Inside Iraq - Lessons of War - 03 Oct 08 - Part 2

Inside Iraq asks what lessons the world has learnt more than five years into the American military misadventure in Iraq.

It is often said that history repeats itself.

The Vietnam war in the 1960s, which dragged on for 14 years, is an almost direct parallel to the invasion of Iraq.




The route to Baghdad, however, was far more complicated.

The war split the western super powers and the UN.

George Bush, the US president, and Tony Blair, the former British prime minister, were convinced that the UN's blessing was not necessary to invade Iraq, prompting Kofi Annan, the then secretary-general, to label it an illegal war.




Critics charged that the biggest lesson of the war was the deception over Saddam's supposed weapons of mass destruction.

Our guest this week is Lord David Owen, a former British foreign minister.

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[sleonardelli]

This is perhaps the best unbiased reporting I've seen which suprises me about Al Jazeera. I am truly impressed. 5*s

[straightchris]

Greg Palast has said that they wanted the oil to remain in the ground to stabilize the price of oil for OPEC.

[straightchris]

I think it's time for rational people to get together regardless of political affiliations and stick to the facts.

Bush should be tried as a war criminal, he has to take the fall for this, I think that's fair.

[uninetgranada]

It is the our responsability to learn what history is able to show us: what has already happened will let us foresee the future.

Still, if we are told that something is good, we tend to believe it is "good" and what is supposed to be "evil" is evil. What we can be sure of is that everybody has its interests in their own agenda.

Good work Al-Jazeera

[somethingawful01]

Then this liar constantly talks about the Shia and the Sunni's. It was the Brits who created the devide so that they could get oil easil. His talk of 'democracy' sickens me. He neglects to say that this, so called, democracy is on the terms of the US only and that if the US deem it not in their favour they will simply disband it. Anyway who is he to talk about democracy? The US and UK are both fascist, dictatorial states in which freedom doesn't exist and voters are irrelevant.

[somethingawful01]

Well said Sergei Ivanov. Russia and China have my full support in dealing with ZioNazi US and its master Israel.

The 'Surge' is a total failure, what a lying piece of shit. The moment the payments stop to the Sunni 'Awakening Councils' they will turn their guns immediately back onto the US and the Brits and they will start dying en masse again. Down with the US, Israel and their little puppets.

The EU should be ashamed of themselves, they disgust me for being so obedient to the US.

[ikran2007]

the fmr russian defence minster sergei ivanov is right about the countrys that he listed are the countrys the u.s. plan invade in the next years to come no matter if the r-d party winnes the white house and the un will go along.