Allies: Why the West Had to Remove Saddam [Englisch] [Gebundene Ausgabe]

This informative book is not a narrative of the Iraq war but a series of observations on how the international community confronted evil after 9/11 and an analysis of history since the end of the second world war. Shawcross explores the stresses and strains upon international co-operation and diplomacy since that atrocity and the much more dangerous world it ushered in, revealing inconsistencies and hypocrisy in the foreign policies of certain nations. He also asks how the international community can best deal with criminal states, tyrants and terrorists.

Chapter One looks at the global nature of the threat, the proliferation of dangerous weapons, failed states and the Arab World. That is a backward region without good governance, political rights, civil liberties or a free media. This section discusses Iraq under Saddam in brief, including the 1991 war, UNSCOM, the IAEA, Iraqi deception and propaganda, the later inspection regime UNMOVIC and Oil-for-Food. Sanctions were eroded and many countries co-operated with Saddam who rewarded the families of suicide bombers in the Palestinian territories with $25 000 for the murder of Israelis.

Chapter Two discusses President Bush and PM Blair, their religious views and their shared concepts of right and wrong. He considers Bush as being closer to Reagan than the first President Bush. Here Shawcross also explains NeoConservatism, its prominent personalities, viewpoints and media like Commentary, the Wall Street Journal opinion page and The Weekly Standard. He dissects the Euro intelligentsia and their immature anti-Americanism and hysterical Bush Derangement Syndrome. Also see Anti-Americanism by Jean-Francois Revel in this regard. The concept of pre-emption is also considered in this chapter.

Europe has proved itself incapable of standing alone against totalitarianism in the 20th century, as discussed in Chapter Three which looks at the world since WW2, the formation of the EU and the role of France in particular. UN failures in Rwanda in 1994 and Bosnia in 1995 led to genocide. The USA was forced to intervene in Kosovo in 1999 and after 9/11, in Afghanistan. The EU has a collectivist outlook and its political elites have always aspired to make it a counterbalance to the USA. Shawcross points out Jacques Chirac's friendship and collaboration with Saddam and the role of Gerhard Schroeder in Germany. Both leaders fostered a climate of anti-Americanism. Good riddance to them.

The next chapter charts the collapse of consensus in the build-up to the war in 2002, with discussion of UN Resolution 1441, the attitude of European elites (The "cicadas" as Oriana Fallaci called them), Old versus New Europe and the principled stand of some liberal intellectuals like Vaclav Havel and Adam Michnik. Shawcross gives credit to Tony Blair for articulating the necessity for Saddam's removal very well.

In the next chapter he shows how wrong the mass media were, especially in their doom-laded predictions of millions of refugees. The extent of Saddam's horrors was revealed but there were problems in the occupation and reconstruction efforts. Shawcross discusses the juvenile ranting of the anti-American literati and reveals the real attitude of the French Fop Dominique de Villepin who has now mercifully faded from the scene. Notable exceptions amongst the French intelligentsia include Bernard Kouchner, Andre Glucksmann and Bernard Henri Levy. Reconstruction in Iraq has proceeded with little help from Europe.

Chapter Six deals with the successes and failures after liberation, the proliferation of Islamic terrorism and the sinister nature of the hatred for America. He concludes that the liberation of Iraq was the right thing to do and that American sacrifice is essential to the world. Since publication, the situation in Europe has markedly improved with the election of Angela Merkel in Germany and Nicholas Sarkozy in France. The book includes a bibliography and notes arranged by chapter, and concludes with an index. Allies is a concise and illuminating study of recent history that puts the dangerous world of the 21st century in clear perspective. I also recommend A Long Short War by Christopher Hitchens.

Quintessenz des Buches: Saddam war gefährlich.

Wie gefährlich und für wen denn? Was ist mit den Anschuldigungen, die als Kriegsgrund hervorgebracht wurden? Unangenehme Fragen werden in dem Buch eher marginal behandelt. Stattdessen darf man sich an den Ansichten des Autors erfreuen ... Da gibt es bessere Literatur

Ein ausgezeichnetes Buch, daß jeder, der sich vorurteilsfrei und sachlich mit dem Komplex "Irakkrieg" auseinandersetzen möchte, gelesen haben sollte. Voller interessanter Fakten und Sachinformationen.