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The Spectacle Blog

JPost: Sharon Warned Bush on Iraq

By Philip Klein on 1.12.07 @ 1:20AM

The Jerusalem Post has a fascinating story revealing new details of Ariel Sharon's talks with President Bush in the lead up to the Iraq War. Some highlights:

Former prime minister Ariel Sharon told President George W. Bush ahead of the US-led invasion of Iraq of the dangers Saddam Hussein posed for the region, but also warned him that the Arab world would not be receptive to democracy, former ambassador to the US Danny Ayalon told The Jerusalem Post on Thursday.

Ayalon, who sat in on numerous Bush-Sharon meetings, said the US and Israel held close consultations during the run-up to the war, but that Sharon was very careful not to advocate any particular American action....

"Based on his intimate knowledge of the Arab world, Sharon was skeptical of the idea that Arab societies were ready to receive democratic culture," Ayalon said.

Former Sharon spokesman Ra'anan Gissin, meanwhile, said Sharon "used his expertise on guerrilla warfare" during his discussions with Bush, and advised that before trying to impose democracy on Iraq it was necessary to bring about stability.

Make what you will of whether Danny Ayalon has ulterior motives for discussing this now or if he can be trusted as a reliable source, but the article is worth a read nonetheless.

topics:
Iraq, Israel