This is Iraq in the 70s of the 20th century.
At that time, it was a young country with confidence in the future.
People here take great pride in their deep history: ancient Mesopotamia is one of the birthplaces of human civilization.
At that time, Iraq was like a colorful "mosaic country", when the economy took off and all ethnic cultures coexisted in harmony.
The Tigris and Euphrates rivers are known as Iraq's mother rivers. In the 70s, living on the banks of these two rivers was a very pleasant thing.
But today, the ancient city center of Mosul is in ruins...
Twenty years ago, on March 20, 2003, George W. Bush launched the Iraq War, which has killed 550,000 people and cost nearly $1.8 trillion, according to the website of the US Army Times on March 17.
Over the past four decades, Iraqis have endured two civil wars, an armed invasion, a prolonged embargo, a war against a multinational coalition force and a war against Iran, and they have lived under dictatorship.
This story is about the four decades of the destruction of Iraq...
In the spring of 1990, Saddam Hussein also displayed troops on the Kuwaiti border.
Saddam was furious because Kuwait had refused to forgive Iraq's $14 billion debt during the Iran-Iraq war, arguing that Iraq represented Arab interests and had paid a high price in the war with Iran, and that Kuwait should buy it like several other neighboring Arab countries.
On 1 August 1990, negotiations between Iraq and Kuwait over oil broke down, and Saddam Hussein believed that he was correcting historical injustices. Moreover, the Iraqis have always believed that Kuwait, a small emirate full of oil, should belong to them.
Buster Glöson, then deputy chief of staff for planning and operations at the U.S. Air Force Headquarters:
I didn't expect him to be crazy enough to invade Kuwait. I thought he was just bluffing as usual ... Unexpectedly, this was a precursor to the imminent outbreak of war.
The war in Kuwait broke out in August 1990, and the Western powers, led by the United States, could not tolerate dictating in the Persian Gulf by any country other than their own.
Jean-Pierre Schévenemão, then French Minister of Defense:
Saddam Hussein has always considered himself a Western thug in the Middle East. It's a bit like a bar owner in an illegal area who thinks he'll be protected by the police. So he never imagined that the Americans would completely destroy Iraq.
Iraq's invasion of Kuwait triggered a major global crisis.
In Europe, at midnight, then-US President George H.W. Bush discussed with allies overnight: Should the United States negotiate with Saddam Hussein or launch a counterattack?
The then French Foreign Minister Roland Duma:
Mitterrand believed that Saddam Hussein would take advantage of the current situation to conquer the Middle Eastern countries one by one. He will occupy Saudi Arabia, destabilize the entire region, and push us into an "oil war". That evening, Bush told me that his troops were on standby. So what do we do? I thought for ten seconds and said: We are allies of the United States in everything at stake, and we have no choice but to support them.
After making up his mind, Mitterrand called Bush and said: "We agree to enter the war, we support the decision of the United States, and we will go to the front with you." ”
Reporter: Did France decide to enter the war as early as August 3, 1990?
Roland Duma: Yes, that's right.
Just a few hours after the Gulf crisis, France promised to send troops, which is a top secret!
"Solving problems diplomatically" has never been their preference.
Britain and France, two long-time allies, had agreed with the United States at this time.
In order to weaken Iraq's ruling Baath Party, on 6 August 1990, the United States, France and the United Kingdom voted in favour of the United Nations sanctions against Iraq.
This is the toughest sanction ever imposed on a single country. Resolution 661 essentially severed all ties between Iraq and the outside world.
At the same time, Saddam Hussein failed to see reality clearly, and he firmly believed that the Soviet Union would still be his strong backing; As everyone knows, the Soviet Union at that time was also on the verge of collapse, and it was difficult to protect itself.
While Saddam was still fighting a war of words, the Americans were ready for all-out war. U.S. Air Force strategist Buster Gloson wants to use new technology to orchestrate what he calls a "surgical" ultra-precision air strike.
Is a clash of civilizations on the horizon?
In the fall of 1990, anti-war protesters fought back... Around the world, it is inconceivable that large numbers of people are beginning to worry, taking to the streets and waging war without public support. Therefore, the leaders of the allied countries must convince their own people ... Even do not hesitate to lie.
On October 14, 1990, Washington, the United States Congress convened a meeting with Kuwaitis in exile. The world's media rushed to cover their stories in an attempt to confirm the atrocities committed by Iraqis in Kuwait.
"My name is Neyra and I just escaped from Kuwait. While I was there, I saw Iraqi soldiers enter the hospital with guns ... They took the baby out of the incubator, snatched it away, and left the little baby to fend for itself on the cold floor. ”
15-year-old Aiira is not a nurse, her real identity is the biological daughter of the Kuwaiti ambassador, trained at the American public relations consulting firm Weida. Weida's mission is to sell war to the American people. The value of this task is more than ten million dollars.
Craig Fuller was one of the directors of Vida, the same chief of staff as George H.W. Bush when he was vice president. The US president repeatedly emphasized in his speech the eyewitness testimony of Neyla, there are other similar stories ...
Thus, under this propaganda offensive, Saddam Hussein became the embodiment of absolute evil. In the Western world, the wind of public opinion changed sharply, and large numbers of people began to support the start of war.
Buster Glöson, then deputy chief of staff for planning and operations at the U.S. Air Force Headquarters:
As an officer and a citizen of the United States, I don't think the government has the right to lie to the American people and fabricate facts to gain their support for military operations.
It is common to persuade people to take certain actions through war propaganda. But what is unusual is that the people believe it so quickly and so easily.
On 29 November 1990, the United Nations voted to issue an ultimatum to Iraq: Saddam Hussein must withdraw his forces from Kuwait within six weeks.
Forty-eight days later, in the early morning of January 17, 1991, the United States and Britain launched Operation Desert Storm. For the first time in human history, the war was broadcast live on television: green light crossed the sky, no casualties... The sight is spectacular!
In 48 hours, the coalition made 5,659 sorties, and the fire destroyed Iraq.
Some 60,000 Iraqis were killed in this month and a half of continuous bombardment. And the Iraqis must not have imagined that the long suffering has just begun...
Watch this week's Phoenix vision, The Fall of a Nation – A Look Back at the 20th Anniversary of the Iraq War. From Washington to Paris, the camera shines directly on top decision-makers 20 years ago, revealing the hidden inside story behind the war, March 20-24, 8 p.m.
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