Going 'Inside Iraq' with alJazeera

April 4, 5:43 PMForeign Policy ExaminerAimee Kligman

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Al-Jazeera (AP / CBS)

 '

Those who favor this attack on Iraq now will tell you candidly and privately, that it is probably true that Saddam Hussein is no threat to the United States. But they are afraid at some point he might decide if he had a nuclear weapon to use it against Israel.' - General Wesley Clark, former Supreme Allied NATO Commander

For most Americans, Iraq was finally declared to have been a war of choice rather than necessity, and if one were to believe the polls, the majority of Americans would like to see those who brought this catastrophic conflict onto the US punished. 

There is an Iraqi by the name of Jasim Azawi, who has been hosting a half-hour talk show featuring prominent guests since 2006 called 'Inside Iraq'. Contrary to what we are subject to with our  mainstream media, the alJazeera segment continues to probe and debate relevant questions. The segment which I felt compelled to report aired yesterday, and can be viewed on the alJazeera website as well as on Youtube. It is imperative that Americans tear themselves away from their favorite reality show, or news channel and watch this episode, and any other if they so choose. 

Guests who appeared on the show will probably be unfamiliar to most. Below, you will find profiles of both men, Dr. Mordechai Kedar, a professor at Bar Ilan University and Anas alTikriti, an Iraqi political analyst.

 Mr. Azawi begins the discussion with a statement that would most likely be censored on American cable news: 'Israel played a significant role in spurring the US to attack Iraq; Israel denies its role, saying that Iran should have been the target instead.' We will try to separate myth from fact with our guests.

Noteworthy: December 26, 2008 article suggesting that US attacked Iraq to avenge Israel being attacked by Iraq scud missiles; the comments to this article were most disappointing.

Dr. Kedar is fumbling but suggests that since the only people who really know the answer to this question are Bush and Sharon, that the world will never know. He chalks the whole thing up to 'rumors'. However, he defends the position that if Israel had anything to do with decapitating Hussein, then it's a source of pride rather than shame. He adopts the Cheney rhetoric that Iraq needed to be liberated.

Mr. alTikriti's response is unhesitating and he categorically accuses Israel of having its fingerprints all over Iraq. He will say this again during the half hour segment. He chastises Kedar for displaying an ailment common to Israel, which he calls the grand state of denial. He deconstructs Kedar by saying that Israel is its own worst enemy.

Noteworthy: December 30, 2008 article suggesting Sarkozy telling Israel it is its own worst enemy

We learn from the moderator that prior to 2003, the Israeli press was chock full of statements from its politicians about Iraq, i.e., that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction, that Iraq will change the face of the Middle East, and that Iraq is Israel's mortal enemy. Could this be the same faulty intelligence that our former president and his cohorts referred to? And for which they hung George Tenet? Please do the math.

We all remember being glued to our TV screens when Iraq was launching scud missiles into Israel. Dr. Kedar observes that this was just retaliation for Israel destroying their nuclear reactor in the '80's. He continues to claim that he is the recipient of emails from Iraqis who want to come to Israel, and are eager to enjoy the country. Altikriti reveals that statistically 99% of Iraqis are against Israel and that one would be hard pressed to find a single Iraqi grateful to either Israel or the Americans for the situation in which they find themselves right now.

The most damning accusation, which was never denied by Dr. Kedar was alTikriti's statement that Mossad and Israeli intelligence operatives are still on the ground in Iraq. I was stunned to hear that our very own Janet Karpinski who had been commander at Abu Ghraib had spoken of Israeli Mossad at the prison conducting interrogations. Of course, there was denial at the time, and then she was 'demoted' and 'retired'. More dots. He reiterated that Bush and Blair bore the brunt of accusations for false information leading up to the war, but that it should have been about Israeli intelligence which dragged the US and UK into Iraq.

Another chilling accusation is thrown at Kedar: the Israelis were responsible for killing hundreds of Iraqi scientists. This is the point at which Kedar becomes every Israeli: never answers the question, but goes into a tirade about Israel being responsible for all the ills of the world. This is ingrained in the Israeli psyche, so much so, that it is like a reflexive response.

 Noteworthy: A February 17, 2009 article suggesting that Israel is eliminating scientists in Iran

Dr. Kedar seems to be implicating himself when he begins talking about the cooperation of Iraq with the PLO in killing Israelis, and brings up the incident of the Achille Lauro. He goes on to say this is the reason we never liked that guy (read: Saddam Hussein), and he's been kicked away, and now we have the problem with the Iranians.

Is this another one of those intelligence reports to incite the US to attack Iran?

Kedar makes another error: he tells alTikriti that Israel needs the Arabs like a 'headache'. He reminds him that Israel is an advanced, technologically savvy country, more in line with European democracies than Arab regimes. There's nothing he can do because Iraqis are killing each other as always. He does make an important and valid point finally when he says that countries in the region fear democratic societies.

Unfortunately for him, alTikriti gets the last word.

He corrects the record by saying that the varying factions in Iraq have lived in peace side by side for centuries; that Israel and peace are incongruous, and that Israel is a perpetrator of terror in the region and never really wanted peace. He implies that Israel does not want any stable, strong and solid countries around it.

For more information:

Full Profile Anas Altikriti

Profile of Dr. Mordechai Kedar

Profile of 'Inside Iraq" at alJazeera