"Donald Rumsfeld, the current Defence
Secretary, has repeatedly raised the spectre of Iraq's arsenal of
weapons of mass destruction. But in 1983, when Mr Rumsfeld was
President Reagan's special envoy to Iraq, he turned a blind eye to Iraqi
use of nerve and mustard gas in its war with Iran, concentrating instead
on forging a personal relationship with the Iraqi leader, then considered
a valuable US ally.
Mr Rumsfeld was actually in Baghdad on the day the United Nations
first reported Iraqi use of chemical weapons, but chose to remain silent,
as did the rest of the US establishment. Five years later, he cited his
ability to make friends with Saddam Hussein as one of his
qualifications for a possible run at the presidency.
This Bush administration has been much more upfront about the role of
oil in its deliberations on Iraq than the last Bush administration. That is
partly a matter of circumstance: since the 11 September attacks, the
stability of Middle Eastern oil states has been a big policy consideration.
But it also reflects the fact that much of the Bush inner circle, including
the President himself, is made up of former oilmen. The oil and gas
industry has pumped about $50m to political candidates since the 2000
election."
The above is an excerpt from the article, "Fortunes of war await Bush's circle after attacks on Iraq"
By Andrew Gumbel in Los Angeles
15 September 2002
news.independent.co.uk
SI Reference:
Message 18000410 |
