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The Iraqi War Debrief: Why Saddam Hussein Was Toppled
It took the Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein less that a quarter century to turn the slow march of history in the Middle East upside down. In this short space of time he had twice invaded neighboring countries and cold-bloodedly killed thousands of his own people, let alone those of his enemies, with chemical and biological weapons. Not even concerted action by the forces of more than twenty countries in ‘Operation Desert Storm’ followed by years of not-always-successful UN-imposed arms inspections, prevented him from developing an arsenal of illegal weapons.
Today, just about everybody is vulnerable to fatal airborne infection. For several years, chemical and biological warfare was the first of a two-pronged threat to the Middle East and world peace. The other was Iraq’s nuclear program, which Venter covers here in great detail. There is nothing new about these disclosures; a lot of it has been in the public domain for a decade.
Indeed, UNSCOM, the United Nations Special Commission (on Iraq) uncovered good evidence that Baghdad had three atom bombs almost built before 1998. All that Saddam needed to arm the devices was fissile material - highly enriched uranium - which, as this book reveals, he was doing his utmost to acquire.
The author also touches on some of the other countries now involved in acquiring weapons of mass destruction of their among them Iran, Syria, Libya and North Korea.
The Iraqi War Debrief is not an ‘instant’ book. As Africa and Middle East correspondent for Jane’s International Defense Review for the past quarter century, author Al J. Venter has covered these and related events for decades. For Britain’s ‘Jane’s Information Group’ and a host of other publications on both sides of the Atlantic, he has visited most of the countries involved in this gathering storm since first traveling overland from Khartoum to Cairo in 1967.
Al J. Venter is the author of twenty books. For several years he contributed to, among others, BBC, NBC News (New York) and Britain’s Daily Express and Sunday Express.
Today, just about everybody is vulnerable to fatal airborne infection. For several years, chemical and biological warfare was the first of a two-pronged threat to the Middle East and world peace. The other was Iraq’s nuclear program, which Venter covers here in great detail. There is nothing new about these disclosures; a lot of it has been in the public domain for a decade.
Indeed, UNSCOM, the United Nations Special Commission (on Iraq) uncovered good evidence that Baghdad had three atom bombs almost built before 1998. All that Saddam needed to arm the devices was fissile material - highly enriched uranium - which, as this book reveals, he was doing his utmost to acquire.
The author also touches on some of the other countries now involved in acquiring weapons of mass destruction of their among them Iran, Syria, Libya and North Korea.
The Iraqi War Debrief is not an ‘instant’ book. As Africa and Middle East correspondent for Jane’s International Defense Review for the past quarter century, author Al J. Venter has covered these and related events for decades. For Britain’s ‘Jane’s Information Group’ and a host of other publications on both sides of the Atlantic, he has visited most of the countries involved in this gathering storm since first traveling overland from Khartoum to Cairo in 1967.
Al J. Venter is the author of twenty books. For several years he contributed to, among others, BBC, NBC News (New York) and Britain’s Daily Express and Sunday Express.
352 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2003
About the author
Al J. Venter
58 books34 followersAlbertus Johannes Venter is a South African journalist and historian who is arguably the world's foremost expert on the modern military history of Africa. He has been a war correspondent/military affairs reporter for many publications, notably serving as African and Middle East correspondent for Jane's International Defence Review. He has also worked as a documentary filmmaker, and has authored more than forty books.
He has reported on a number of Africa’s bloodiest wars, starting with the Nigerian Civil War in 1965, where he spent time covering the conflict with colleague Frederick Forsyth, who was working in Biafra for the BBC at the time.
In the 1980’s, Al J Venter also reported in Uganda while under the reign of Idi Amin. The most notable consequence of this assignment was an hour-long documentary titled Africa’s Killing Fields, ultimately broadcast nationwide in the United States by Public Broadcasting Service.
In-between, he cumulatively spent several years reporting on events in the Middle East, fluctuating between Israel and a beleaguered Lebanon torn by factional Islamic/Christian violence. He was with the Israeli invasion force when they entered Beirut in 1982. From there he covered hostilities in Rhodesia, the Sudan, Angola, the South African Border War, the Congo as well as Portuguese Guinea, which resulted in a book on that colonial struggle published by the Munger Africana Library of the California Institute of Technology.
In 1985 he made a one-hour documentary that commemorated the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan.
He also spent time in Somalia with the US Army helicopter air wing in the early 1990s, three military assignments with the mercenary group Executive Outcomes (Angola and Sierra Leone) and a Joint-STAR mission with the United States Air Force over Kosovo.
More recently, Al Venter was active in Sierra Leone with South African mercenary pilot Neall Ellis flying combat in a Russian helicopter gunship (that leaked when it rained.) That experience formed the basis of the book on mercenaries published recently and titled War Dog: Fighting Other People's Wars.
He has been twice wounded in combat, once by a Soviet anti-tank mine in Angola, an event that left him partially deaf.
Al Venter originally qualified as a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Shipbrokers at the Baltic Exchange in London.
(from wikipedia)
He has reported on a number of Africa’s bloodiest wars, starting with the Nigerian Civil War in 1965, where he spent time covering the conflict with colleague Frederick Forsyth, who was working in Biafra for the BBC at the time.
In the 1980’s, Al J Venter also reported in Uganda while under the reign of Idi Amin. The most notable consequence of this assignment was an hour-long documentary titled Africa’s Killing Fields, ultimately broadcast nationwide in the United States by Public Broadcasting Service.
In-between, he cumulatively spent several years reporting on events in the Middle East, fluctuating between Israel and a beleaguered Lebanon torn by factional Islamic/Christian violence. He was with the Israeli invasion force when they entered Beirut in 1982. From there he covered hostilities in Rhodesia, the Sudan, Angola, the South African Border War, the Congo as well as Portuguese Guinea, which resulted in a book on that colonial struggle published by the Munger Africana Library of the California Institute of Technology.
In 1985 he made a one-hour documentary that commemorated the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan.
He also spent time in Somalia with the US Army helicopter air wing in the early 1990s, three military assignments with the mercenary group Executive Outcomes (Angola and Sierra Leone) and a Joint-STAR mission with the United States Air Force over Kosovo.
More recently, Al Venter was active in Sierra Leone with South African mercenary pilot Neall Ellis flying combat in a Russian helicopter gunship (that leaked when it rained.) That experience formed the basis of the book on mercenaries published recently and titled War Dog: Fighting Other People's Wars.
He has been twice wounded in combat, once by a Soviet anti-tank mine in Angola, an event that left him partially deaf.
Al Venter originally qualified as a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Shipbrokers at the Baltic Exchange in London.
(from wikipedia)
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Displaying 1 of 1 review
April 7, 2009
There are a few books that I read completely that are this well written and yet as poorly edited and organized.
Yes, it is well written by a journalist who appears to have strung together several essay or topical papers into a book that aspires to be a source book but misses the mark.
Lots of historical information that someone needs to re-assemble to make a cohesive case for why/if/how etc., Saddam Hussein and his regime should have been toppled at the time.
The coverage and writing about the convolutions within the United Nations Teams, not the UN itself, who investigated Iraq's activities, and not just he famous WMD's, is almost great reading. It leaves one wondering what else needs to be factored in to evaluation of the topic.
Poorly reported by the media or little known pieces to the larger puzzle, such as G. Bull's modern weapon developments from South Africa, are mentioned but not deeply covered.
Lots of incidents that resulted in confusion are covered in a very speculative manner the belies the factual material the author includes elsewhere in the book. Such an example that is hard to extract, but is buried within this book, is about one small facet of the WMD program of Iraq and the famed fertilizer plants. Sure, they were innocent plants on the face of it, but had enough raw materials for fertilizer for the most of Africa for the next century. Iraq bought the material, that is well documented in many places, it was delivered, but the fact that said material has not been accounted for at the time of this work is buried in notes and references. The implication of importance being that as 'dual-use' material it makes a case for military intervention of some type. That is not made clear.
If this were a well done 'de-brief' the chapters as laid out would stick to detailed facts in a consistent fashion from section to section and would have less ambiguous conclusion to each part.
There is enough well researched and factual information to make a case for the 'toppling of Saddam Hussein', but this work confuses its case with what actually happened.
At best this is an assorted set of references and starting points for those who wish to delve more deeply in to this subject regardless of their prior or final conclusions on this difficult topic.
Yes, it is well written by a journalist who appears to have strung together several essay or topical papers into a book that aspires to be a source book but misses the mark.
Lots of historical information that someone needs to re-assemble to make a cohesive case for why/if/how etc., Saddam Hussein and his regime should have been toppled at the time.
The coverage and writing about the convolutions within the United Nations Teams, not the UN itself, who investigated Iraq's activities, and not just he famous WMD's, is almost great reading. It leaves one wondering what else needs to be factored in to evaluation of the topic.
Poorly reported by the media or little known pieces to the larger puzzle, such as G. Bull's modern weapon developments from South Africa, are mentioned but not deeply covered.
Lots of incidents that resulted in confusion are covered in a very speculative manner the belies the factual material the author includes elsewhere in the book. Such an example that is hard to extract, but is buried within this book, is about one small facet of the WMD program of Iraq and the famed fertilizer plants. Sure, they were innocent plants on the face of it, but had enough raw materials for fertilizer for the most of Africa for the next century. Iraq bought the material, that is well documented in many places, it was delivered, but the fact that said material has not been accounted for at the time of this work is buried in notes and references. The implication of importance being that as 'dual-use' material it makes a case for military intervention of some type. That is not made clear.
If this were a well done 'de-brief' the chapters as laid out would stick to detailed facts in a consistent fashion from section to section and would have less ambiguous conclusion to each part.
There is enough well researched and factual information to make a case for the 'toppling of Saddam Hussein', but this work confuses its case with what actually happened.
At best this is an assorted set of references and starting points for those who wish to delve more deeply in to this subject regardless of their prior or final conclusions on this difficult topic.
Displaying 1 of 1 review