Clinton aide's idea: Let Iraq shoot down U.S. plane

[marmar]

from Salon.com:



General Hugh Shelton, who was chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff during parts of the Clinton and George W. Bush administrations, has a new memoir out that contains this significant-seeming story: Back in the late 1990s, Shelton says a member of Clinton's cabinet asked him to allow Saddam Hussein to shoot down an American plane over Iraq as a pretext for starting a war. The way Shelton tells the story, this was a serious request.

Remember, the context here is the Clinton Administration's years of trying to overthrow Saddam -- including in a little-remembered 1996 CIA coup attempt. In December 1998 (most likely after the request was made to Shelton), Clinton bombed Iraq for four days in Operation Desert Fox, which Clinton said was a response to Saddam's lack of cooperation with U.N. weapons inspectors. .......(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.salon.com/news/politics/war_room/2010/10/15/clinton_official_iraq_hugh_shelton

[Gold Metal Flake]

1. LIHOP=CLENIS!!

[DavidDvorkin]

2. I wonder if the story is true.

[gateley]

3. His response sounds a tad too perfect, but I'm not surprised that option occurred

to someone, I'm sure it has before.

[Yeshuah Ben Joseph]

4. Ever heard of Operation Northwoods?

Substitute "Iraq" for "Cuba" and "Saddam Hussein" for "Fidel Castro" and it's pretty much the same scenario. And wisely rejected by JFK, of course.

[gateley]

5. No, hadn't heard of it but as I said, not surprised at all. Clinton probably would have

rejected it, too. :hi:

[Yeshuah Ben Joseph]

6. Apparently he did

As he also rejected PNAC's pleas for an invasion of Iraq. Unfortunately, they eventually got that one when most of the PNAC membership became the Chimp/Cheney cabinet.

[Puregonzo1188]

7. Didn't Bush suggest painting a US spy plane with UN colors to provoke a war?

I seem to recall.

Neither one of them surprises. Fabricating pretexts for War in American is a bipartisan tradition. Gulf of Tonkin, anyone?

[Spazito]

8. Seeing as it's General Shelton saying it, I would wait until a more credible source...

than him before believing it. Here is General Shelton smearing General Wesley Clark and then refusing to back it up in 2004:

"Shelton has recently and famously said, in a public forum, that Clark's firing "had to do with integrity and character issues," adding that, for that reason, "Wes won't get my vote." Shelton has since refused to elaborate."

http://www.slate.com/id/2091194/

I would point out the person showing a lack of integrity and character was General Shelton in this instance.

[Rex]

9. I highly doubt it, we controlled Iraq by then already.

He just wanted to move all the tanks and troops? Dig in as we did under Bush/Cheney? We've controlled Iraq since 1992. What war were they going to start? We still control Iraq.

[marmar]

10. "We've controlled Iraq since 1992"

Huh?