Iraq and the West: The politics of confrontation

It would be easy to imagine that the travails of the people of Iraq, and the two recent wars which caused them, are all the responsibility of Saddam Hussein. The present US administration is not alone in drawing the apparent lesson, that the overthrow of Saddam will put things right.

But Saddam was supported by the West in his war against Iran; and Iraq's quarrels with Kuwait, with Iran, and with the Kurds, have their origins long before he came to power, before even Iraq became an independent nation. Are his unspeakable methods of holding onto power being allowed to overshadow Iraq's just grievances?

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