You know we armed Iraq. I wondered about that too, you know. During the Persian Gulf war, those intelligence reports would come out: 'Iraq: incredible weapons - incredible weapons.' 'How do you know that?' 'Uh, well : we looked at the receipts.'
About this quote
- What does it mean?
- Hicks points out the irony that the US armed Iraq during the Gulf War while reporting on their weapon capacity.
- In plain terms
- We gave weapons to Iraq and then got surprised when they used them.
- What can you take from it?
- Short-term strategic alliances can create long-term enemies.
Where it applies
Putting it to work
Questions to consider
- Who is truly responsible for weapon proliferation?
- What should we learn from past conflicts?
Another view
Foreign policy often requires complex decisions that look bad in hindsight.
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