21 Days to Open the Gates of Hell

On March 19, 2003

President Bush addressed the nation...


"My fellow citizens, at this hour, American and coalition forces are in the early stages of military operations to disarm Iraq, to free its people and to defend the world from grave danger.

On my orders, coalition forces have begun striking selected targets of military importance to undermine Saddam Hussein's ability to wage war. These are opening stages of what will be a broad and concerted campaign. More than 35 countries are giving crucial support -- from the use of naval and air bases, to help with intelligence and logistics, to the deployment of combat units. Every nation in this coalition has chosen to bear the duty and share the honor of serving in our common defense...."

(Visit the above source link for the full speech text)

11 days later Donald Rumsfeld, in a television interview said..

"We know where they (Weapons of Mass Destruction) are. They’re in the area around Tikrit and Baghdad and east, west, south and north somewhat."

On April 9, 2003:


We all seen the images, and video of this event.

Imagry that many were led to believe was the end of the evil dictatorship of Saddam over Iraq. Some have claimed that this event was staged, and one report said this... Army Stage-Managed Fall of Hussein Statue

Optimism was high, patriotism abundant, and international support was solid, though Saddam had not yet been captured or killed, and no signs of the "grave danger" that threatened the world in the form of "weapons of mass destruction"

A truly impressive show of military power, only 21 days to destroy Iraq's defenses, and bring down its government, and Saddam.

Given all that we have seen happen in Iraq since that time, thousands of deaths, and constant attacks against both US and coalition forces, and the Iraqi people, sectarian violence, tribal conflicts, and a mysterious insurgency who seems to almost indiscriminately attack anyone and everyone. Iraq seems to have suffered a fate worse than Saddam, and there is apparently no longer reason to be optimistic about this war.

A kind of hell as taken Iraq, a hell that affects all, and possess far too many, evils that both infect and victimize.

No longer does there seem to be an end game, or exit strategy, only daily relentless violence and bloodshed. Political divisions in the USA have shown the level of alarm, and confusion over what course to take, and how to stabilize this new Iraq.

I submit to you, that in those 21 days to that staged victory and fall of Saddam, we not only removed an evil dictator, we removed the keeper of the gates of hell, the gates opened, and unleashed evil on Iraq, and there may never be a way to close them again.

At some point in the future a new American president and administration will take over where the Bush administration has safely exited from power, they will be tasked with finding ways to to deal with this hell formerly known as Iraq, and find a way to remove our forces from the region, attempt to repair destroyed infrastructure, and find solutions for implementation of government and a form of democracy that actually works for the Iraqi people, I do not envy those who will face these tasks, the hell that awaits them will not relent or go away because they wish them gone. One could argue that war in itself is a form of hell, or evil, and that it is indeed. This war brings us from a place which we may never find a way to return, and could ultimately leave Iraq in far worse condition than anyone could have ever dreamed.

The world is not built on good intentions alone, nor can it be saved always by military force, hell will not be conquered easily. Iraq begs to be left alone, as hell would want to have it now. Can the United States of America ever find a way to escape this hell in Iraq?



The thoughts and opinions expressed here are my own, and may not necessarily reflect the views of the staff and ownership of AboveTopSecret.com

[edit on 30-5-2007 by UM_Gazz]

I have not the political knowledge to debate your post.However I believe your points and opinion are 100% accurate.In the short time I have been an ATS member, I have not read a better post.FLAGGED.

Originally posted by UM_Gazz
[ Can the United States of America ever find a way to escape this hell in Iraq?

[edit on 30-5-2007 by UM_Gazz]

I think so if we do what was done in Vietnam and just leave the country.

Otherwise if we stay in Iraq as an occupying army violence will only escalate going forward.

And after the US left Vietnam.......3 million people were excuted.

But I guess you'd all be okay if that happen again........

Originally posted by ferretman2
And after the US left Vietnam.......3 million people were excuted.

But I guess you'd all be okay if that happen again........

Im not ok with any killing.

If you have read the John Hopkins University study there have been over 600,000 killed in Iraq since the war started so I guess we are well on are way to 3 million.

link

The fact is there are no easy answers.....people are going to die if the US stays and people are going to die if the US leaves.


[edit on 30-5-2007 by etshrtslr]

The sad and harsh reality it is, maybe there’s no turning back and Iraq will be the black hole in the world pulling everyone in. until it explodes and everyone will suffer for the decisions of a few and the actions of many.

These are some desperate times, the so called American dream is no longer a dream but nightmare. If this is what democracy brings then the hell with it, its no better then any other idea.

There going to be a time when people are going to have to face up to there fears and stand up for what they know is right. I think the point would to not be human but something else, something more then just animals. This world is a mess clean it up people.

The point is, did anyone ask the Iraq people if they wanted Democracy?

Theyve lived for thousands of years without it and havent done too bad and then WHAMMO along come supermen Bush and Blair to dump Democracy on the poor buggers.

Some people dont want democracy, they are quite happy getting along with a dictatorship. Yep some get killed every now and again but I suggest that a lot more have been killed since their 'democratisation' than before it.
I also suggest that once the UK and US have pulled their troops out, the country will, within a few years revert back to a dictatorship of some sort.

Its about time the US, UK and others stopped meddling in other country's internal affairs and hitting them with their type of Democracy.

What worries me is, why is the US building the biggest Embassy anywhere in the world in Iraq ?

I think your thoughts are partially correct. I suspect the need for a dictator is part of the reason that that the former President Bush didn't step in and over-throw Saddam. As for the search for WMDs. It was an excuse used at the time. I think that they would have created another excuse eventually if 9/11 hadn't happened. Did they honestly belived that there were weapons in Iraq? They got intelligence to tell them what they wanted to hear. Maybe the believed their own hype, but deep down they know why they did it.

It's all about control over the oil production. Anyone who doesn't see that is blind. Oil production has peaked and demand is increasing. The US has Saudi in it's pocket, Iraq conquered via war, and Iran is hedged in between two U.S. contolled territories now. The "Gates of Hell" have yet to be opened. Once people wake up to the fact that OPEC is lying about it's reserves, it's going to get worse. Much worse. All this talk about democracy and WMDs is just a distraction. Personally I think we enjoy seeing the entire region in disarray. We don't want them to be unified against U.S.

War has been waged on this earth since the dawn of human civilization. There are some that would argue human civilization has even been through a nuclear holocaust at some point in our history.

My point is, the Iraqi war has gone on for several years now, and even if it were to go on for another twenty, at the current death tolls, the deathcount wouldnt be as high as some of the much shorter wars we've fought. Iraq also isn't the worst place to be right now.

The state of the world has remained relatively unchanged since WW2 ended. Instead of fighting "The communist threat to democracy" we've changed gears and are now fighting "the global threat of terrorism." They've changed the focus, but their fear-mongering remains the same. This keeps the military industrial complex churning, exactly how those making money from it would like it.

[edit on 30-5-2007 by BlaznRob]

Originally posted by dbates
I think your thoughts are partially correct. I suspect the need for a dictator is part of the reason that that the former President Bush didn't step in and over-throw Saddam. As for the search for WMDs. It was an excuse used at the time. I think that they would have created another excuse eventually if 9/11 hadn't happened. Did they honestly belived that there were weapons in Iraq? They got intelligence to tell them what they wanted to hear. Maybe the believed their own hype, but deep down they know why they did it.

It's all about control over the oil production. Anyone who doesn't see that is blind. Oil production has peaked and demand is increasing. The US has Saudi in it's pocket, Iraq conquered via war, and Iran is hedged in between two U.S. contolled territories now. The "Gates of Hell" have yet to be opened. Once people wake up to the fact that OPEC is lying about it's reserves, it's going to get worse. Much worse. All this talk about democracy and WMDs is just a distraction. Personally I think we enjoy seeing the entire region in disarray. We don't want them to be unified against U.S.

I see lack of study in this thread...
First off the first gulfwar led by Bush the 1st was UN Mandated to only remove Iraqie military out of Kuwait. Job done. They had no provision for conquering Iraq. www.answers.com... en.wikipedia.org...
www.fas.org...
www.fas.org...
Interesting that this is what the UN was voting on.. I like the fact that it was a year of debate before anything was done.



Far as controlling oil. That is laughable seeing that mainly right now most of the oil consortiums in Russia and China are getting Iraq contracts and pump stations. But hey what's alittle bit of fact ever done to a "truth-seeker" Went to go look for the Russian info and ended up with nothing but screaming people about big-oil-bush after the oil fields... None of it backed up with any other proof other then Chalabi as president. This is what I did find though. If we wanted the oil I would think we would shut out any and all countries especially those that did not want to help in getting the old regime punted.
www.iht.com...

These are my thoughts about the memory lane that UM_Gazz has taken us with this post.

As I remember like yesterday . . .

"My fellow citizens, at this hour, American and coalition forces are in the early stages of military operations to disarm Iraq, to free its people and to defend the world from grave danger.

Just like many of hundreds of thousands voters that gave this man votes in 2000 to become the next president of this great and caring nation, I sat in front of my TV next to may retired Marine husband and with hart full of pride and tears on our eyes we took this man word and with all the patriotism an American can feel, we applauded this man pursue of the great task to bring and oppressed Iraqi people into an American type of freedom.

Yes even my retire husband of only 2 years out of duty was ready to serve his country again for the cause of freedom. . .

This man would have received anythig at this time in the American history by the American population with not questions asked. . .

When Saddam statue fell down and the people of Iraq rose to the occasion to flavor their newly taste of freedom it was in not American minds that their country endeavors brought to their lands by our nation were going to be nothing than a success. . .

We all Americans trusted our government, his service and his goal of liberating the nation of Iraq.

Gazz, this was all truth until a part of the population of this nation notice something odd about all this . . . the questioning of the intentions of this administration started to leave a bad taste on some peoples mouths an I was one of them.

The truth about this war was to become public and fought against the lies, obstacles and corruption that were behind the whole entire campaign so call liberation of the Iraqi nation.

5 years later and with everything achieved at the beginning of this war gone to CA-CA we know better, we have learn the lesson and we all hold the truth, that our government was on an agenda and that agenda was not for the Iraqi people or the American people to benefit.

Gazz . . . we are nothing than food and the blood needed so others can profit, benefit and make a buck on wagging war.

Thanks for taken us through the Memory lane, It will take the Iraqi people 4 generations to recover from the devastation done to their nation in the name of freedom.





[edit on 30-5-2007 by marg6043]

Do people realize why the U.S.first embraced sadam?1:the C.I.A saw him as an ally against the islamic revolution that had taken iran and threatened to spread to other countries?2:The U.S. humiliation of the embassy hostage crises.3:LAST BUT NOT LEAST:Sadams government was mostly secular.Though the bathists favored the sunnies they didnt completly outlaw #e views did they?My point is this.We COULD have invaded bagdad in gulf war 1 while we alredy had the troops there.I believe bush sr.knew what that occupation would mean.Being unleashing a tribal warfare that sadam had checked during his years in power.Its no surprise to myself or many of the present situation.How to get out?Its probly simpler to put toothpaste back in the tube.

Excellent post, and I for one cannot imagine what unspeakable terror awaits our military if they continue to remain in the region.
It may even trigger an even wider spread war with Iran and it's ali's that will only endanger every American here on US soilby terror cells, and with our military so spread out, it could mean a UN type presence here to back a Martial Law.
I feel empathy for countless innocent lives that are being destroyed every day in Irac and the surrounding nations. And anyone that has shown compliance with our Military will be dead first when and if we do leave. They may prove to be the lucky ones.

Easy. Start remembering that Bush works for you, not you for him as it is now. Impeach the bastard. Change some of the laws so you get some freedom back. Bring home the troops. Oh and if somebody invents a water car, try to keep them from being murdered!

Exit strategy?

No reason to start implementing strategy this late in the game. Never needed it before, apparently.

Seriously though, the only way that I can see a semi-peaceful resolve to this administrational catastrophe is to withdraw the majority of our troops with the explicit warning that if the people of Iraq cannot step up and squash their religious and political difference that we'll return full force.

It's never that simple, but I think it would give most Iraqi's hope that they will control their own country rather than being controlled by an occupying force. This will do little to help the in-fighting of religious sects vying for political control, but once the occupiers have left I think it'll give Sunni-Shia relations a boost to work together on resolving issues.

All oil revenue should be turned over to a publicly-run company to be evenly distributed amongst the Iraqi people regardless of race, religion or political affiliation.

Mix of views here, although many of you seem to be blaming the Iraqi people themselves for being 'unable to handle democracy' or being tribal rather than modern. The main reason why things are in such a mess is because hardly anyone works. Interestingly, the CPA beleived it would be a great idea to sack almost all of the public sector workers in Iraq when they took over, and as a result of this the only alternative occupation was to join the resistance.

Of course, the religious divisions may be an aspect but most people don't have time to slaughter all members of other religions when they're working to provide for their families...

Originally posted by AbitTweaked
Far as controlling oil. That is laughable seeing that mainly right now most of the oil consortiums in Russia and China are getting Iraq contracts and pump stations.

Like I said, the panic mode hasn't kicked in yet. Paper contracts are meaningless when another country has 150,000 troops controlling the ground your contract is based out of. The U.S. is content to sit and wait for now. They have control of the land.

What i find sad in all of this is that, governments are able to brain wash enough people to create an army.

;(

For those of you who thinks this invasion have nothing to do with oil...

Please remember when they first started to invade Iraq what happened, the Iraqi's burned the oil fields.

What does that tell you?

Originally posted by dbates
The U.S. is content to sit and wait for now. They have control of the land.

Exactly Dbates, the sweet, sweet rewards that are waiting and they don't have to spill a drop of their greedy blood . . .

But darn is so sweet they can even taste it everyday in their comfortable wait.