Allies: The US, Britain, Europe and the War in Iraq [Paperback]

Once upon a time, during the US war in Vietnam, Shawcross scooped the world media by reporting on the bombing of Cambodia under the secret orders of President Richard Nixon.

Naturally, Nixon was furious. Until then, no one knew about the bombing except the Cambodian people, the Pathet Lao, the Viet Cong and most everyone else in the region. Shawcross told the American people. The truth infuriated Nixon.

Well, he's done it again. Conservatives will hate this book, because Shawcross deftly points out the long litany of US stupidity that put Saddam Hussein in power, armed him and built up his regime. Maybe they can impeach him. Liberals will hate this book, because he uses devastating details to justify the military destruction of the Hussein regime. Maybe they can impeach
him. Intelligent readers will love his writing.

Similar to his stories about the secret bombing Cambodia, Shawcross has a fondness for facts. It makes for grim reading, then and now. But, life is never perfect. We can't get perfect omelettes every meal; sometimes we have to settle for scrambled
eggs. The underlying theme is basic, simple and utterly relevant to this year's US elections, "The responsibility on America and
its allies is immense. The only certainty is that they must succeed. The alternatives are too terrible to contemplate."

In simplest terms, Shawcross amply demonstrates how all Iraqis lived in terror from the threat that weapons of mass destruction might be used against any region courageous enough to rebel. Hussein had a choice; to comply fully with UN inspection demands and reveal himself as a bully without weapons, or stall the UN and hope it would go away and the Iraqis would be left living in fear of his savagery.

One of his most troubling assertion is that "US President George W. Bush polarizes. Richard Nixon did the same through his
career, as did Margaret Thatcher. It is a matter of style and substance. The Bush presidency has created almost unprecedented tensions between Europe and the United States." True enough. Only a fool would argue otherwise. It's a sound argument for not re-electing Bush -- provided a "really nice guy" with a "great big smile" can be found to faithfully implement
Bush's policies.

His most troubling example is a quote from a February 1998 speech by President Clinton who asserted, "If we fail to respond
today, Saddam, and all those who would follow in his footsteps, will be emboldened tomorrow by the knowledge that they can act with impunity, even in the face of a clear message from the United Nations Security Council, and clear evidence of a
weapons of mass destruction program."

Clinton couldn't act. The sheer hatred of him by Republicans in Congress, and many of those now in the Bush administration,
focussed on a little Jewish girl with kneepads rather than an Iraqi dictator with ambitions to terrorize the MidEast. The past is done. The issue now is whether the current hatred of Bush will derail what Clinton could have done in 1998, or whether
greater wisdom will prevail.

Shawcross states, "I repeat, America and the West have made serious mistakes in Iraq." He's neither apologist nor opponent;
he remains optimistic, "I believe the bottom line is this: For all its faults, Americqan commitment and American sacrifice are
essential to the world. As in the twentieth century, so in the twenty-first, only America has both the power and the optimism to
defend the international community against what really are the forces of darkness."

American voters will decide in November, just as Iraqi voters will soon get their opportunity to decide their future in free and open elections.

This informative book is not a narrative of the Iraq war but a series of observations on how the international community confronted evil after 9/11 and an analysis of history since the end of the second world war. Shawcross explores the stresses and strains upon international co-operation and diplomacy since that atrocity and the much more dangerous world it ushered in, revealing inconsistencies and hypocrisy in the foreign policies of certain nations. He also asks how the international community can best deal with criminal states, tyrants and terrorists.

Chapter One looks at the global nature of the threat, the proliferation of dangerous weapons, failed states and the Arab World. That is a backward region without good governance, political rights, civil liberties or a free media. This section discusses Iraq under Saddam in brief, including the 1991 war, UNSCOM, the IAEA, Iraqi deception and propaganda, the later inspection regime UNMOVIC and Oil-for-Food. Sanctions were eroded and many countries co-operated with Saddam who rewarded the families of suicide bombers in the Palestinian territories with $25 000 for the murder of Israelis.

Chapter Two discusses President Bush and PM Blair, their religious views and their shared concepts of right and wrong. He considers Bush as being closer to Reagan than the first President Bush. Here Shawcross also explains NeoConservatism, its prominent personalities, viewpoints and media like Commentary, the Wall Street Journal opinion page and The Weekly Standard. He dissects the European intelligentsia, their immature anti-Americanism and hysterical Bush Derangement Syndrome. Also see Anti-Americanism by Jean-Francois Revel in this regard. The concept of pre-emption is also considered in this chapter.

Europe has proved itself incapable of standing alone against totalitarianism in the 20th century, as discussed in Chapter Three which looks at the world since WW2, the formation of the EU and the role of France in particular. UN failures in Rwanda in 1994 and Bosnia in 1995 led to genocide. The USA was forced to intervene in Kosovo in 1999 and after 9/11, in Afghanistan. The EU has a collectivist outlook and its political elites have always aspired to make it a counterbalance to the USA. Shawcross points out Jacques Chirac's friendship and collaboration with Saddam and the role of Gerhard Schroeder in Germany. Both leaders fostered a climate of anti-Americanism. Good riddance to them.

The next chapter charts the collapse of consensus in the build-up to the war in 2002, with discussion of UN Resolution 1441, the attitude of European elites (The "cicadas" as Oriana Fallaci called them), Old versus New Europe and the principled stand of some liberal intellectuals like Vaclav Havel and Adam Michnik. Shawcross gives credit to Tony Blair for articulating the necessity for Saddam's removal very well.

In the next chapter he shows how wrong the mass media were, especially in their doom-laded predictions of millions of refugees. The extent of Saddam's horrors was revealed but there were problems in the occupation and reconstruction efforts. Shawcross discusses the juvenile ranting of the anti-American literati and reveals the real attitude of the French Fop Dominique de Villepin who has now mercifully faded from the scene. Notable exceptions amongst the French intelligentsia include Bernard Kouchner, Andre Glucksmann and Bernard Henri Levy. Reconstruction in Iraq has proceeded with little help from Europe.

Chapter Six deals with the successes and failures after liberation, the proliferation of Islamic terrorism and the sinister nature of the hatred for America. He concludes that the liberation of Iraq was the right thing to do and that American sacrifice is essential to the world. Since publication, the situation in Europe has markedly improved with the election of Angela Merkel in Germany and Nicholas Sarkozy in France. The book includes a bibliography and notes arranged by chapter, and concludes with an index. Allies is a concise and illuminating study of recent history that puts the dangerous world of the 21st century in clear perspective. I also recommend A Long Short War: The Postponed Liberation of Iraq by Christopher Hitchens.

This illuminating book is not a narrative of the Regime Change but a series of observations on how the international community confronted evil after 9/11 and an analysis of history since the end of the second world war. Shawcross explores the stresses and strains upon international co-operation and diplomacy since that atrocity and the much more dangerous world it ushered in, revealing inconsistencies and hypocrisy in the foreign policies of certain nations. He also asks how the international community can best deal with criminal states, tyrants and terrorists.

Chapter One looks at the global nature of the threat, the proliferation of dangerous weapons, failed states and the Arab World. That is a backward region without good governance, political rights, civil liberties or a free media. This section discusses Iraq under Saddam in brief, including the 1991 war, UNSCOM, the IAEA, Iraqi deception and propaganda, the later inspection regime UNMOVIC and Oil-for-Food. Sanctions were eroded and many countries co-operated with Saddam who rewarded the families of suicide bombers in the Palestinian territories with $25 000 for the murder of Israelis.

Chapter Two discusses President Bush and PM Blair, their religious views and their shared concepts of right and wrong. He considers Bush as being closer to Reagan than the first President Bush. Here Shawcross also explains NeoConservatism, its prominent personalities, viewpoints and media like Commentary, the Wall Street Journal opinion page and The Weekly Standard. He dissects the Euro intelligentsia and their immature anti-Americanism and hysterical Bush Derangement Syndrome. Also see Anti-Americanism by Jean-Francois Revel in this regard. The concept of pre-emption is also considered in this chapter.

Europe has proved itself incapable of standing alone against totalitarianism in the 20th century, as discussed in Chapter Three which looks at the world since WW2, the formation of the EU and the role of France in particular. UN failures in Rwanda in 1994 and Bosnia in 1995 led to genocide. The USA was forced to intervene in Kosovo in 1999 and after 9/11, in Afghanistan. The EU has a collectivist outlook and its political elites have always aspired to make it a counterbalance to the USA. Shawcross points out Jacques Chirac's friendship and collaboration with Saddam and the role of Gerhard Schroeder in Germany. Both leaders fostered a climate of anti-Americanism. Good riddance to them.

The next chapter charts the collapse of consensus in the build-up to the war in 2002, with discussion of UN Resolution 1441, the attitude of European elites (The "cicadas" as Oriana Fallaci called them), Old versus New Europe and the principled stand of some liberal intellectuals like Vaclav Havel and Adam Michnik. Shawcross gives credit to Tony Blair for articulating the necessity for Saddam's removal very well.

In the next chapter he shows how wrong the mass media were, especially in their doom-laded predictions of millions of refugees. The extent of Saddam's horrors was revealed but there were problems in the occupation and reconstruction efforts. Shawcross discusses the juvenile ranting of the anti-American literati and reveals the real attitude of the French Fop Dominique de Villepin who has now mercifully faded from the scene. Notable exceptions amongst the French intelligentsia include Bernard Kouchner, Andre Glucksmann and Bernard Henri Levy. Reconstruction in Iraq has proceeded with little help from Europe.

Chapter Six deals with the successes and failures after liberation, the proliferation of Islamic terrorism and the sinister nature of the hatred for America. He concludes that the liberation of Iraq was the right thing to do and that American sacrifice is essential to the world. Since publication, the situation in Europe has markedly improved with the election of Angela Merkel in Germany and Nicholas Sarkozy in France. The book includes a bibliography and notes arranged by chapter, and concludes with an index. Allies is a concise and illuminating study of recent history that puts the dangerous world of the 21st century in clear perspective.

A Matter of Principle: Humanitarian Arguments for War in Iraq edited by Thomas Cushman

Menace in Europe by Claire Berlinski