Wars' Hours

Since this year is the centennial of World War One -- with a lot of press to come over the summer as August approaches -- it's likely a lot of attention will be given to the origins of that war. It's generally viewed as a catastrophe that was blundered into because of iimperial interests and hubris (the belief the war would be short). And of course, there will be many references to how WWI sowed the seeds of WWII. So it seems to me a mystery why similar questions aren't asked of the origins of a much more recent conflict -- one that's still going on. Below is a speech by Philop Agee which describes the intelligence available to Western powers before the first Gulf War against Saddam Hussein. It also provides interesting background on the policy of the Bush administration in 1990, as well as a sketch of the American/Iraqi intelligence relationship during the Iran/Iraq war.

It's worth noting that one of Agee's points -- about elevated arms spending world-wide despite the end of the Cold War -- is still as pertinent as it was more than 20 years ago. Levi Asher has had a series of good posts at LitKicks on the distorting effects of militarism. The origins/policies forming a background to Gulf War I are a good place to start.