Epstein Secrets

led dictatorship that was held together by an iron fist under Baathist ideology. And, for me, the lesson of Iraq is quite simple: You can't go from Saddam to Switzerland without getting stuck in Hobbes — a war of all against all — unless you have a well- armed external midwife, whom everyone on the gro

edded in President George W. Bush's administration were determined to reshape the region in Israel's and America's interest. Their first target was Saddam Hussein's Iraq, seen as a potential threat to Israel. Had the United States been successful in Iraq, Syria would have been next. Neither Iraq nor the United

America's interest. Their first target was Saddam Hussein's Iraq, seen as a potential threat to Israel. Ha

tegists believe that it would be greatly to their country's advantage if Syria were dismembered and permanently weakened by the creation of a small Alawi state around the port-city of Latakia in the north-west, in much the same way as Iraq was dismembered and permanently weakened by the creation of

ons of dollars to strengthen Iraqi opposition to Saddam Hussein. Today, militant Islamist organizations s

dollars to strengthen Iraqi opposition to Saddam Hussein. Today, militant Islamist organizations such as

military action against Assad to remove him from power. These were the same two voices that lobbied the Clinton and Bush administrations to topple Saddam Hussein's regime. When the United States did exactly as these senators advocated, countless unintended negative consequences ensued. Such outcomes could be e

e a rat out of his drainage pipe in Libya? Or something profoundly cruel, such as the YouTube video of a Syrian man buried alive by shovel-wielding Alawi thugs taunting the victim to recite "There is no God but God and Bashar is his Prophet"? Or, alternatively, will we look back and see photos of Sau

spike. The theocracy's new legitimacy. Please send me a list of all the regimes of the past 60 years that have survived such military humiliation. Saddam Hussein's survival of Gulf War I is the only case I can think of—and we got him the second time around. The responsible nuclear Iran. Wait. We're supposed to

rs that have survived such military humiliation. Saddam Hussein's survival of Gulf War I is the only case

have survived such military humiliation. Saddam Hussein's survival of Gulf War I is the only case I can

some extent, the handiwork of the United States and its European allies. This perception is fundamentally wrong: Assad's is an oppressive, minority-Alawi regime. It came to power via a 1970 coup. In 1982, the current dictator's father, then president Hafez al- Assad, brought artillery and killed over

umility and respect for others. These guys are awesome. 2. Context. What we are doing is as important as it gets. This isn't only about Iraq and Saddam; this is about regional (and perhaps global) stability and prosperity. There isn't anyone we met in Iraq today who doesn't get that. I don't know i

he came back a month after the invasion and, even in the face of serious threats to her life, she hasn't left. She had the previous Prime Minister, Alawi, over and we talked of kings and cabbages. I asked her if 50 years ago the Shia and the Sunni knew they were supposed to hate each other. She laugh