of Spades
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• The US may have lacked verifiable evidence of
  a connection between Saddam and 9/11.

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• But cmon, did we really need evidence?

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We knew Saddam was our man.

• He was obviously a monster.
• All you had to do was look at him.
• There was guilt in his eyes.

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Sure, there were a few doubting Thomases.
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But they were a bunch of clowns.
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Just like all those lilly-livered protestors.
Who in their right mind would stick up for
Saddam!? What kind of sick world is this???
Good for nothing peace-mongers.
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• True, US interests stood to benefit handsomely
  even if Saddam lacked a direct connection to al
  Qaeda.

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W also stood to gain by knocking off Saddam.
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• War with Saddam just might divert attention from
  Ws less-than-stellar domestic record.

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• Also, focusing on the mano a mano face off
  between W and Saddam would help de-emphasize
  another nagging mystery

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WMDs???
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• In its turbid aftermath, people were quick to
  forget the real reason for fighting the war.

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Unfinished family business

This ones for you, Poppy.
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Just kidding!
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The Bushes knew Saddam was a bad egg.

• And they were tough enough to go after him.
• Regardless of public opinion.

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They dug that rat out of his stinking hole
and, wow, is he going to get it.

• But not quite yet. In politics, timing is
  everything.

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Nevertheless, thanks to our conquering hero

• 1. All of our problems are solved.
• 2. Peace reigns.
• 3. And the world is, once again, safe for
  democracy.

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Uh oh!!

• This looks like trouble

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Never fear.

• You can rely on our War Time President to lash
  out swiftly, certainly, and lethally to crush any
  villainous threat that might get in the way

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of one final piece of unfinishedfamily
business.

• God bless (Help!) America!