Mark Kennedy: “I would say the gentleman is absolutely right on all of those counts. One of the reasons that possibly explains why we…”

“I would say the gentleman is absolutely right on all of those counts. One of the reasons that possibly explains why we get such negative press is that Iraq, like America, is a very diverse country, with a lot of different ethnic groups and different regions throughout the country. And one of those, the Sunni Arabs from which Saddam came, represents about 15 percent or maybe 20 percent of the total population, and that group as a whole received preferential treatment. So as we compare their state today versus where they were before, it is not quite as attractive as the Shiites in the south that were really abused and tortured and done things to that one would not even want to describe in some cases, but some of them as vicious as rerouting the river so that they could not cultivate their crops. Similarly, the Kurds in the north were treated in a like fashion. There were three electrical grids in Iraq prior to us coming in there, and even today; one electrical grid to make sure that all of Saddam's palaces, his almost 50 palace compounds, were lit up around the country. The second was for the Sunni areas around Baghdad, because Baghdad was a showcase to the world to show the world that 'I have a great country here.' And the third went to the southern and northern regions if there was any left over. Now today, of course, we are treating everybody equal.…”