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Category Archives: Iraq
Knowledge is Expensive – Veterans Day 2013
Knowledge is Expensive Veterans day celebrates those who have served the country in the military services. There are many members of the military who served with me in the Iraq Survey Group (ISG). Overall there were more than 1500 people … Continue reading
Posted in Intelligence, Iraq, Syria CW, United Nations, WMD
Tagged DIA, Iraq, Iraq Survey Group, Syria CW, United Nations Inspectors, WMD
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The Syrian CW Declaration…So far, so good
Syria has taken the first critical step in the process laid out by Lavrov and Kerry last week in Geneva. Damascus made its initial declaration of its chemical weapons inventory and infrastructure to the technical secretariat of the Organization for … Continue reading
Posted in Iraq, Syria CW, United Nations, WMD
Tagged Chemical Weapons, Lavrov, Lavrov Susan Rice, President Obama and UNGA, s, Syria, Syrian CW, Weapons Inspections, WMD
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The Syrian Framework Agreement
The Framework agreement and its two annexes get many things right. The burden of proof and all the heavy lifting are on Syria. The UN weapons inspectors are meant to verify Syrian declarations, direct the aggregation and ultimate disposal of … Continue reading
Lavrov-Kerry Agreement on Syria-Now What?
Sometimes things work out. This may be one of those occasions. It appears the US has agreed with the general Lavrov proposition that an arrangement similar to what was imposed upon Saddam in the 1990’s be applied to Syria. This … Continue reading
Posted in Iraq, Syria CW, United Nations, WMD
Tagged CW, Kerry, Lavrov, Norway, Sergey Lavrov, Syria, UN Security Council
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Obama’s Speech to the UNGA: Two very different Versions
On September 17, will President Obama be explaining to the UN General Assembly why the US acted alone to respond to Syrian atrocities when the UN would not, or will he be chastising the UN for a lack of action, … Continue reading
Posted in Intelligence, Iraq, Syria CW, United Nations, WMD
Tagged Intelligence, President Obama and Syria, Syria WMD, UN General Assembly, United Nations
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UN Inspectors to Syria
Many comparisons are being made between the Syrian and Iraqi circumstances regarding CW use. Some background on the Iraqi case. The UN first became involved in Iraqi CW use allegations during the Iran-Iraq war in the 1980’s. A small team … Continue reading
Posted in Iran, Iraq, Syria CW, WMD
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Justice–Long Delayed In Iraq
The former oil minister of Iraq during the Saddam Regime, Amer Mohammed Rasheed al-Obeidi has just been released from prison after nine years. Amer Mohammed Rasheed turned himself in to US forces in late April 2003. He had been included … Continue reading
Posted in Intelligence, Iraq
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Under Pressure–IAEA, Iran and the Rest of the World
IAEA Inspectors will be in a difficult position as the international community will inevitably look to them for “truth” about Iran. This is similar to Iraq case, but the comparisons with Iraq are otherwise limited. The data on the Iran … Continue reading
Posted in Iran, Iraq
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The Next Year in Iraq — More Chaos
The bombings in Iraq this week point to two clear aspects of the situation in Iraq. One, the government can not provide security. Second, there are powerful forces who are not committed to the current government. These two points are … Continue reading
Posted in Iraq
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Closing UK Embassy in Tehran–There is a cost…
Closing the respective embassies in Tehran and London may have been inevitable for political reasons, but there is a cost to this action. Two governments that already have a poor understanding of one another will now have even less contact … Continue reading