Reuters
The Independent has published declassified documents relating to the first Gulf War, in which she compares former British Prime Minister, Margaret Thatcher, the late Iraqi President Saddam Hussein, with Hitler.
The documents revealed that Thatcher and its Foreign Minister Douglas Hurd agreed that the Iraqi president was “acting like Adolf Hitler” after his military attack on a neighboring country.
In conjunction with the 30th anniversary of Operation Desert Storm that ended with the liberation of Kuwait, the documents say that Thatcher viewed Saddam as a “selfish and tyrannical dictator.”
Downing Street Special Secretary Caroline Slowock sent a note to Simon Gass, Assistant Secretary of State, on August 19, 1990, detailing how Thatcher and Heard had talked about the development of the military situation during a private conversation the previous evening.
According to the text of the letter, “The British Prime Minister and her Foreign Minister have agreed that the detention of foreign nationals in key facilities appears to be a very likely possibility.” She added, “Saddam Hussein was behaving like Hitler and using psychological warfare. His aim might be to provoke hostilities. Thatcher stressed the importance of the UK studying his psychological warfare tactics carefully and responding in an appropriate manner.”
Previous classified documents kept in the National Archives also show that Thatcher and her successor, John Major, discussed the Gulf War later that year.
Major wrote to Thatcher that “there is no doubt that the actions of the Iraqi dictator are unforgivable, and that the United Kingdom should not shun conflict.”
Records show that the two conservative leaders met in early January 1991, shortly before the start of fighting in Operation Desert Storm, to discuss the situation. Major’s letter in December also showed that he believed that the failure to remove the Iraqi army from Kuwait “poses a danger to other small countries, a greater danger than Saddam and a heavy loss to the standing of the United States and ourselves.”
Source: “The Independent”
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