One of the stories we posted today at Worldmeets.US is quite a fascinating interview with the man who was perhaps Saddam Hussein’s closest aide, Tariq Aziz. Iraq’s former foreign minister and chief spokesman, in his first interview since Baghdad fell, explains to Britain’s Guardian the conduct of his government before both Gulf Wars, why Iraq pretended to have weapons of mass destruction, and expresses incredulity that the United States, in the person of Barack Obama, would ‘leave Iraq to the wolves’.
“Being a member of the government, I had a moral responsibility to defend the government,” he said. “If you go back to the history, I asked Saddam Hussein not to invade Kuwait, but I had to support the decision of the majority.
“When the decision was taken, I said to him, this is going to lead to war with the US and it is not in our interests to wage war against the US. But the decision was taken. I was the foreign minister of the country and I had to defend the country and do everything possible to explain our position. I stayed on the side of right.”
About weapons of mass destruction:
When asked why Saddam kept the US guessing about his weapons programme, he confirmed the dictator’s account to his captors that he had been playing to Iran, not to the west. “Partially, it was about Iran [the deterrent factor],” Aziz said. “They had waged war on us for eight years so we Iraqis had a right to deter them. Saddam was a proud man. He had to defend the dignity of Iraq. He had to show that he was not wrong, or weak.
“Iran was our biggest enemy. We had to defy them whatever the cost. Now Iran is building a weapons programme. Everybody knows it and nobody is doing anything. Why?”
About the U.S. withdrawal and President Obama:
“He cannot leave us like this. He is leaving Iraq to the wolves. When you make a mistake you need to correct a mistake, not leave Iraq to its death.”
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