Thursday, March 28, 2024

(EUR Book Look) ‘Iraq: The War That Shouldn’t Be – You Decide’

Iraq Book

*Although the Iraq war is over, we are still feeling the residual effects of that controversial campaign, and it is put into perspective by San Diego resident M.M. Chantiloupe in her book; Iraq: The War That Shouldn’t Be – You Decide (Xlibris Corporation, 2010, 305 pages). Chantiloupe writes a scathing analysis and rebuke of the Bush Administration in this well-written and incisive book. She asks rhetorical questions that get us all to think about why we actually went into that war and the harm that it has done to America and Iraq, as well as the world itself. Central in her discussion is the false pretenses of weapons of mass destruction. Chantiloupe writes in a scholarly fashion her analysis of this war and its residual effects, such as the current threat of ISIS, or the Islamic terrorist threat.

Iraq Book 2

Chantiloupe, a native of Jamaica West Indies, now living in San Diego, is a Certified Financial Planner with the Certified Financial Board of Standards, a retired General Stock Broker with the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA), formerly National Association of Securities Dealers (NASD) and Registered Investment Advisor with the Securities and Exchange Commission, which gives her keen insight into some of the financial implications of that war in Iraq that she is not bashful about pointing out in Iraq: The War That Shouldn’t be. She connects the dots between those that would benefit from such a costly endeavor.

Chantiloupe’s entrepreneurial father was involved in politics and government. And, these attributes became a part of her life. She always wanted to know what was happening in the government as well as the private sector, not only in the U.S. but other countries as well. Her interest piqued more so during an election year and a new administration.

The author points out in her book that after watching the buildings collapsed in downtown Manhattan on September 11, 2001, and the ensuing catastrophe, she started to do some research on Osama bin Laden and Saddam Hussein. She discovered that bin Laden and Saddam Hussein disliked each other so it was unlikely that they would work together.

Chantiloupe further states in her book that in 1998 the Clinton administration launched Desert Fox and took out Iraq’s chemical facilities and containment was effective because of the no-fly zone. And in August of 1982, Israel used U.S. Tomahawk missiles to take out Iraq’s nuclear facilities and it was never restarted.

The author comes out swinging in this book, pulling no punches. In the very first chapter, Deception Contrived On Both Sides Of The Ocean, Chantiloupe lays out the premise for the war on Iraq, by stating: “It appears that the Bush Administration had long planned an invasion of Iraq prior to the September 11, 2001, attacks on the United States, but not because it believed that Saddam Hussein had chemical and biological weapons and was affiliated with Obama bin Laden.” She further indicates that Britain’s Tony Blair had complicity in this deception.

The author states in a very profound way: “But who suffers the most in the attack on Iraq? The U.S soldiers and the Iraqi people tend to be the biggest losers in this conflict, not only in terms of death and destruction, but also the inhumane conditions under which the soldiers have to perform their sometimes impossible tasks without the proper armor, while the Bush administration paid Halliburton billions of dollars on no-bid plus costs contracts.”

Some of what the author has written may be considered as revisionist history, but the residual effects of this ill-conceived war in Iraq may be everlasting. This is a well-researched and documented treatise on the Iraq war, with scholarly analysis demonstrated by Chantiloupe.

In an emphasis and indication of the brilliant analytical mind of the author regarding the war in Iraq, and the residual effects of it that we still feel, the author profoundly states: “The Bush administration shifted its rhetoric on November 21, 2003, by saying that Osama bin Laden has taken himself out of the leadership position of al-Qaeda; therefore it is no longer important to catch him. What happened to Bush’s earlier remarks that he wanted Osama bin Laden dead or alive?”

Ironically, Jeb Bush, a likely candidate for the Republican nomination for president in 2016, was pressured this past week into rejecting, in hindsight, his brother’s war.

Chantiloupe further states: “On the one hand, Bush and Cheney link Osama and Saddam in the same context of terrorism in just about every speech they make and that they have to be captured or killed to stop the spread of terrorism and to prevent another attack on the United States. On the other hand, before Saddam was captured, they said Saddam Hussein was no longer a threat and that Osama is no longer the leader of the al-Qaeda terrorist group. Now we do not know what to believe when U.S. government officials keep flip-flopping on statements regarding their intent to capture or kill Osama bin Laden.

Iraq Book 3

This book and its revelations caught the attention of Congresswoman Maxine Waters (D-Los Angeles), who invited Chantiloupe to speak before a committee of Congress on its implications. The author describes in her subsequent book; Driven: When Obstacles Take Center Stage, how Congresswoman Waters would escort her to the forum. In a letter to Chantiloupe prior to this forum, Congresswoman Waters states: “I have reviewed your book, Iraq: The War That Shouldn’t Be – You Decide. It is an impressive body of work that deserves the attention of the public and our nation’s policymakers. As the Founder of the ‘Out of Iraq’ Congressional Caucus, I am interested in having you attend a meeting of our Caucus to discuss your book.” I agree with Congresswoman Waters, this is definitely a book that deserves the attention of the public and our nation’s policymakers!

Dennis Moore is the Associate Editor of the East County Magazine in San Diego and the book review editor of SDWriteway, an online newsletter for writers in San Diego that has partnered with the East County Magazine, and a freelance contributor to EURweb based out of Los Angeles. Mr. Moore can be contacted at [email protected] or you can follow him on Twitter at: @DennisMoore8.

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