Report: U.S. aided Iraq despite chemical weapons (1 Viewer)

pete

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from http://www.cnn.com/2002/US/08/18/iraq.us.reut/index.html
NEW YORK (Reuters) -- The United States gave Iraq vital battle-planning help during its war with Iran as part of a secret program under President Ronald Reagan even though U.S. intelligence agencies knew the Iraqis would unleash chemical weapons, The New York Times reported Sunday.

The highly classified covert program involved more than 60 officers of the U.S. Defense Intelligence Agency who provided detailed information on Iranian military deployments, tactical planning for battles, plans for airstrikes and bomb-damage assessments for Iraq, the Times said.

The Times said it based its report on comments by senior U.S. military officers with direct knowledge of the program, most of whom agreed to speak on the condition of anonymity.

Iraq and neighboring Iran waged a vicious and costly war from September 1980 to August 1988, with estimates of 1 million people killed and millions more left as refugees.

U.S. intelligence officers never encouraged or condoned the use of chemical weapons by Iraqi President Saddam Hussein's forces, but also never opposed such action because they considered Iraq to be struggling for its survival and feared that Iran would overrun the crucial oil-producing Gulf states, the Times reported.

It has been known for some time that the United States provided intelligence assistance to Iraq during the war in the form of satellite photography to help the Iraqis understand how Iranian forces were deployed. But the complete scope of the program had not been known until now, the Times said.

The Times noted that Iraq's deployment of chemical weapons during its war with Iran has been invoked by President President George W. Bush and Condoleezza Rice, Bush's national security adviser, as justification for seeking "regime change" in Iraq.

'Catastrophic effect'
"Having gone through the 440 days of the hostage crisis in Iran, the period when we were the Great Satan, if Iraq had gone down it would have had a catastrophic effect on Kuwait and Saudi Arabia, and the whole region might have gone down. That was the backdrop of the policy," the Times quoted an unidentified former Defense Intelligence Agency official as saying.

While senior officials of the Reagan administration publicly condemned Iraq's use of mustard gas, sarin, VX and other chemical weapons, Reagan, Vice President George Bush -- the father of the current president -- and senior national security aides never withdrew their support for the covert program, the Times quoted military officers as saying.

Current Secretary of State Colin Powell, who at the time served as national security adviser, was among the Reagan administration officials who publicly condemned Iraq for its use of poison gas, especially one incident in March 1988.

The Times said that in early 1988, after the Iraqis, with U.S. planning assistance, retook a key peninsula in an attack that restored Iraqi access to the Gulf, defense intelligence officer Lt. Col. Rick Francona was dispatched to tour the battlefield with Iraqi officers.

Francona found that Iraq had used chemical weapons to secure its victory, observing zones marked off for chemical contamination and seeing unmistakable evidence that Iraqi soldiers had taken injections to guard against the effects of poison gas used against the Iranians, the Times said.

Powell, through a spokesman, called the Times account of the program "dead wrong," but declined to discuss it, the newspaper said. His deputy, Richard L. Armitage, who was a senior defense official at the time, also denied the report.

Both the Defense Intelligence Agency and retired Lt. Gen. Leonard Perroots, who supervised the program as the head of the agency, refused to comment, the Times said.
 
is it me or does american have major problems when it comes to aiding countries with weapons and stuff

it always seems the country they aid will in a decade's (or less'es) time become their enemy (soviet union - they gave weapons to during world war 2, ussr and usa were enemieds in the following decades in the cold war, they aided , vietnam, they aided the communist as they had a theory of anyone but the french in the 50's, afghanistan in their war with the sdoviet uion, iraq they aided aswell\)

anyone notice a trend appearing?
 
you are a smart fella

I live in the US/am a citizen/The US style of government is-- and has been for at LEAST 50 years--a kleptocracy. Thieves and self-serving autocrats. The state of 'governance' now in particular is a shameful cancer. I live in one of the few states that voted against both Georgie Bushes, host of the WTO riots (although I was in Stonefield, Co. Mayo when it went down!), and still the general level of apathy amongst 'my fellow americans" is stunning. The standard is forked-tongue diplomacy, doing whatever will most benefit large american corporations and wealthy americans. I'm a citizen of the us by birth, and I'm trying to move to Ireland--not because I hate america, but because the longer I live here, the more in taxes my wife and I pay to a government that DOES NOT have any interests other than enriching the wealthiest 1% of its citizens. Bush and Cheyney stole the election; Bush and Cheyney are up to their ears in corporate scandal and conflict of interest--and our mainstream media doesn't say a peep about it. And those in power know that most americans have it so easy that they won't make any meaningful complaint. Now, the battle in america is not black vs white, it is haves vs have-nots. And many of us have-nots want to say good-bye to the whole fetid mess, and hope that we can leave this place ASAP. Thank God the rest of the world isn't fooled by the shameful acts of our "elected" leaders.
 
Re: you are a smart fella

Originally posted by dubh in seattle
Thank God the rest of the world isn't fooled by the shameful acts of our "elected" leaders.

the irish peple also are willing to listen to any crap put out by the Foianna Fail party and will vot efor their empty promises

Though i don't like the american system of collegiate points or whatever i's called as it's not neccessarilly the person with the most votes that wins (al gore had az higher % of votes), maybe propotional representation would be a better idea
 
Bill Hicks
Revelations


Frightening people man. Bush tried to buy votes towards the end of the election. Goes around, you know, selling weapons to everyone, getting that military industrial complex vote happening for him. Sold 160 fighter jets to Korea and then 240 tanks to Kuwait and then goes around making speeches why he should be Commander-in-Chief because, “We still live in a dangerous world.”

Thanks to you, you fucker!

What are you doing? Last week Kuwaitis had nothing but rocks!

They’re arming the fucking world man. You know we armed Iraq. I wondered about that too, you know during the Persian Gulf war those intelligence reports would come out:

“Iraq: incredible weapons - incredible weapons.”

How do you know that?

“Uh, well... We looked at the receipts Haar.”

“Ah but as soon as that cheque clears, we’re going in.”

“What time’s the bank open? 8? We’re going in at 9.”
 
The Terrorist labels that get thrown around

Sometimes I watch the CBS news at 12.30 on weeknights on Sky news, and every evening all I see is US propaganda. Its too much to bear. They go on all of the time about the 'War on Terror' and 'Freedom'. To me they are the catalyst for War every decade. They kill thousands of civilians or supply the weapons to kill thousands of civilians every decade. All in the name of upholding their economy, which uses war as its fuel. They ARE the Terrorists. Only they are a more sinister smoke-screened Terrorist. Because they are the richest terrorists in the world. Who are expert propaganda-ists (is that a real word?). They invented the commercial age. They use it against the public like a carrot dangled infront of a donkey. They want complete control of the WHOLE world so they can decide where they want to stage their next war, with the stroke of a pen. Personally, I am finding it harder and harder to sit through American TV/Movies (How many war films have they released since september 11th?) , it's sooo obvious what they are trying to do. They are turning me into the biggest cynic I thought I'd never be. Almost everything they do on a commercial scale is Wrong. Movies, pop music, TV, Rock music. Maybe one day there will be a massive divide in the world because they've turned Europeans in to annhilists. I can't see Europe going along with US too much longer in the future. :mad:
 
Ah! The Post-Terrorism Feel-good-about-righteous-warfare movie glut! Dude, you would not believe(well, y'all seem pretty smart so I reckon you would believe) the shocking displays of wrapped-in-old-glory xenophobic patriotism seen here in the states post-9/11. If you watch Sky or see u.s. tv, maybe you saw the endless adverts for american flag everything--these flag holders for your car in particular. Less than a week after "the event" some crass profiteer mofo started running these ads with a hideous synth version of "God Bless America," selling these flag dealies to mount on the roll down windows of your car, so you can drive around living some General MacArthur motorcade fantasy. The alarming thing is that there are millions of these things everywhere. And I live in what is arguably the most liberal/liberated area of th u.s. I mean, it's not like my closest circle of friends here are flag wavin' tubthumpers, but it does seem that the rough average Joe in the street sees the flag as some kind of talisman against all threats, real and perceived. I don't pretend to know it all, and of course I feel for the victims & families affected by 9/11, but I wish there was more talk about the root causes of terrorist acts. I mean, people gotta be pretty much out of other options and hope if they're willing to martyr themselves. Our bizarre foreign policy system of friend today/enemy tomorrow/friend wednesday could have no other conclusion than what we have seen and will continue to see. I've only spent a couple months in the north of Ireland (Nov 99-Jan 00), mostly in Co. Tyrone, and the army helicopters screaming down the valley in the early a.m.(just because they can) about made my wife and I soil ourselves!--but our host didn't even bat an eyelash. Which brings this point: both to its credit and detriment, the level of ease and comfort for the average american (like the mean average) is extremely high; and lots of people here, 3,000 miles from NYC, are still freaked and imagining Islamist Bogeys under every bed. I'm way more worried about some 14 year old with an AK-47 and bad aim, or the misguided insanities of the "president," or the unconstitutional acts of Christian extremists than I am about Muslim religious fanatics. Thanks for listening-- I feel 10lbs lighter!!.|..|
 

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