how in the heck can our 150 thousand troops take on 6 million crazy iraq
people and win this civil war thats going on over there???

the same way 350,000 U.S. Soldiers did in Vietnam, they can't. The
people,country,life style and beliefs will always remain, it's a
political thing like Vietnam.

i know you are right!

another thought.... oshma does not have all the oil like iraq has. thats
why we are iraq and not going after the oshma b. or the culprits that
caused 911!

good words lastofakind. i don't think it was thought of enough when we
went into iraq. you can't reform a political system that is based on a
nations belief system.

Wise words King,, No one thought before are loved ones were sent to
Iraq.....

*shakes my head*

You all need to go back to the beginning and read. I am sorry but I do
not think your right.

Just to show I know what I am talking about.....

1979

The US State Department includes Iraq in its list of states that sponsor
terrorism. [Phythian, 1997]
1980

A US Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) document reports that since the
mid-1970s, Iraq has been “actively acquiring” chemical weapons.
[Phythian, 1997]
April 10, 1980

Saddam’s Interior Ministry issues directive No. 2884, which orders the
detainment of some 5,000 people—mostly Kurds of Iranian
background—between the ages of 18 and 28. These people will never be
seen again (see Late Summer 1980). [Independent, 12/13/2002]

Late Summer 1980

Roughly 5,000 Iraqis, mostly northern Kurds, are detained by Saddam’s
army—never to be seen again. According to numerous Kurds later
interviewed by the Independent of London, the detainees were killed in
gas and chemical weapons experiments. A Kurdish refugee in Lebanon will
recall: “It is now clear, that during the war with Iran many of the
young detainees were taken to secret laboratories in different locations
in Iraq and were exposed to intense doses of chemical and biological
substances in a myriad of conditions and situations. With every military
setback at the front causing panic in Baghdad, these experiments had to
be speeded up—which meant more detainees were needed to be sent to the
laboratories, which had to test VX nerve gas, mustard gas, sarin, tabun,
aflatoxin, gas gangrene and anthrax.” The refugee will also claim that
Western intelligence was fully aware of what had happened to the 5,000
detainees. [Independent, 12/13/2002 Sources: Unnamed Kurds]
September 1980

Iraq invades Iran.

1981-1988

The Reagan administration provides covert support to Iraq in an effort
to prevent Iran from overrunning the oil-rich states of the Persian
Gulf. [New York Times, 8/18/2002; Nation, 8/26/2002; Washington Post,
12/30/2002]
US Air Force officers are secretly deployed to Iraq to assist their
counterparts in the Iraqi military. [Nation, 8/26/2002]
The US provides satellite photography to Iraq revealing the movements
of the Iranian forces. [Washington Post, 12/15/1986; New York Times,
8/18/2002 Sources: senior military officers with direct knowledge of the
program, Unnamed informed sources interviewed by reporter Bob Woodward]
The US provides Iraq with intelligence gathered by Saudi-owned AWACS
operated by the Pentagon. [Nation, 8/26/2002]
Iraq uses US-supplied military intelligence “to calibrate attacks with
mustard gas on Iranian ground troops....” (see 1984) [Washington Post,
12/15/1986 Sources: Unnamed informed sources interviewed by reporter Bob
Woodward]
“[M]ore than 60 officers of the Defense Intelligence Agency ....
secretly ... [provide] detailed information on Iranian deployments,
tactical planning for battles, plans for airstrikes and bomb-damage
assessments for Iraq.” [New York Times, 8/18/2002 Sources: senior
military officers with direct knowledge of the program]
President Reagan and Vice President George Bush personally deliver
military advice to Saddam Hussein, both directly and through
intermediaries (see 1986). [Affidavit. United States v. Carlos Cardoen,
et al. [Charge that Teledyne Wah Chang Albany illegally provided a
proscribed substance, zirconium, to Cardoen Industries and to Iraq],
1/31/1995 ; Washington Post, 12/30/2002]
The US closely monitors “third country arms sales to Iraq to make sure
Iraq [has] the military weaponry required.” [Affidavit. United States v.
Carlos Cardoen, et al. [Charge that Teledyne Wah Chang Albany illegally
provided a proscribed substance, zirconium, to Cardoen Industries and to
Iraq], 1/31/1995 ;
Washington Post, 12/30/2002]
According to the censured portion of Iraq’s December 7, 2002
declaration to the UN (see December 7, 2002) (see December 19, 2002),
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory and Sandia National Laboratories
help train Iraqi nuclear weapons scientists and provide nonfissile
material for Iraq’s nuclear weapons program. [San Francisco Chronicle,
1/26/2003]

(Show related quotes)
(1981-1993)

US and British companies are among several Western firms that sell Iraq
materials that can be used to develop nuclear, chemical, biological, and
conventional weapons. [Associated Press, 12/21/2002; New York Times,
12/21/2002; Washington Post, 12/30/2002; San Francisco Chronicle,
1/26/2003; Sunday Herald (Glasgow), 2/23/2003]
United States -
Biological: American Type Culture Collection, several biological
precursor agents for diseases like anthrax, gangrene, and the West Nile
virus; Alcolac International, Thiodiglycol, the mustard gas precursor;
Al Haddad, 60 tons of a chemical that could be used to make sarin; Dow
Chemical, $1.5 million of pesticides (see December 1988). [Die
Tageszeitung (Berlin), 10/18/2002; New York Times, 12/21/2002;
Washington Post, 12/30/2002]
Nuclear: TI Coating; UNISYS; Tektronix; Leybold Vacuum Systems;
Finnigan-MAT-US; Hewlett Packard; Dupont; Consarc; Cerberus (LTD) ;
Canberra Industries; Axel Electronics Inc. [Die Tageszeitung (Berlin),
10/18/2002; Z Magazine, 10/29/2002]
Rocket Program: Honeywell ;TI Coating; UNISYS; Honeywell; Semetex;
Sperry Corp.; Tektronix; Hewlett Packard; Eastman Kodak; Electronic
Associates; EZ Logic Data Systems, Inc. [Die Tageszeitung (Berlin),
10/18/2002; Z Magazine, 10/29/2002]
Conventional weapons: Honeywell; Spektra Physics; TI Coating; UNISYS;
Sperry Corp.; Rockwell; Hewlett Packard; Carl Zeis -U.S; Union Carbide.
[Die Tageszeitung (Berlin), 10/18/2002; Z Magazine, 10/29/2002;
Washington Post, 12/30/2002; San Francisco Chronicle, 1/26/2003]
United Kingdom -
: Nuclear weapons: Euromac Ltd-UK.; C Plath-Nuclear; Endshire Export
Marketing; International Computer Systems; MEED International;
International Computer Limited; Matrix Churchill Corp.; Ali Ashour
Daghir.; Inwako; XYY Options, Inc. [Sunday Herald (Glasgow), 2/23/2003]
Chemical weapons: MEED International; International Computer Systems;
International Military Services; Sheffield Forgemasters; Technology
Development Group; International Signal and Control; Terex Corporation;
Walter Somers Ltd. [Sunday Herald (Glasgow), 2/23/2003]
Conventional: International Computer Systems; International Computer
Limited; TMG Engineering. [Sunday Herald (Glasgow), 2/23/2003]
Entity Tags: Walter Somers Ltd., Terex Corporation, TMG Engineering,
American Type Culture Collection, International Signal and Control,
Technology Development Group, Sheffield Forgemasters, Axel Electronics
Inc., Canberra Industries, Cerberus (LTD), Consarc, Al Haddad, Alcolac
International, Dupont, Hewlett Packard, TI Coating, UNISYS, Tektronix,
Finnigan-MAT-US, Leybold Vacuum Systems, Dow Chemical, Honeywell,
Semetex, International Computer Limited, Matrix Churchill Corp., Ali
Ashour Daghir, International Military Services, XYY Options, Inc.,
Inwako, MEED International, International Computer Systems, C
Plath-Nuclear, Electronic Associates, Eastman Kodak, Sperry Corp., EZ
Logic Data Systems, Inc., Spektra Physics, Rockwell, Euromac Ltd-UK,
Union Carbide, Carl Zeis -U.S, Endshire Export Marketing
August 13, 1981

The official Iranian news agency claims that Iraq used chemical weapons
against Iranian forces along the northern section of the Iran-Iraq
border. [Vallette, 3/24/2003] By the end of the decade, some 100,000
people will die as a result of chemical warfare waged by the Iraqis.
[New York Times, 2/13/2003]

(Show related quotes)
President Reagan orders the Defense Department and the CIA to supply
Iraq’s military with intelligence information, advice, and hardware for
battle after being advised to do so by CIA Director William Casey.
Former Reagan National Security official Howard Teicher will later
reveal that Casey “personally spearheaded the effort to insure that Iraq
had sufficient military weapons, ammunition and vehicles to avoid losing
the Iran-Iraq war.” The US will continue to provide this type of
intelligence to Iraq until 1988. [Affidavit. United States v. Carlos
Cardoen, et al. [Charge that Teledyne Wah Chang Albany illegally
provided a proscribed substance, zirconium, to Cardoen Industries and to
Iraq], 1/31/1995 ; Knight Ridder, 2/24/1995; MSNBC, 8/18/2002; New York
Times, 8/18/2002]

Entity Tags: Ronald Reagan, William Casey
1982

According to some accounts, Iraq begins using chemical weapons against
Iran at this time. However, Iran claims that Iraq’s use of these weapons
began in 1981 (see August 13, 1981). [Shultz, 1993, pp. 238; Jentleson,
1994, pp. 48; Cole, 1997, pp. 87]
February 1982

The Reagan administration—despite stern objections from Congress—removes
Iraq from the US State Department’s list of states sponsoring terrorism
(see 1979). [New York Times, 2/28/1982; Washington Post, 12/30/2002;
London Times, 12/31/2002] This clears the way for future US military aid
to that country. [Phythian, 1997]

Entity Tags: US Congress

May 1982-June 1982

Iran discovers a hole in Iraq’s defenses along the Iran-Iraq border
between Baghdad and Basra and prepares to launch a massive invasion
aimed at severing the country in two. As Howard Teicher will later note
in his 1995 affidavit, a successful invasion would give Iran control
over a huge quantity of oil—precisely the outcome that the US fears
most. “United States Intelligence, including satellite imagery, had
detected both the gap in the Iraqi defenses and the Iranian massing of
troops across from the gap.” Teicher will explain. “At the time, the
United States was officially neutral in the Iran-Iraq conflict.
President Reagan was forced to choose between (a) maintaining strict
neutrality and allowing Iran to defeat Iraq, or (b) intervening and
providing assistance to Iraq. In June, 1982, President Reagan decided
that the United States could not afford to allow Iraq to lose the war to
Iran. President Reagan decided that the United States would do whatever
was necessary and legal to prevent Iraq from losing the war with Iran.”
[Affidavit. United States v. Carlos Cardoen, et al. [Charge that
Teledyne Wah Chang Albany illegally provided a proscribed substance,
zirconium, to Cardoen Industries and to Iraq], 1/31/1995 ; MSNBC,
8/18/2002; London Times, 12/31/2002]
June 1982

President Reagan issues a national security directive which formalizes
US policy toward the Iraq-Iran war, committing the US to continued
support for Iraq to avoid an Iranian victory. The document is authored
by National Security aides Howard Teicher and Geoff Kemp. [Affidavit.
United States v. Carlos Cardoen, et al. [Charge that Teledyne Wah Chang
Albany illegally provided a proscribed substance, zirconium, to Cardoen
Industries and to Iraq], 1/31/1995 ; MSNBC, 8/18/2002; London Times,
12/31/2002]

Entity Tags: Ronald Reagan, Geoff Kemp, Howard Teicher

July 1982

Iraq uses chemical weapons against Iranian troops. [US Department of
State, 11/1/1983 ]
October 1982

“Unspecified foreign officers [fire] lethal chemical weapons at the
orders of Saddam [Hussein] during battles [against Iranian forces] in
the Mandali area.” [US Department of State, 11/1/1983 ]

Entity Tags: Saddam Hussein
December 1982

The Italian subsidiary of Bell Textron, the manufacture of Bell
helicopters, informs the US embassy in Rome that it has declined a
request from Iraq to militarize recently purchased Hughes helicopters.
[Battle, 2/25/2003]
1983

The US State Department reports that Iraq’s support for anti-Western
militant groups continues unabated. [Jentleson, 1994]
1983

The Reagan administration approves the sale of 60 civilian Hughes
helicopters to Iraq, even though it is widely understood that the
helicopters can be weaponized with little effort. Critics will regard
the sale as military aid cloaked as civilian assistance. [Phythian,
1997, pp. 37-38]

possibly the Kurds.(see March 1988) [Washington Post, 3/11/1991;
Phythian, 1997, pp. 37-38]

Entity Tags: George Shultz, Howard Baldridge
1983

Iraq’s use of chemical weapons against Iran increases significantly. The
US is informed of Iraq’s use of chemical weapons toward the end of the
year. [Shultz, 1993, pp. 238; Jentleson, 1994, pp. 48; Cole, 1997, pp.
87]
(1983)

Iranian diplomats bring photographs to the United Nations and several
national capitals showing the swollen, blistered and burned bodies of
injured and dead Iranians who have been victims of Iraqi chemical
attacks. [New York Times, 2/13/2003]
1983

Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Egypt supply Iraq with US howitzers,
helicopters, bombs and other weapons with the secret approval of the
Reagan administration. [Phythian, 1997, pp. 35] Italy also funnels arms
to Iraq at the insistence of President Reagan who personally made the
request to Prime Minister Guilio Andreotti. [Friedman, 1993, pp. 51-54;
Phythian, 1997, pp. 36]

Entity Tags: Guilio Andreotti, Ronald Reagan

April 12, 1983

Iraq warns Iran of “new weapons ... [to] be used for the first time in
war ... not used in previous attacks because of humanitarian and ethical
reasons ... that will destroy any moving creature.” [US Department of
State, 11/1/1983 ]
June 1983

The South Korean government informs the State Department that it
received a request from Iraq to militarize some helicopters. [Battle,
2/25/2003]
July 1983-August 1983

Iraq uses “a chemical agent with lethal effects against ... Iranian
forces invading Iraq at Haj Umran...” [US Department of State, 11/1/1983
; Central Intelligence Agency, 1997]
October 21, 1983

An Iraqi warplane drops a chemical bomb near the Iranian village of
Bademjan. Iranian ambassador Said Rajaie Khorassani claims, “A white
fume spread in the area causing severe skin injuries and several cases
of loss of eyesight among people in the vicinity and 11 people lost
their lives.” [Vallette, 3/24/2003]

Entity Tags: Said Rajaie Khorassani
November 1, 1983

US State Department official Jonathan T. Howe tells Secretary of State
George P. Shultz that intelligence reports indicate that Saddam
Hussein’s troops are resorting to “almost daily use of CW [Chemical
Weapons]” against their Iranian adversaries. [US Department of State,
11/1/1983 ; Washington Post, 12/30/2002; London Times, 12/31/2002]

Entity Tags: Jonathan T. Howe, George Shultz

The, U.S. can,t win....you Americans always try to solve everyones
problems, you never consider the fact that you usually are the cause of
them as well, you will fight until the last of the 150.000, was it, is
killed and then act victorious
these people here will buy anything.

You americans? Are we to assume your in TX and your not ammerican?

I,m from New Zealand.....!

November 21, 1983

US State Department official Jonathan T. Howe sends Secretary of Defense
Lawrence Eagleburger a memo reporting that US intelligence has
determined that “Iraq has acquired a CW [chemical weapons] production
capability, primarily from Western firms, including possibly a US
foreign subsidiary” and that Iraq has used chemical weapons against
Iranian forces and Kurdish insurgents. Referring to the US policy “of
seeking a halt to CW use wherever it occurs,” Howe says the US is
“considering” approaching Iraq directly, but in a way that avoids
playing “into Iran’s hands by fueling its propaganda against Iraq.”
Significantly, the memo acknowledges that the US has so far limited its
“efforts against the Iraqi CW program to close monitoring because of our
strict neutrality in the Gulf war, the sensitivity of sources, and the
low probability of achieving desired results.” [US Department of State,
11/1/1983 ]

Entity Tags: Jonathan T. Howe, Lawrence Eagleburger
November 26, 1983

US President Ronald Reagan issues National Security Directive 114 on the
United States’ policy toward the Iran-Iraq war. The document—which makes
no mention of Iraq’s use of chemical weapons—calls for increased
regional military cooperation to protect oil facilities and for
improving US military capabilities in the region. The directive states,
“Because of the real and psychological impact of a curtailment in the
flow of oil from the Persian Gulf on the international economic system,
we must assure our readiness to deal promptly with actions aimed at
disrupting that traffic.” [US President, 11/26/1983 ]

Entity Tags: Ronald Reagan

Commerce had decided that the exporting of aircraft weighing less than
10,000 pounds to Iraq did not require an export license. [Middle East
Defense News, 11/9/1992]
December 2, 1983

The US State Department invites Bechtel officials to Washington to
discuss plans for constructing the proposed Iraq-Jordan Aqaba oil
pipeline. Former Bechtel president George Shultz is US Secretary of
State at this time. [Vallette, 3/24/2003]

Entity Tags: Bechtel, George Shultz
December 19, 1983

President Reagan dispatches US envoy to the Middle East, Donald
Rumsfeld, to convey the administration’s intention to “resume [US]
diplomatic relations with Iraq.” [American Gulf War Veterans
Association, 9/10/2001; Seattle Post-Intelligencer, 9/24/2002]

Entity Tags: Donald Rumsfeld, Ronald Reagan
December 20, 1983

US Special Envoy Donald Rumsfeld—who at this time is CEO of the
pharmaceutical company, GD Searle and Co.—personally meets with Saddam
Hussein for 90 minutes in an attempt to reestablish diplomatic relations
with Iraq. Rumsfeld also discusses US interest in the construction of
the Iraq-Jordan Aqaba oil pipeline [to be built by Bechtel (see December
2, 1983)]. [US Department of State, 12/10/1983 ; Iraqi television,
12/20/1983; US Department of State, 12/21/1983 ; MSNBC, 8/18/2002;
Newsweek, 9/23/2002; Washington Post, 12/30/2002; London Times,
12/31/2002; Vallette, 3/24/2003; New York Times, 4/14/2003] Rumsfeld
does not raise the issue of Iraq’s use of chemical weapons with Saddam.
[US Department of State, 12/21/1983 ] After his meeting with the Iraqi
president, Rumsfeld meets with Iraqi Foreign Minister Tariq Aziz. They
agree that “the US and Iraq ... [share] many common interests.” Rumsfeld
briefly mentions US concerns about Iraq’s chemical weapons, explaining
that US “efforts to assist [Iraq] ... [are] inhibited by certain things
that made it difficult for us.....” [US Department of State, 12/21/1983
] On September 19, 2002, almost two decades later, Rumsfeld will be
questioned in Congress about this visit (see September 19, 2002). [US
Congress, 9/20/2002]

Entity Tags: Donald Rumsfeld, Saddam Hussein, Tariq Aziz
Late 1983

US intelligence begins receiving reports that Iraq’s use of chemical
weapons against Iran has increased. [Shultz, 1993, pp. 238; Jentleson,
1994, pp. 48; Cole, 1997, pp. 87 Sources: George Shultz]
1984

The CIA secretly provides Iraqi intelligence with instructions on how to
“calibrate” its mustard gas attacks on Iranian troops. [Washington Post,
12/15/1986]

Entity Tags: Central Intelligence Agency
February 1984

An Iraqi military spokesman warns Iran, “The invaders should know that
for every harmful insect, there is an insecticide capable of
annihilating it ... and Iraq possesses this annihilation insecticide.”
[US Department of State, 11/1/1983 ; Washington Post, 12/30/2002]

Western journalists reporting on the war between Iraq and Iran verify
the use of chemical weapons. [New York Times, 2/13/2003]
February 29, 1984

Bechtel executive H.C. Clark notes in an interoffice memo that “the
State Department has exerted strong pressure on Ex-Im to make additional
credits available [in Iraq], including for this [Aqaba ] pipeline.”
[Vallette, 3/24/2003]

Entity Tags: Export-Import Bank, H.C. Clark
March 1984

European-based doctors examine Iranian troops and confirm exposure to
mustard gas. [Jentleson, 1994, pp. 76]
March 1984

The United Nations dispatches experts to the conflict zone in the war
between Iran and Iraq who document Iraq’s use of chemical weapons.
[Jentleson, 1994, pp. 76]
March 5, 1984

The US State Department issues a public condemnation of Iraq’s use of
chemical weapons. [New York Times, 12/23/2003]
March 6, 1984

A US Department of State telegram reports, “The United States has
concluded that the available evidence substantiates Iran’s charges that
Iraq used chemical weapons.” [US Department of State, 3/1984 ; New York
Times, 3/6/1984; Cole, 1997, pp. 24; New York Times, 2/13/2003]

March 9, 1984

Frank Ricciardone, a US State Department desk officer, urges the
Export-Import Bank to provide Iraq with short-term loans “for foreign
relations purposes.” [Vallette, 3/24/2003]

Entity Tags: Frank Ricciardone, Export-Import Bank
March 15, 1984

US Secretary of Defense Lawrence Eagleburger meets with Iraqi diplomat
Ismet Kattani to minimize the damage that the State Department’s March 5
condemnation (see March 5, 1984) of Iraqi chemical warfare has caused to
US-Iraqi relations. Secretary of State George Shultz is also present and
later sends a cable to embassies in the Middle East with a summary of
the meeting. “Eagleburger began the discussion by taking Kittani aside
to emphasize the central message he wanted him to take back: our policy
of firm opposition to the prohibited use of CW [chemical weapons]
wherever it occurs necessitated our March 5 statement condemning Iraq’s
use of CW,” the note explains. “The statement was not intended to
provide fuel for Khomeini’s propaganda war, nor to imply a shift in US
policy toward Iran and Iraq. The US will continue its efforts to help
prevent an Iranian victory, and earnestly wishes to continue the
progress in its relations with Iraq. The Secretary [of State, Shultz]
then entered and reiterated these points.” [US Department of State,
3/1984 ; New York Times, 12/23/2003]

Entity Tags: George Shultz, Lawrence Eagleburger, Said Rajaie Khorassani
(Mid-March 1984)

Iran presents a draft resolution to the UN which condemns Iraq’s use of
chemical weapons. The US delegate to the UN is instructed to push for a
“no decision” on the resolution, or if not possible, cast an abstaining
vote. Iraq’s ambassador meets with the US ambassador to the UN, Jeane
Kirkpatrick, and asks for “restraint” in responding to the issue of
Iraq’s use of chemical weapons. [Battle, 2/25/2003]
March 9, 1984

Frank Ricciardone, a US State Department desk officer, urges the
Export-Import Bank to provide Iraq with short-term loans “for foreign
relations purposes.” [Vallette, 3/24/2003]

Entity Tags: Frank Ricciardone, Export-Import Bank
March 15, 1984

US Secretary of Defense Lawrence Eagleburger meets with Iraqi diplomat
Ismet Kattani to minimize the damage that the State Department’s March 5
condemnation (see March 5, 1984) of Iraqi chemical warfare has caused to
US-Iraqi relations. Secretary of State George Shultz is also present and
later sends a cable to embassies in the Middle East with a summary of
the meeting. “Eagleburger began the discussion by taking Kittani aside
to emphasize the central message he wanted him to take back: our policy
of firm opposition to the prohibited use of CW [chemical weapons]
wherever it occurs necessitated our March 5 statement condemning Iraq’s
use of CW,” the note explains. “The statement was not intended to
provide fuel for Khomeini’s propaganda war, nor to imply a shift in US
policy toward Iran and Iraq. The US will continue its efforts to help
prevent an Iranian victory, and earnestly wishes to continue the
progress in its relations with Iraq. The Secretary [of State, Shultz]
then entered and reiterated these points.” [US Department of State,
3/1984 ; New York Times, 12/23/2003]

Entity Tags: George Shultz, Lawrence Eagleburger, Said Rajaie Khorassani
(Mid-March 1984)

Iran presents a draft resolution to the UN which condemns Iraq’s use of
chemical weapons. The US delegate to the UN is instructed to push for a
“no decision” on the resolution, or if not possible, cast an abstaining
vote. Iraq’s ambassador meets with the US ambassador to the UN, Jeane
Kirkpatrick, and asks for “restraint” in responding to the issue of
Iraq’s use of chemical weapons. [Battle, 2/25/2003]

Westinghouse to participate in a $160 million portion of a $1 billion
Hyundai thermal power plant project in Iraq, this decision will only
confirm Iraqi perceptions that ExIm [Export-Import Bank] financing for
the Aqaba pipeline is out of the question. Eagleburger tried to put this
perception to a rest, however, emphasizing to Kittani the
administration’s firm support for the line (see March 15, 1984). The
door is not yet closed to ExIm or other USG [US government] financial
assistance to this project....” At the very end of the cable, it is
noted that “Iraq officials have professed to be at a loss to explain our
actions as measured against our stated objectives. As with our CW
statement, their temptation is to give up rational analysis and retreat
to the line that US policies are basically anti-Arab and hostage to the
desires of Israel.” [US Department of State, 3/24/1984 ; Vallette,
3/24/2003]

Entity Tags: Donald Rumsfeld, George Shultz, Lawrence Eagleburger, Elda
James, Esq.
(March 26, 1984)

Donald Rumsfeld travels to Baghdad to meet with Iraqi foreign minister
Tariq Aziz. While in Iraq, Rumsfeld discusses the proposed Iraq-Jordan
Aqaba pipeline [to be built by Bechtel (see December 2, 1983)], relays
an Israeli offer to help Iraq in its war against Iran, and expresses the
Reagan administration’s hope that Iraq will obtain Export-Import Bank
credits. [Affidavit. United States v. Carlos Cardoen, et al. [Charge
that Teledyne Wah Chang Albany illegally provided a proscribed
substance, zirconium, to Cardoen Industries and to Iraq], 1/31/1995 ;
American Gulf War Veterans Association, 9/10/2001; Common Dreams,
8/2/2002; Vallette, 3/24/2003]

Entity Tags: Donald Rumsfeld, Tariq Aziz

(March 26, 1984)

A UN investigation concludes that Iraq has been using mustard gas laced
with a nerve agent on Iranian soldiers. “[C]hemical weapons in the form
of aerial bombs have been used in the areas inspected in Iraq by the
specialists,” the report says. [American Gulf War Veterans Association,
9/10/2001; Common Dreams, 8/2/2002; Vallette, 3/24/2003]
March 29, 1984

During a meeting in Jordan, Iraqi diplomat Kizam Hamdoon and US diplomat
James Placke discuss a proposed daft resolution that Iran presented to
the UN Security Council (see (Mid-March 1984)) calling on the
international body to condemn Iraq’s use of chemical weapons. Hamdoon
tells Placke that Iraq would prefer a Security Council presidential
statement in lieu of a resolution, adding that the statement should (1)
“mention former resolutions of the war”; (2) include a “strong call for
progress toward ending the war through ceasefire or negotiations”; and
(3) not identify any specific country as responsible for chemical
weapons use. Placke says that he will honor the request but asks that
Iraq halt its purchasing of chemical weapons from US suppliers so as not
to “embarrass” the US. Placke also warns that the US would be
implementing licensing requirements on five chemical compounds for both
Iraq and Iran. Placke says that the US does not want to be the “source
of supply for anything that could contribute to the production of CW,”
but adds reassuringly that the US does “not want this issue to dominate
our bilateral relationship.” [US Department of State, 4/6/1984 ;
Vallette, 3/24/2003]

Entity Tags: James Placke, Kizam Hamdoon

March 30, 1984

The United Nations Security Council issues a presidential statement
condemning the use of chemical weapons without a specific reference to
Iraq, despite Iran’s insistence that the Security Council pass a binding
resolution condemning Iraq’s use of chemical weapons against Iran.
Interestingly, the previous day (see March 29, 1984), Iraqi diplomat
Kizam Hamdoon and US diplomat James Placke had met and Hamdoon had
stated Iraq’s preference that no resolution be passed and that any
statement avoid referring directly to Iraq. As a State Department memo
by James Placke notes, “The statement, by the way contains all three
elements Hamdoon wanted.” [US Department of State, 3/30/1984 ; Battle,
2/25/2003]

Entity Tags: James Placke
March 30, 1984

During a State Department press conference, reporters raise the issue of
US relations with Iraq and the latter’s use of chemical weapons. A
reporter asks, “Has there been any export of these chemicals [referring
to agents used for the production of chemical weapons] from the US to
Iran or Iraq at all in the past, in the recent past?” The spokesperson
responds, “No, we do not have reason to believe that exports from the
United States have been used by either Iran or Iraq in this connection.”
Later in the press briefing, a reporter asks, “In light of your finding
that Iraq has used nerve gas and/or other forms of chemical warfare,
does this have any effect on US recent initiatives to expand commercial
relationships with Iraq across a broad range, and also a willingness to
open diplomatic relations?” The spokesperson answers, “No. I’m not aware
of any change in our position. We’re interested in being involved in a
closer dialogue with Iraq.” [US Department of State, 3/31/1984 ]

April 5, 1984

US President Ronald Reagan issues presidential directive NSDD 139,
titled, “Measures to improve US posture and readiness to respond to
developments in the Iran-Iraq War.” The directive stresses the
importance of ensuring US access to military facilities in the Gulf
region and preventing “an Iraqi collapse.” Though the directive says
that the US should maintain its policy of “unambiguous” condemnation of
chemical warfare—without mentioning Iraq—the document also emphasizes
that the US should “place equal stress on the urgent need to dissuade
Iran from continuing the ruthless and inhumane tactics which have
characterized recent offensives.” The directive does not suggest ending
or reducing US support for Iraq. [US Department of State, 3/30/1984 ;
Battle, 2/25/2003]

Entity Tags: Ronald Reagan
April 10, 1984

Representatives from Bell Helicopter meet with Department of State
officials in the Baghdad interests section to discuss a possible deal
with Iraq involving the sale of 20-25 helicopters to Iraq’s Ministry of
Defense. A State Department document summarizing the meeting says that
the “Bell reps are fully aware that any helicopters they sell the Iraqis
can not be in any way configured for military use.” [US Department of
State, 3/1984 ; Washington Post, 12/15/1986]
May 9, 1984

A Department of State memo from the special adviser to the secretary on
nonproliferation policy and nuclear energy affairs titled “US Dual-Use
Exports to Iraq: Specific Actions,” states that the government is
reviewing its policy for “the sale of certain categories of dual-use
items to Iraqi nuclear entities” and the review’s “preliminary results
favor expanding such trade to include Iraqi nuclear entities.”
[Department of State, 5/9/1984 ]

May 25, 1984

Bechtel official H.B. Scott informs his colleagues in a memo that “US
government officials at the highest level in Washington know of the
[Aqaba pipeline] project and the president supports the concept.... I
cannot emphasize enough the need for maximum Bechtel management effort
at all levels of the US government and industry to support this project.
It has significant geopolitical overtones... The time may be right for
this project to move promptly with very significant rewards to Bechtel
for having made it possible.” [Vallette, 3/24/2003]

Entity Tags: H.C. Clark
June 21, 1984

The Export-Import Bank approves a preliminary commitment of $484.5
million in loan guarantees for the Iraq-Jordan Aqaba pipeline project.
This commitment will remain in effect until 1986. [Vallette, 3/24/2003]

Entity Tags: Export-Import Bank
August 1984

The CIA establishes a direct intelligence link with Iraq. [Washington
Post, 12/15/1986]
September 25, 1984

A Defense Intelligence Agency report concludes that Iraq will probably
“continue to develop its formidable conventional and chemical
capability, and probably pursue nuclear weapons.” [US Department of
State, 3/31/1984 ]

October 1, 1984-October 13, 1993

The Reagan and Bush administrations’ commerce departments allow US
companies and the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to
export chemical and biological agents as well as other dual-use items to
Iraq, despite the country’s known record of using chemical weapons.
According to government regulations, the Commerce Department must send
applications for export licenses which involve items related to national
security to the appropriate US government agencies for review. Reviewing
agencies include the State Department, Department of Defense, Energy
Department, and Subgroup on Nuclear Export Coordination. But in many
cases, the Commerce Department either does not send national
security-related applications to these agencies for review, or if it
does, it overrides a review agency’s recommendation not to grant a
license, allowing the item to be exported anyway. [Timmerman, 1991, pp.
202, 410; Jentleson, 1994, pp. 79] According to two Senate Committee
Reports that will be completed in 1994, one on May 25 and another on
October 7, dual-use chemical and biological agents exported to Iraq from
the US significantly contributed to the country’s weapons arsenal. The
initial May report will say the agents “were not attenuated or weakened
and were capable of reproduction” and the October report will reveal
that the “microorganisms exported by the United States were identical to
those the United Nations inspectors found and removed from the Iraqi
biological warfare program.” The 1994 investigation also determines that
other exports such as plans and equipment also contributed significantly
to Iraq’s military capabilities. “UN inspectors had identified many
United States manufactured items that had been exported from the United
States to Iraq under licenses issued by the Department of Commerce, and
established] that these items were used to further Iraq’s chemical and
nuclear weapons development and its missile delivery system development
program,” Donald Riegle, the chairman of the committee, will explain. He
also says that between January 1985 and August 1990,the “executive
branch of our government approved 771 different export licenses for sale
of dual-use technology to Iraq.” [US Congress, 5/25/1994; US Congress,
5/25/1994; US Congress, 10/7/1994; CounterPunch, 8/20/2002; Sunday
Herald (Glasgow), 9/8/2002; London Times, 12/31/2002]
Biological and chemical agents -
Bacillus Anthracis, cause of anthrax. [CounterPunch, 8/20/2002; Sunday
Herald (Glasgow), 9/8/2002]
Clostridium Botulinum, a source of botulinum toxin. It was sold to Iraq
right up until 1992. [CounterPunch, 8/20/2002; Sunday Herald (Glasgow),
9/8/2002]
Histoplasma Capsulatam, cause of a disease attacking lungs, brain,
spinal cord and heart. [CounterPunch, 8/20/2002]
Brucella Melitensis, a bacteria that can damage major organs.
[CounterPunch, 8/20/2002; Sunday Herald (Glasgow), 9/8/2002]
Clotsridium Perfringens, a highly toxic bacteria causing systemic
illness, gas gangrene. [CounterPunch, 8/20/2002; Sunday Herald
(Glasgow), 9/8/2002]
Clostridium tetani, highly toxigenic. [CounterPunch, 8/20/2002; Sunday
Herald (Glasgow), 9/8/2002]
Also, Escherichia Coli (E.Coli); genetic materials; human and bacterial
DNA. [CounterPunch, 8/20/2002]
VX nerve gas. [Sunday Herald (Glasgow), 9/8/2002]
Pralidoxine, an antidote to nerve gas which can also be reverse
engineered to create actual nerve gas. This was sold to Iraq in March
1992, after the end of the Gulf War. [Sunday Herald (Glasgow), 9/8/2002]
Other exports -
Chemical warfare-agent production facility plans and technical
drawings. [Newsday, 12/13/2002]
Chemical warfare filling equipment. [Newsday, 12/13/2002]
Missile fabrication equipment. [Newsday, 12/13/2002]
Missile system guidance equipment. [Newsday, 12/13/2002]
Graphics terminals to design and analyze rockets. [Washington Post,
3/11/1991]
Machine tools and lasers to extend ballistic missile range. [US
Congress, 7/2/1991]
Computers to develop ballistic missiles and nuclear weapons. [US
Congress, 7/2/1991]
$1 million in computers, flight simulators and other technology
products that went to Saad 16 research center in Iraq (see November
1986). [Washington Post, 3/11/1991]

Entity Tags: Donald Riegle, US Congress

(Show related quotes)
November 26, 1984

The United States Government re-establishes full diplomatic ties with
Baghdad even though it is fully aware that Iraq has been using chemical
weapons in its war against Iran. [New York Times, 3/6/1984; Battle,
2/25/2003]
1985-1986

Several current and former top US officials—including Attorney General
Edwin Meese; National Security Adviser Robert McFarlane; former
Secretary of Energy, Secretary of Defense, and Director of the CIA James
Schlesinger; and former Secretary of Interior; national security
advisor, and deputy secretary of state Judge William B. Clark—attempt to
make arrangements that will provide security and insurance for the
proposed Iraq-Jordan Aqaba pipeline in order to obtain Iraqi approval
for the project. They go to extraordinary lengths to satisfy the
preconditions Iraq has set for the piepline, including bribing Israeli
Labor officials in exchange for assurances that Israel would not attack
the pipeline and pushing the US government-backed Overseas Private
Investment Fund and Citibank to provide a political-risk insurance fund
with up to $400 million in coverage. Iraq and Jordan ultimately refuse
the deal explaining that the plan “does not meet specific requirements
of the Project and does not satisfy our objectives.” [Vallette,
3/24/2003]

Entity Tags: Robert C. McFarlane, Edwin Meese, James R. Schlesinger,
William B. Clark, Export-Import Bank
1985-1989

Christopher Drogoul of the Atlanta branch of the Italian Banca Nazionale
del Lavoro begins embezzling funds to Iraq. The funds consist of
government backed loans meant for agricultural purposes as well as
unreported loans that have been made in secret. While roughly half the
funds will be used by Saddam Hussein’s government to purchase
agricultural goods, the remainder will be used to “supply Iraqi missile,
chemical, biological and nuclear weapons programs with industrial goods
such as computer controlled machine tools, computers, scientific
instruments, special alloy steel and aluminum, chemicals, and other
industrial goods.” Additionally, the money spent on agriculture will
allow Saddam’s regime to divert a significant portion of its own funds
to the task of weapons development. [US Congress, 4/28/1992; Columbia
Journalism Review, 3/1993] Between 1985 and 1989 roughly $5 billion
makes its way to Iraq from the US. Internal government memos reveal that
both the Federal Reserve and Department of Agriculture suspect that Iraq
is using these funds inappropriately. Iraq eventually defaults on the
government-backed loans, leaving US taxpayers with $2 billion dollars in
unpaid debts. [Mother Jones, 1/1993; Columbia Journalism Review, 3/1993]

Entity Tags: Christopher Drogoul, Italian Banca Nazionale del Lavoro

1985

US Secretary of State George Shultz successfully convinces Rep. Howard
Berman to drop a House bill that would have put Iraq back on the State
Department’s list of states that sponsor terrorism. Shultz’s argument is
that the United States is actively engaged in “diplomatic dialogue on
this and other sensitive issues.” He asserts that “Iraq has effectively
distanced itself from international terrorism” and insists that if the
US discovers any evidence implicating Iraq in the support of terrorist
groups, the US government “would promptly return Iraq to the list.”
[Jentleson, 1994, pp. 54]

Entity Tags: George Shultz, Howard Berman
1986

US President Ronald Reagan sends a secret message to Saddam Hussein
recommending that he order his military to intensify its air attacks
against Iran. The message is delivered by Vice President Bush who
conveys the message to Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, who in turn
passes it on to Saddam Hussein. The talking points for Bush’s meeting
with Mubarak are authored by national security aide Howard Teicher.
[Affidavit. United States v. Carlos Cardoen, et al. [Charge that
Teledyne Wah Chang Albany illegally provided a proscribed substance,
zirconium, to Cardoen Industries and to Iraq], 1/31/1995 ; MSNBC,
8/18/2002]

Entity Tags: Hosni Mubarak, Howard Teicher, George Herbert Walker Bush,
Saddam Hussein, Ronald Reagan
1986

The Central Intelligence Agency authors a classified report
acknowledging that Iraq is still using chemical weapons as an “integral
part” of its military strategy and that it is a “regular and recurring
tactic.” [New York Times, 2/13/2003]

1986

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention sends “samples of a
strain of West Nile virus to a microbiologist at a university in Basra.”
[Associated Press, 12/21/2002]
1986

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention sends samples of
botulinum toxin and botulinum toxiod “directly to the Iraqi chemical and
biological weapons complex at al-Muthanna.” [Associated Press,
12/21/2002]
Early 1986

Iraq uses poison gas in an unsuccessful attempt to recapture the Fao
Peninsula from Iran. A UN team examines the bodies of 700 Iranian
casualties which indicate that mustard and nerve gases were used.
[Nation, 8/26/2002]
May 2, 1986

Two batches each of bacillus anthracis and bacterium clostridium
botulinum are shipped from the US to the Iraqi Ministry of Higher
Education. [Sunday Herald (Glasgow), 9/8/2002]
August 1986

The CIA establishes “a direct, top-secret Washington-Baghdad link to
provide the Iraqis with better and more timely satellite information.”
As a result, “The Iraqis receive the information from satellite photos
‘several hours’ after .... bombing raid[s]...” The US-provided
intelligence information is considered “vital” to Iraqi military
strategy. [Washington Post, 12/15/1986 Sources: Unnamed source with
first-hand knowledge]

October 1986

CIA Director William J. Casey meets with Iraqi Foreign Minister Tariq
Aziz and Iraq’s ambassador to the United States, Nizar Hamdoon, to make
sure the new Washington-Baghdad intelligence link (see August 1986) is
helping the Iraqis and to encourage more attacks on Iranian economic
targets. [Washington Post, 12/15/1986 Sources: Unnamed sources with
first hand knowledge]

Entity Tags: Kizam Hamdoon, Tariq Aziz, William Casey
November 1986

US intelligence learns that Iraq’s “Saad 16” research center is
attempting to develop ballistic missiles. This information is relayed by
the Defense Department’s Undersecretary for Trade Security Policy,
Stephen Bryen, to the Commerce Department’s (CD) Assistant Secretary for
Trade Administration. In spite of this, the Commerce Department will
subsequently approve more than $1 million in computer sales to the Iraqi
research center over the next four years. In 1991, the House Committee
on Government Operations will report that 40 percent of the equipment at
the “Saad 16” research center had come from the US. [Washington Post,
3/11/1991; US Congress, 7/2/1991]

Entity Tags: Stephen Bryen
November 13, 1986

US President Ronald Reagan says in a speech with regard to the Iran-Iraq
war: “The slaughter on both sides has been enormous, and the adverse
economic and political consequences for that vital region of the world
have been growing. We sought to establish communications with both sides
in that senseless struggle, so that we could assist in bringing about a
cease-fire and, eventually, a settlement. We have sought to be
evenhanded by working with both sides ... We have consistently condemned
the violence on both sides.” [Washington Post, 12/15/1986]

Entity Tags: Ronald Reagan

Late November 1986

Shortly after the Iran-Contra scandal is first revealed in the press,
CIA Director William J. Casey meets with Iraq’s ambassador to the United
States, Nizar Hamdoon, a second time (see October 1986) and assures him
that the new Washington-Baghdad intelligence link (see August 1986) will
remain open. [Washington Post, 12/15/1986 Sources: Unnamed sources with
first hand knowledge]

Entity Tags: Kizam Hamdoon, William Casey
March 1987-April 1987

The United Nations dispatches experts to the conflict zone on a mission
that documents Iraq’s use of chemical weapons against Iran. [Jentleson,
1994, pp. 76]
August 31, 1987

One batch each of salmonella and E coli is sent to the Iraqi State
Company for Drug Industries with the approval of the US Department of
Commerce. [Sunday Herald (Glasgow), 9/8/2002]
Early 1988

Iraq uses chemical weapons to retake the Fao Peninsula. After the
attacks, Lt. Col. Rick Francona, a defense intelligence officer, is
dispatched to the battlefield where he meets with Iraqi officers. “He
reported that Iraq had used chemical weapons to cinch its victory.....
[He] saw zones marked off for chemical contamination, and containers for
the drug atropine scattered around, indicating that Iraqi soldiers had
taken injections to protect themselves from the effects of gas that
might blow back over their positions.” [New York Times, 8/18/2002
Sources: Unnamed former Defense Intelligence Agency official interviewed
by the New York Times in late 2002]

1988

The US provides Baghdad with $500 million in credits to buy American
farm products. [Wall Street Journal, 7/10/2002]
1988

The US increases the amount of military intelligence it provides Iraq, a
significant portion of which is channeled to the Iraqis through the
CIA’s Baghdad office. [Washington Post, 12/30/2002]
January 1988-February 1988

The US Commerce Department allows the export of equipment to Iraq for
its SCUD missile program, allowing the Iraqis to increase the range of
its SCUD missiles. [US Congress, 7/2/1991]
March 1988

According to several accounts, Iraq uses US-supplied Bell helicopters to
deploy chemical weapons during its campaign to recapture lost
territories in its war with Iran. One of the towns that is within the
conflict zone is the Kurdish village of Halabja, with a population of
about 70,000. Between 3,200 and 5,000 Halabja civilians are reportedly
killed by poison gas. Other accounts, however, suggest that Iranian gas
is responsible for the attack on Halabja, a version that is promoted by
the Reagan administration in order to divert the blame away from Iraq.
Some believe the US version of the Halabja massacre is “cooked up in the
Pentagon.” A declassified State Department document “demonstrate[s] that
US diplomats received instructions to press this line with US allies,
and to decline to discuss the details.” [US Department of the Navy,
12/10/1990; Los Angeles Times, 2/13/1991; Washington Post, 3/11/1991;
International Herald Tribune, 1/17/2003; New York Times, 1/31/2003]

March-April 1988

The United Nations sends experts to the Iraq-Iran war conflict zone to
document Iraq’s use of chemical weapons. [Jentleson, 1994, pp. 76]
May 1988

During a symposium hosted by the US-Iraq Business Forum, Assistant
Secretary of State Peter Burleigh encourages US companies to do business
in Iraq. The business forum reportedly has strong ties to Baghdad.
[Jentleson, 1994, pp. 84-85]

Entity Tags: Peter Burleigh
July 1988

The United Nations dispatches two delegations of experts to the conflict
zone on a mission that documents Iraq’s use of chemical weapons against
Iran. [Jentleson, 1994, pp. 76]
Mid-1988-late 1988

A US delegation travels to Turkey at the request of the US Senate
Foreign Relations Committee and confirms that Iraq is “using chemical
weapons on its Kurdish population.” [US Congress, 10/1988]
August 1988

Iraq reportedly uses chemical weapons against northern Iraqi Kurds.
[Jentleson, 1994, pp. 38]
mid-August 1988

The United Nations sends a delegation of experts to the Iraq-Iran War
conflict zone to investigate Iraq’s use of chemical weapons. [Jentleson,
1994, pp. 76] However, Baghdad refuses to cooperate and the US makes no
serious attempt to press Baghdad to comply with the UN Security
Council’s decision. US Secretary of State George Shultz downplays the
charges against Iraq, arguing that interviews with Kurdish refugees in
Turkey and “other sources” did not conclusively support the allegations
being made against Saddam’s government. [Nation, 8/26/2002]

Entity Tags: George Shultz
September 1988-December 1988

“65 licenses ... [are] granted for dual-use technology exports. This
averages out as an annual rate of 260 licenses, more than double the
rate for January through August 1988.” [Jentleson, 1994, pp. 38]
September 8, 1988

In a memo regarding the issue of Iraq’s use of chemical weapons,
Assistant Secretary of State Richard W. Murphy writes, “The US-Iraqi
relationship is . . . important to our long term political and economic
objectives. We believe that economic sanctions will be useless or
counterproductive to influence the Iraqis.” [Washington Post,
12/30/2002]

Entity Tags: Richard W. Murphy
September 8, 1988

The US Senate unanimously passes the “Prevention of Genocide Act of
1988” which makes Iraq ineligible to receive US loans, military and
non-military assistance, credits, credit guarantees and items subject to
export controls. It also makes it illegal for the US to import Iraqi
oil. [US Congress, 9/8/1988; Jentleson, 1994, pp. 78] Immediately after
the bill is passed by the Senate, the Reagan administration launches a
campaign to prevents its passage in the House. With the help of its
allies in the House, the administration succeeds in killing the bill on
the last day of the legislative session. [Jentleson, 1994, pp. 78; New
York Times, 2/13/2003]

Entity Tags: US Congress

October 1988

The US Senate Foreign Relations Committee confirms reports that between
1984 and 1988 “Iraq repeatedly and effectively used poison gas on Iran.”
[US Congress, 10/1988]

Entity Tags: US Congress
December 1988

Dow Chemical sells $1.5 million of pesticides to Iraq. An Export-Import
Bank official says in a memorandum that he can find “no reason” to
prevent the sale. [Washington Post, 12/30/2002]
1989

The US learns that the Iraqi research center, “Saad 16,” is involved in
the development of chemical and nuclear weapons. Three years earlier it
had been discovered that the facility was developing ballistic missiles
(see November 1986). The Commerce Department will continue to ship
advanced technology products to the center. [US Congress, 7/2/1991]
1989

Rep. Henry Gonzalez (D-Tex) states that in spite of the CIA and the Bush
administration’s knowledge that Iraq’s Ministry of Industry and Military
Industrialization (MIMI) was “involved in Iraq’s clandestine nuclear,
chemical, and biological weapons programs and missile programs ... the
Bush administration [approved] dozens of export licenses that [allowed]
United States and foreign firms to ship sophisticated US dual-use
equipment to MIMI-controlled weapons factories.” [US Congress,
8/10/1992]

Entity Tags: Henry Gonzalez

March 1989

CIA director William Webster acknowledges to Congress that Iraq is the
largest producer of chemical weapons in the world. [US Congress, 3/1989]

Entity Tags: William H. Webster, US Congress
March 24, 1989

Secretary of State James Baker receives a memo from the State Department
informing him that Iraq is aggressively developing chemical and
biological weapons, as well as new missiles. In spite of this disturbing
intelligence, the memo also instructs Baker to express the
administration’s “interest in broadening US-Iraqi ties” to Iraqi
Undersecretary Kizam Hamdoon. [US Department of State, 3/24/1989]

Entity Tags: James Baker, Kizam Hamdoon
August 1989

Christopher Drogoul, the manager of the Italian Banca Nazionale del
Lavoro’s branch in Atlanta, is charged with making unauthorized,
clandestine and illegal loans to Iraq. The loans were used by Iraq to
develop its weapons programs (see 1985-1989). [Columbia Journalism
Review, 3/1993]

Entity Tags: Christopher Drogoul, Italian Banca Nazionale del Lavoro
October 2, 1989

By this date, all international banks have cut off loans to Iraq.
Notwithstanding, President Bush signs National Security Directive 26
establishing closer ties to the Baghdad regime and providing $1 billion
in agricultural loan guarantees to that government. These funds allow
Iraq to continue its development of weapons of mass destruction. [US
President, 10/2/1989; Los Angeles Times, 2/23/1992; Wall Street Journal,
7/10/2002]

Entity Tags: George Herbert Walker Bush

November 2, 1989

Kuwait’s Director General of State Security sends a memo to the Minister
of the Interior summarizing a meeting with CIA Director William Webster.
He writes: “We agreed with the American side that it was important to
take advantage of the deteriorating economic situation in Iraq in order
to put pressure on that country’s government to delineate our common
border. The Central Intelligence Agency gave us its view of appropriate
means of pressure, saying that broad cooperation should be initiated
between us on condition that such activities be coordinated at a high
level.” When Iraq invades Kuwait (see August 2, 1990), they find this
memo and confront the Kuwaiti foreign minister with it during an Arab
summit meeting in mid-August 1990. Upon seeing the memo, the Kuwaiti
official reportedly faints. [Ahmed, 10/2/2001] The US says the memo is a
forgery. [Office of Global Communications, 1/21/2003 ]

Entity Tags: William H. Webster

1990

In response to a US company’s concern that their product might be used
by Iraq to develop nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles, the US
Department of Commerce asks Iraq’s government to provide a written
guarantee that the company’s product will be used for civilian purposes
only. The Commerce Department tells the company that a license and
review is unnecessary, and that there is no reason why the product in
question should not be exported to Iraq. [Jentleson, 1994, pp. 110]
July 18, 1990-August 1, 1990

The Bush administration’s Commerce Department approves $4.8 million in
sales of advanced technology products to Iraq’s “MIMI” and “Saad 16”
research centers. “MIMI” is known to be a development facility for
chemical, biological, and nuclear weapons programs (see 1989) and “Saad
16” is known to be involved in the development of chemical and nuclear
weapons (see November 1986) (see November 1986). [US Congress, 7/2/1991]
July 25, 1990

US ambassador to Baghdad, April Glaspie, meets with Saddam Hussein and
promises him that Bush wants “better and deeper relations.” She also
claims that the president is an “intelligent man,” adding, “He is not
going to declare an economic war against Iraq.” [Washington Post,
12/30/2002; London Times, 12/31/2002] She also informs him that the
United States has “no opinion” on Arab-Arab conflicts, such as Baghdad’s
border disagreement with its neighbor. [Los Angeles Times, 1/5/2003]

Entity Tags: George Herbert Walker Bush, April Glaspie, Saddam Hussein

August 1, 1990

The Bush administration approves the sale of $695,000 in advanced data
transmission devices to Iraq. [Washington Post, 3/11/1991]
August 2, 1990

Iraq invades Kuwait.
(August 2, 1990)

In response to Iraq’s invasion of Kuwait (see August 2, 1990), the US
suspends National Security Directive 26 (see October 2, 1989), which
established closer ties with Baghdad and mandated $1 billion in
agricultural loan guarantees to Iraq. [Los Angeles Times, 2/23/1992]
1992

The last shipment of Clostridium Botulinum, a source of botulinum toxin,
is sent to Iraq. [Sunday Herald (Glasgow), 9/8/2002]
March 1992

Iraq receives its last shipment from the US of Pralidoxine, an antidote
to nerve gas which can also be reverse engineered to create actual nerve
gas. [Sunday Herald (Glasgow), 9/8/2002]
June 23, 1992

Frank DeGeorge, inspector general for the Commerce Department, concedes
that the department’s officials altered 66 export licenses for Iraq
prior to turning them over to congressional investigators. The export
licenses had been changed from “vehicles designed for military use” to
“commercial utility cargo trucks.” [Covert Action Quarterly, 1992]

Entity Tags: Frank DeGeorge

July 9, 1992

The House Judiciary Committee asks US Attorney General William Barr to
appoint an independent counsel to investigate Iraqgate. [Covert Action
Quarterly, 1992]

Entity Tags: William P. Barr
August 1, 1992

US Attorney General William Barr rejects the House Judiciary’s request
for him to appoint an independent counsel (see July 9, 1992), reasoning
that the committee’s accusations are too “vague.” He informs them that
the Justice Department will instead continue with its own
“investigation” of Iraqgate. [Covert Action Quarterly, 1992]

Entity Tags: William P. Barr
November 4, 1992-November 5, 1992

Rita Machakos, a paralegal at the Department of Justice’s employment
office, witnesses an employee of the US Department of Agriculture
“spending an entire weekend shredding documents that described the
administration’s role in obtaining $5.5 billion in
US-taxpayer-guaranteed agricultural loans for Iraq from the Banca
Nazionale del Lavoro (BNL) (see 1985-1989).” [Mother Jones, 1/1993]

Entity Tags: Rita Machakos, Italian Banca Nazionale del Lavoro
July 21, 1995

“David Satcher, director of the Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention provides Senator Donald Riegel (D-Mich.) with a complete list
of all biological materials that the Center supplied Iraq between
October 1, 1984 and October 13, 1993.” At the time of these deliveries,
Iraq claimed that the samples were being used for legitimate medical
research. [Center for Disease Control, 6/21/1995; Business Week,
9/20/2002; Associated Press, 12/21/2002]

Entity Tags: David Satcher

September 19, 2002

Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld is subjected to intense questioning
by Senator Robert Byrd about the United States’ role in providing Iraq
with the materials for its chemical and biological weapons and
Rumsfeld’s December 20, 1983 visit to Baghdad (see December 20, 1983).
[US Congress, 9/20/2002]
Sen. Robert Byrd - “Mr. Secretary, to your knowledge, did the United
States help Iraq to acquire the building blocks of biological weapons
during the Iran-Iraq War? Are we, in fact, now facing the possibility of
reaping what we have sown?” [US Congress, 9/20/2002]
Defense Secr. Donald Rumsfeld - “Certainly not to my knowledge. I have
no knowledge of United States companies or government being involved in
assisting Iraq develop chemical, biological or nuclear weapons.” [US
Congress, 9/20/2002]
Sen. Robert Byrd - “[After reading Mr. Rumsfeld excerpts from a Newsweek
article] Let me ask you again: Did the United States help Iraq to
acquire the building blocks of biological weapons during the Iran-Iraq
War? Are we, in fact, now facing the possibility of reaping what we have
sown?” [US Congress, 9/20/2002]
Defense Secr. Donald Rumsfeld - “I have not read the article.... I was,
for a period in late ’83 and early ’84, asked by President Reagan to
serve as Middle East envoy after the Marines—241 Marines were killed in
Beirut. As part of my responsibilities I did visit Baghdad. I did meet
with Mr. Tariq Aziz. And I did meet with Saddam Hussein and spent some
time visiting with them about the war they were engaged in with Iran. At
the time our concern, of course, was Syria and Syria’s role in Lebanon
and Lebanon’s role in the Middle East and the terrorist acts that were
taking place. As a private citizen I was assisting only for a period of
months. I have never heard anything like what you’ve read, I have no
knowledge of it whatsoever, and I doubt it.” [US Congress, 9/20/2002]

Entity Tags: Robert C. Byrd, Donald Rumsfeld

January 17, 2003

Joost R. Hiltermann pens an op-ed in the International Herald Tribune
titled, “America Didn’t Seem to Mind Poison Gas,” in which he comments
on how the US had sought to protect Iraq in 1988 from international
condemnation after its attacks on Halabja using poison gas (see March
1988). [Center for Disease Control, 6/21/1995; International Herald
Tribune, 1/17/2003]

Entity Tags: Joost R. Hiltermann

(Show related quotes)
January 21, 2003

Corpwatch reporter Russell Mokhiber asks White House Press Secretary Ari
Fleischer to comment on a January 17 op-ed piece in the International
Herald Tribune (see January 17, 2003) which criticized the Bush
administration for its hypocritical condemnation of Iraq’s 1988 poison
gas attacks on Halabja (see March 1988). [White House, 1/21/2003]
Mokhiber - “You and the president have repeatedly said that Saddam
Hussein gassed his own people. The biggest such attack was in Halabja in
March 1988, where some 6,800 Kurds were killed. Last week, in an article
in the International Herald Tribune, Joost Hiltermann writes that while
it was Iraq that carried out the attack, the United States at the time,
fully aware that it was Iraq, accused Iran. This was apparently part of
the US tilt toward Iraq in the Iran-Iraq war. The tilt included billions
of dollars in loan guarantees. Sensing he had carte blanche, Saddam
escalated his resort to gas warfare—graduating to ever more lethal
agents. So, you and the president have said that Saddam has repeatedly
gassed his own people. Why do you leave out the part that the United
States in effect gave Saddam the green light?” [White House, 1/21/2003]
Ari Fleischer - “Russell, I speak for President George W. Bush in the
year 2003. If you have a question about statements that were purportedly
made by the administration in 1988, you need to address those somewhere
other than this White House. I can’t speak for that. I don’t know if it
is accurate, inaccurate, but you have all the means to ask those
questions yourself.” [White House, 1/21/2003]
Mokhiber - “The San Francisco Chronicle reported yesterday that a number
of major American corporations—including Hewlett-Packard and Bechtel
—helped Saddam Hussein beef up its military in the 1980s. And also the
Washington Post, last month in a front-page article by Michael Dobbs
said the United States during the ’80s supplied Iraq with cluster bombs,
intelligence and chemical and biological agents. In that same article,
they reported that Donald Rumsfeld, now Secretary of Defense, went to
Baghdad in December 1983 and met with Saddam Hussein, and this was at a
time when Iraq was using chemical weapons almost on a daily basis in
defiance of international conventions. So there are some specifics, and
the question is—if Iraq is part of the axis of evil, why aren’t the
United States and these American corporations part of the axis of evil
for helping him out during his time of need?” [White House, 1/21/2003]
Ari Fleischer - “Russell, as I indicated, I think that you have to make
a distinction between chemical and biological. And, clearly, in a
previous era, following the fall of the Shah of Iran, when there was a
focus on the risks that were underway in the region as a result of the
rise of Islamic fundamentalism in Iran, different administrations,
beginning with President Carter, reached different conclusions about the
level of military cooperation vis-a-vis Iraq. Obviously, Saddam Hussein
since that time has used whatever material he had for the purpose
therefore of attacking Kuwait, attacking Saudi Arabia, attacking Israel.
And, obviously, as circumstances warrant, we have an approach that
requires now the world to focus on the threat that Saddam Hussein
presents and that he presents this threat because of his desire to
continue to acquire weapons and his willingness to use those weapons
against others.” [White House, 1/21/2003]
Mokhiber - “If I could follow up on that—” [White House, 1/21/2003]
Ari Fleischer - “Russell. Russell.” [White House, 1/21/2003]
Mokhiber - “If I could follow-up on it. You and the president have
repeatedly said one of the reasons Saddam is part of the axis of evil is
because he’s gassed his own people. Well, he gassed his own people with
our help. You saw the Washington Post, article, didn’t you, by Michael
Dobbs?” [White House, 1/21/2003]
Ari Fleischer - “I think that statement is not borne out by the facts.”
[White House, 1/21/2003]
Mokhiber - “Did you see the Post, article by Dobbs?” [White House,
1/21/2003]
Ari Fleischer - “I think that he gassed his own people as a result of
his decisions to use his weapons to gas his own people.” [White House,
1/21/2003]
Mokhiber - “But who gave him the weapons?” [White House, 1/21/2003]
Ari Fleischer - “And I think the suggestion that you blame America for
Iraq’s actions is way beyond the pale.” [White House, 1/21/2003]
Mokhiber - “Who gave him the weapons?” [White House, 1/21/2003] (Ari
moves on.) [White House, 1/21/2003]

Entity Tags: Ari Fleischer

So.....this means, what............?

Well Zack.... if you would read what I posted then you would understand
about this war a bit more.

I don't think its about sticky our noses where it don't belong. I think
its about getting screwed when trying to help someone. Finding out that
someone (country) we were out to help, then find out that they were evil
to begin with.

Maybe you should learn about things before saying things...

T

Well, lass....the chap asked, why can,t you win....I gave him the
answer....like it or not.... cheers...!

Thank you Tneal, your homework may enlighten some of those who have no
clue as to why certain things are approached the way they are, and the
actions necessary to make up for a bad decisions and choices, ie
accepting responsibility.

Well, mate...I beg to differ....the yanks invaded a country thats done
nothing to yer....innocent lives were lost, all because of this foolish
man you elected....so don,t give me that
not understanding, malarky.... that,s the problem....you yanks always
think you know more then everyone else....!

You see tneal, You put out so much information and noone wanted to read
it. They just wanted to say what they think, although they know NOTHING
about whats happening. I was in the Army National Guard. I spent 8 years
in the N.B.C. field. I know how Chemicals are stored, So YES Saddam dose
have them. Or I should say HAD. Nerve agent is stored in 2 parts where
it is safe. When it's used it's mixed together and becomes a deadly
agent.

I know that mate....!