History Brief Page: US supported Saddam Hussein During And After Halabja
 |
'Classified documents obtained by the [Los
Angeles] Times show ... a long-secret pattern of
personal efforts by Bush - both as President and
as Vice-President - to support and placate the
Iraqi dictator,' the paper [Frantz, Douglas
and Murray Waas. "Bush secret effort helped Iraq
build its war machine." Los Angeles Times
(February 23, 1992)] reported. It cited a
top-secret National Security decision directive
signed by President Bush in 1989, ordering closer
ties with Baghdad and paving the way for $1
billion in new aid.
...
In Congress, both parties had repeatedly backed
legislation authorizing farm credits to Iraq -
despite warnings from Kurdish representatives that
the funds would end up being used against them, in
the form of poison gas.
...
On July 3, 1991, the Financial Times reported that
a Florida company run by an Iraqi national had
produced cyanide - some of which went to Iraq for
use in chemical weapons - and had shipped it via a
CIA contractor.
...
mid-level staffers at the commerce department
altered Iraqi export licenses to obscure the
exported materials' military function - before
sending the documents on to Congress, which was
investigating the affair.
|
|
|
 |
Baker, Russ W. "Iraqgate: The big one that (almost)
got away: Who chased it - and who didn't." Columbia
Journalism Review (http://www.cjr.org. March/April
1993): http://www.cjr.org/year/93/2/iraqgate.asp.
|
three months after the [August, 1989] raid, White
House officials went right on backing Saddam,
approving $1 billion more in U.S. government loan
guarantees for farm exports to Iraq, even though
it was becoming clear that the country was beating
plowshares into swords.
|
|
|
|
This was approximately twenty months after the
Halabja massacre.
Baker, Russ W. "Iraqgate: The big one that (almost)
got away: Who chased it - and who didn't." Columbia
Journalism Review (http://www.cjr.org. March/April
1993): http://www.cjr.org/year/93/2/iraqgate.asp.
|
On 12 April 1990 Saddam met with five US senators:
Robert Dole, Alan Simpson, Howard Metzenbaum,
James McClure and Frank Murkowski (see also Chapter 7); the US
ambassador [April Glaspie], soon to be famous for
her 'green light' to Saddam, was also
present. No-one reading the various transcripts of
this meeting can doubt the general placatory tone.
The US senators even criticized the American press
in their attempts to propitiate Saddam,
emphasizing that there was a difference between
the attitudes of the US government and those of
the journalists.
Senator Dole pointed out that a commentator on 'Voice of America' who had
not been given authority to talk about the Iraqi government had been removed
from his job; and furthermore, 'Please allow me to say that only twelve
hours earlier President Bush had assured me that he wants better relations,
and that the US government wants better relations with Iraq ... I assume
that President Bush will oppose sanctions, and he might veto them, unless
something provocative were to happen ...'.
|
|
|
|
Simons, Geoff. Iraq: From Sumer to Saddam. (New York: St. Martin's Press.
1994): 312-313.
Some elements in the US congress tried to cut US trade with and
support for Iraq after Halabja, but they were opposed by other
elements in the congress and by the Reagan and Bush administrations.
Summary of Senator Pell's attempts to pass sanctions bills on
Iraq prior to its invasion of Kuwait:
In 1988, after the Halabja massacre, Senator Claiborne Pell pushed
a bill to cut trade with Iraq. It was weakened by the oil and farm
lobbies, and met resistance from two powerful Democratic committee
chairs and the Reagan administration.
Eaton, William J. "Sanctions Over Iraq's Gas Use Die in Congress."
Los Angeles Times (Los Angeles, CA: Los Angeles Times; http://www.latimes.com.
October 23 1988): 1.
Wise, David. "A People Betrayed: Twice before, Washington let Kurds
die to promote foreign-policy designs. Now it's the Bush
Administration doing the deed." Los Angeles Times (Los Angeles, CA:
Los Angeles Times; http://www.latimes.com. Apr 14 1991): 1.
|
In 1989, Pell sponsored the Chemical and Biological Control Act,
which was passed by the Senate but opposed by the Bush Administration
because it would automatically impose sanctions on any country
that used chemical weapons. It is still [as of August 30 1990]
pending in conference with the House.
...
Pell and Sen. Alphonse M. D'Amato (R-N.Y.) this year [1990]
introduced the Iraq International Law Compliance Act, which called
for sanctions and an end to all U.S. financial credits and
assistance to Baghdad.
...
The Bush Administration opposed the bill.
|
|
|
|
Wright, Robin. "White House Ignored Iraq Rights Abuses for Years."
Los Angeles Times (Los Angeles, CA: Los Angeles Times;
http://www.latimes.com. August 30 1990): 1.