Ins0mniac
19-12-2003, 03:35 AM
Iraq had invaded Iran in 1980 but the Iranians had held the advance and were striking back with human wave attacks. Iraq was known, by 1983, to have used chemical weapons to stop these.
A US State Department memorandum in 1983 stated: "We have recently received additional information confirming Iraqi use of chemical weapons."
President Reagan determined nevertheless that Iraq should be supported and he sent Mr Rumsfeld to Baghdad with a personal letter from himself to Saddam Hussein.
Minutes of their meeting in December 1983 were taken by an American diplomat and later released in edited form under the Freedom of Information Act. They were published by the National Security Archive, a private research group.
It is clear from the account that Mr Rumsfeld was concerned about Iran and that this was the motive for the American approach.
The minutes state: "Rumsfeld told Saddam that the US and Iraq shared interests in preventing Iranian and Syrian expansion."
There is a lot of talk about stopping Iranian oil exports.
The report also sums up Saddam Hussein's reaction: "Saddam Hussein showed obvious pleasure with the President's letter and Rumsfeld's visit."
There is no mention of Mr Rumsfeld having raised the issue of chemical weapons with Saddam Hussein, though he said he did in an interview with CNN in 2002.
A report on another meeting, recorded that he did raise it with the Iraqi Foreign Minister Tariq Aziz, saying that "our efforts to assist were inhibited by certain things that make it difficult for us, citing the use of chemical weapons".
Diplomatic relations between the US and Iraq were restored in 1984.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/3324053.stm
A US State Department memorandum in 1983 stated: "We have recently received additional information confirming Iraqi use of chemical weapons."
President Reagan determined nevertheless that Iraq should be supported and he sent Mr Rumsfeld to Baghdad with a personal letter from himself to Saddam Hussein.
Minutes of their meeting in December 1983 were taken by an American diplomat and later released in edited form under the Freedom of Information Act. They were published by the National Security Archive, a private research group.
It is clear from the account that Mr Rumsfeld was concerned about Iran and that this was the motive for the American approach.
The minutes state: "Rumsfeld told Saddam that the US and Iraq shared interests in preventing Iranian and Syrian expansion."
There is a lot of talk about stopping Iranian oil exports.
The report also sums up Saddam Hussein's reaction: "Saddam Hussein showed obvious pleasure with the President's letter and Rumsfeld's visit."
There is no mention of Mr Rumsfeld having raised the issue of chemical weapons with Saddam Hussein, though he said he did in an interview with CNN in 2002.
A report on another meeting, recorded that he did raise it with the Iraqi Foreign Minister Tariq Aziz, saying that "our efforts to assist were inhibited by certain things that make it difficult for us, citing the use of chemical weapons".
Diplomatic relations between the US and Iraq were restored in 1984.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/3324053.stm