TEPaul writes:
Is the USGA responsible for getting us into this quagmire in Iraq too?I didn't really want to post this here, but I guess since you asked I feel it is my duty.
In 1920 while George Herbert Walker was USGA president there was an effort to overthrow the British rule in Iraq and replace it with a monarchy. The idea started in New York, with the desire to stretch the USGA influence beyond North America. It was felt Iraq could be the foothold in the Middle East for an International USGA presence in that region. Once Iraq, it would just be a matter of time before the rest of the Middle East came under the thumb of the USGA.
It was slow going, and the R&A was fierce in their fight to hold onto Iraq. After World War I, it also became apparent there might be more than just handicap fees at stake. Oil became much more valuable. There are also rumors Prescott Bush wanted to draw attention away from his fictious medals he claimed he earned in WWI.
The intrigue went on for years, but by 1935 when Prescott Bush was president of the USGA, and working with the OSS, the organization was very active in trying to overthrow the R&A backed government of Iraq. In 1935, the Hashimite monarchy took over in Iraq and it was assumed the USGA would take over quickly. Shortly after Mussolini invaded Ethiopia, and the Iraq monarch was able to delay any action about handicapping until after the war ended.
If you ever get a chance to see the first Bond movie,
A Good Walk Spoiled much of this era was covered in that early Bond movie. It's based on the OSS/USGA vs MI5/R&A battles around the world. The word was the studio backed down from releasing it after the Bush's threatened them with a lawsuit.
Without a Bush or a Walker in charge, the USGA started concentrating more on the Canadian, Mexican and Cuban governments, and didn't pay as much attention to the Middle East. The Soviet Union, attempting to get into the lucrative handicapping fees supported the overthrow of the Hashmites and installed Brigadier General Abdul Karim Qassim into power with the understanding that they would use Soviet handicapping software.
Have you ever tried to use software created in the Soviet Union?
The dream of Iraq, the cradle of civilization, and its conversion to the USGA was often a topic of family conversation at the Bush dinner table. George H.W. Bush grew up with the dream of his father and grandfather. When he got involved in the oil business after WWII, it was just a cover to work for the USGA dream. He ended up working with the CIA, finally getting the Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party to overthrow the Iraq government in 1968. Bush was repaid for his efforts in 1975 by becoming the director of the CIA.
Again, Iraq delayed the process of putting USGA terminals in every proshop, saying it was taking a long time to disentangle the Soviet software. When Saddam Hussein took over in 1979 the process was underway, but Hussein put a stop to it, going back to the R&A. Bush was furious, once again seeing Iraq ruining the Walker/Bush dream of Middle Eastern conquest. He vowed revenge.
It was left to his son to ultimately get revenge.
An alternate story is that Hussein's operatives stole Geronimo's skull from Yale's Skull and Bones. Prescott Bush stole the skull fair and square, and the Bush family would get their revenge eventually. But I haven't figured out yet how to tie the USGA into that theory.
Anyway, now you know the rest of the story.
Dan King
Some have argued we should wait, and that's an option. In my view, it's the riskiest of all options, because the longer we wait, the stronger and bolder Saddam Hussein will become.
--George W. Bush