Publication date: 2003, London
Author: Dr. Hamid Al-Bayati
There is nothing “still” in politics as they said. Everything could change quickly and dramatically. In 1995, the UN was about to declare that Iraq was free of Weapons of Mass Destruction and the Security Council could have lifted the sanctions against Saddam’s regime as a result.
U.S. and British officials told Iraq then that it had to face the reality and think about the Iraqi people and opposition demands in the Security Council resolution, which could lift the sanction until the defection of Saddam’s sons-in-law in August 1995 to Jordan. Saddam’s son-in law Hussein Kamil was in charge of the Military Industrialization Organization in Iraq, and he disclosed that the weapon Industrialization program in Iraq is much bigger than the world expected.
Similarly, when Gorge W. Bush started his term as President in 2001, it took him a couple of months to appoint the new team in the different departments of his administration. In June 2001, Dr. Al-Bayati met new US officials in London who told him that the new administration is reviewing their policy towards Saddam’s regime. They added that the new administration could decide to tighten or ease its position towards Saddam’s regime. When he asked when he could know the result of this review they said it would be in September 2001.
The 9/11 attacks against the World Trade Center and the Pentagon took place and turned everything upside down. There was information that President George Bush signed a decision to remove Saddam’s regime few days after that attack.
In August 2002, the US Administration invited six groups from the Iraqi opposition to meet with officials in Washington and Dr. Hamid Al-Bayati was part of the delegation. The Iraqi opposition delegation met with the U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney, Secretary of State Colin L. Powell, Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, United States’ military's highest ranking officer, General Richard B. Myers and other officials.
The Iraqi opposition had a united position against Saddam’s regime and the future of Iraq. They decided to hold a conference for the Iraqi Opposition groups and parties which was held in London in December 2002. In this conference, around 50 political groups and parties in addition to religious scholars and independent personalities took part.
They discussed the future of Iraq and agreed to set up a democratic constitution and parliamentary regime in Iraq after the fall of Saddam’s regime.
In November 2002, President George Bush appointed Dr. Zalmay Khalilzad as a special envoy to “Free Iraqis” as he named the Iraqi opposition at that time.
Dr. Hamid Al-Bayati, the author, was part of the opposition group which met Khalilzad several times in the Iraqi opposition conferences in London in December 2002, Turkey in February 2003, and in Kurdistan 2003. They discussed different issues about toppling Saddam’s regime and the future of Iraq.
In this book, the author tried to review the United States’ plans to topple Saddam’s regime such as: Military invasion and Military coup or the Afghani style; Iraqi opposition plans to topple Saddam’s regime such as the Iraqi National Congress (INC) plans and the plans of the rest of the Iraqi opposition forces