NY Times OpEd from March 14, 2003.

The United States also sent arms to the new regime, weapons later used against the same Kurdish insurgents the United States had backed against Kassem and then abandoned. Soon, Western corporations like Mobil, Bechtel and British Petroleum were doing business with Baghdad -- for American firms, their first major involvement in Iraq.

This history is known to many in the Middle East and Europe, though few Americans are acquainted with it, much less understand it. Yet these interventions help explain why United States policy is viewed with some cynicism abroad. George W. Bush is not the first American president to seek regime change in Iraq. Mr. Bush and his advisers are following a familiar pattern.

The moral of the story:

If you ever make a mistake you are NEVER allowed to correct it.

Thanks for the history lesson, Kore7. Too many people are unaware of the intricate weavings of people and places throughout our history, being fed only what those in power wish to be known at the time--whatever is expedient.

Another case in point is Osama bin Laden and his relationship to the Bush family.

KORE! SSSSHHHH! We don't talk about this anymore. Ergo, it never happened.

I seem to remember a time with we actually allied ourselves with the USSR. England was once an enemy of the country. Germany has gone from ally to enemy and back a number of times. We were actually on friendly terms with the Nazis for a while. Japan was once a fierce enemy. Funny how time changes things.

This response is so clueless and so predictable.

Some seem to have blind spots in their perception and thought processes that they keep as pets which they nurture and protect from predatory reality.

Those are more good examples of how relationships between people and places change over time, n2sooners. I'm glad that someone besides me remembers them.

As long as the past relationships are not hidden we can acknowledge and, hopefully, learn from them, can't we? It is important to look at WHY relationships change, though, if we really hope to learn from them.

Jason,
What do you think was the pivotal moment in Sadaam's fall from grace?

Like what happened in Afghanistan with backing Talibans against USSR and couple decades later they were the enemies....

Not only was Saddam "our guy in the Arab world" for such a long time, he was practically given a green light to invade Kuwait in '90. US ambassador April Glaspie told Hussein that, "We have no opinion on your Arab - Arab conflicts, such as your dispute with Kuwait. Secretary (of State James) Baker has directed me to emphasize the instruction, first given to Iraq in the 1960's, that the Kuwait issue is not associated with America."

The information is out there and not hard to find.

I think what some don't want to admit is that Saddam's was not brought down because he murdered hundreds of thousands of his own people or used WMDs on his enemies (internal or external) but merely because he dared to bite the hand that fed him and thats the ultimate no no. You may pillage and plunder, murder and rape, just don't do that in our neighborhood, please.