Massively destructive strikes directly at the public will ... Intimidation and compliance are the outputs we seek to obtain. The intent here is to impose a regime of Shock & Awe through delivery of instant, nearly incomprehensible levels of massive destruction directly at influencing society writ large. Harmon Allman, National War College
A price worth paying. Madeleine Albright
One of the main reasons for our precipitous invasion of Iraq was to make a bee-line for Baghdad and use a mob scene as a cover for a very concerted effort to loot the Iraqi national museum. What were they after? They were after newly discovered artefacts, tablets, scrolls and such that were being found in the ancient Sumerian cities. Jim Marrs, interview Project Camelot
The case which Dr Ihsan is putting together is particularly significant. All the missing men and boys were members of one powerful Kurdish clan: the Barzanis. Their abduction marks the point when his [Saddam Hussein] regime moved from isolated acts of brutality to mass murder. Saddam’s Road to Hell, BBC 2006
Saddam’s abduction of the Barzanis was the precursor of his infamous Anfal Campaign. In 1987 and 1988 his forces attacked thousands of Kurdish villages, often using poisoned gas. More than 100,000 Kurdish men, women and children were killed. ibid.
In the eighteen months since the Gulf War ceasefire the UN has carried out more than forty weapons inspections throughout Iraq. The inspections have twice led to the brink of war. The inspectors are under orders to find and destroy all Saddam Hussein’s weapons of mass destruction. Their mission has not been easy. The Iraqis have done everything in their power to frustrate the work of the special commission. The UN inspectors have been forced to play an endless game of cat and mouse. Horizon: Hide and Seek in Iraq, BBC 1992
The Soviet Union and the West were keen to sell him [Saddam Hussein] all the arms he wanted. ibid.
Faced with the threat of military attack by the Coalition, the Iraqis agreed to let the Inspectors leave with the bulk of the documents. ibid.
One of the most dangerous places in the world. Alongside his multi-million dollar nuclear weapons programme, Saddam Hussein had built up a vast chemical weapons stockpile. ibid.
Muthana ... More than 100,000 poison gas canisters were littered across the site. It was the world’s largest chemical waste dump. ibid.
After each operation the Inspectors had to be decontaminated. ibid.
His [chemical] programme was badly run and standards were low. The weapons were crude. ibid.
Iraq: the biggest gun in the world ... to hit Middle Eastern targets ... British companies supplied many of its components. ibid.
The Special Commission is trying to ensure that the nuclear factories with their precision equipment will never work again. ibid.
It was an attack that shocked the world. This is a story of international espionage, blackmail and targeted assassinations. A story of one of the most dangerous and daring military operations ever attempted: the story of Israel’s raid on the reactor. Raid on the Reactor, 2006
I have little choice but to conclude that some of the intelligence related to Iraq’s nuclear weapons program was twisted to exaggerate the Iraqi threat. Joseph Wilson, The New York Times article
Many of the troops would soon die of Gulf War Syndrome. Lethal vaccines to combat chemical weapons killed more desert storm troops than Saddam’s soldiers. War is big business. That’s why George Bush [Senior] left Saddam Hussein in power. Chris Everard, Illuminati I
George Bush’s [Senior] oil company made huge profits after the Gulf War ... Trade sanctions would lead to the death of 500,000 Iraqi children. ibid.
Our European allies are just not relevant to this. And the one of some importance – the United Kingdom – is I believe going to be with us. Richard Perle
We are going into Iraq to liberate and not to conquer. We will not fly our flags in their country. Colonel Tim Collins
Once the war against Saddam begins, we expect every American to support our military, and if they can’t do that, to shut up. Bill O’Reilly, Fox News
Near total confusion over objectives and strategy. Pentagon Defense Science Board
This is a quiet but still eerily uneasy place. And for many Muslims Iraq remains a Muslim country that is occupied by a largely Christian Western army. And they point as evidence to the fact that right here you have an American base slap-bang next door to the supposed birthplace of Abraham. The father of three monotheistic faiths. Rageh Omaar, The Bible: A History: Abraham, Channel 4 2010
Where are Saddam’s weapons of mass destruction? Dan Rather, CBS News
If the war was not about weapons of mass destruction, what is it really about? CNN News, Ben Wederman reporting
And this is where the Bush cycle leads: to this document ... It’s the confidential plan, written before the war started, to divide and sell off all of Iraq’s assets, especially the oil. Greg Palast, Best Democracy Money Can Buy, 2016
We know for a fact that there are weapons there. Ari Fleischer, White House press secretary
They have weapons of mass destruction. That is what this war was about. Ari Fleischer
You’ve heard the president say repeatedly that he has chemical and biological weapons. Ari Fleischer
Bush told the people to rise up against Saddam. They thought they’d had our support. They don’t. Now they’re getting slaughtered. Three Kings 1999 starring George Clooney & Mark Wahlberg & Ice Cube & Spike Jonze & Cliff Curtis & Nora Dunn & Jamie Kennedy & Said Taghmaoui & Mykelti Williamson & Holt McCallany & Judy Greer & Alia Shawkat et al, director David O Russell, Clooney
Weapons of mass destruction was a fantasy. We had accounted for the production equipment, we had accounted for the spare parts, we had accounted for the missiles, and yet when I briefed the CIA they rejected it. Scott Ritter, ex UN weapons inspector
What purpose did this flood of images serve? Is there anything we’ll remember? Mark Daniels, Enemy Image, 2005
The military had its own daily broadcasts. With its own anchor-men and pre-packaged clips of smart-bombs. The intention was to sell a new idea of war, surgical, clean, no blood, zero death, with technological heroes. Smart-bombs would report on the war. ibid.
Charges of War Crimes were brought against the United States, but the case was never brought before the World Court ... But it was pictures of the Highway of Death that ended the [first] Iraq war. ibid.
I think in this hospital we’ve seen today evidence of the killing that is now the responsibility of the Security Council and member states. Particularly I think Bill Clinton and Tony Blair. They should be here with us. They should see the impact of what their decisions and their sustaining the economic sanctions means ... We are waging a warfare through the United Nations of the children and people of Iraq ... We are targeting civilians, worse, we are targeting children. Denis Halliday, former United Nations assistant general secretary, resigned 1998
We are now in the process through the Security Council of destroying the human rights of the Iraqi people. And for many of us that is an extraordinary situation, where the chamber responsible for peace and security is neglecting the very provisions of the Charter which forms the basis of the organisation itself. It’s an extraordinary phenomenon. There is no democracy in the Security Council. Denis Halliday
UN envoy quits over suffering in Iraq caused by sanctions. The Times News article
Second official quits UN Iraq team. The Guardian news article
I do not think it is fair for such a long period of time to make the civilian population subject to bargaining. Hans von Sponeck, former UN coordinator