"The word does not accurately describe the relationship"
Fine. I'm wrong, the dictionary is wrong, news magazines are wrong, books are wrong, encyclopedias are wrong, universities are wrong, textbooks are wrong, Congressmen are wrong, ordinary people invoking common sense are wrong...so it is really not worth discussing seeing that you are...so very very right! (it is all a PLOT!!) :-)
THE U.S./IRAQ ALLIANCE
A Convenient Alliance
As hundreds of thousands of American soldiers bear down upon the regime of Saddam Hussein, it is hard to imagine another era, not so long ago, when the Americans and Iraqis were allies.
In December 1983 Donald Rumsfeld traveled to Baghdad to send a message of friendship to Saddam Hussein.
In those days, they had a mutual enemy: Ayatollah Khomeini of Iran. The Iraqis had long-standing disputes with Iran and the Americans were still smarting over the seizure of American hostages in 1979. Ronald Reagan sent a special envoy to forge an alliance. His name was Donald Rumsfeld.
Twenty years ago, each side had something the other needed. The Americans wanted an ally in the Middle East and Iraq needed food, money and military supplies.
Chemical Warfare
There was just one problem. According to Dr. Stephen Bryen, a Pentagon official in charge of monitoring technology exports, the Reagan administration was aware that Iraq was using chemical weapons in its war against Iran. This was against the Geneva Convention which outlawed the use of chemical and biological weapons in 1925.
"As early as 1983 the Reagan Administration was already well aware that Iraq was using chemical weapons in its war against Iran. According to U.S. intelligence on an ‘almost daily basis’. But that wasn’t all. There were also intelligence reports the Iraqis were using chemical weapons in the north of their own country, in the battle against the Kurds. But the White House did nothing."
Dr. Stephen Bryen worked to stop the sale of U.S. technology to Iraq.
Dr. Bryen was responsible for ensuring that American technology didn't end up in the wrong hands. He says that by the 1980s, it was obvious that Saddam was building weapons of mass destruction using equipment from the West.
"The Iraqis were looking to use the U.S. as they were using Western Europe to acquire equipment and technology for their military forces, and if we’re dumb enough to sell it to them, they were happy enough to take it."
The Sale of Technology to Iraq
Although official U.S. policy prohibited military sales to Iraq, the Commerce and State departments pushed to sell the Iraqis 'dual-use' items which could have both civilian and military purposes like trucks, computers or helicopters.
Richard Murphy, a top State Department official (Assistant Secretary of State for the Near East Bureau) remembers that the pressure to sell was enormous.
"Certainly there was pressure to sell and there was the argument, if the contract doesn’t go to an American you can be darn sure it’s gonna go to a German, British, French manufacturer and trucks were one example. Civilian helicopters were a dicier decision. Could they be turned into the equivalent of an attack helicopter?"
The U.S. approved the sale of helicopters to Iraq which may have been used by the military.
Despite opposition from the Pentagon, the U.S. approved the sale of 100 helicopters to the Iraqis who claimed they would be used as agricultural sprayers. Dr. Bryen says many were transferred to the military, perhaps to be used in chemical attacks.
"You know, we don’t like that, that’s a very dangerous thing, and of course Halabja is a perfect example of what you do with helicopters filled with chemicals."
Then Iraq requested 1.5 million vials of atropine - the antidote for nerve gas - to protect Iraqi soldiers from chemical weapons. The State Department supported the sale even through nobody had nerve gas except the Iraqi army.
Dr. Bryen raised the red flag and Iraq was not allowed to purchase the drugs. But according to documents recently released by the Iraqis themselves, several U.S. companies provided chemical and biological components to Iraq during the 1980s which were used to develop weapons.
Iraq also received billion in loans and credits to purchase American food and goods - more than almost any other country. It left Saddam free to spend his hard currency on more weapons.
The Kurdish city of Halabja was attacked with chemical weapons on March 16, 1988.
Washington's Reaction to the Attack on Halabja
But after the chemical attack on Halabja in 1988 (read more) the truth seemed too sinister to ignore.
Senate staffer Peter Galbraith drafted legislation - the Prevention of Genocide Act - that imposed harsh economic sanctions on the regime. (read more)
Billions in loans and agricultural credits would be cut off. America would no longer purchase Iraqi oil which accounted for one quarter of Iraq's production. And all U.S. exports to Iraq would be suspended.
Although the bill passed through the Senate in only one day the powerful farm and business lobbies warned that the legislation would only punish the Americans trading with Iraq.
When the Bill reached the House of Representatives, the provisions to remove agricultural credits and end bank loans were removed. Eventually the Act was caught up in Congressional bureacracy and died before it was passed. (read more)
Turning a Blind Eye Towards Saddam
Although the U.S. government officially denounced the gassing of the Kurds, it was business like never before with Iraq. After 1988 business with Iraq actually increased. By 1989, Iraq was given American agricultural guarantees worth $1 billion. Iraq was the largest importer of U.S. rice and the 2nd largest participant in the agricultural credit program.
For a decade, the American government turned a blind eye towards the Iraqi government.
Not long afterwards, believing that the U.S. would let him get away with murder again, Saddam Hussein sent his troops into Kuwait to claim the oil rich emirate as an Iraqi province.
Peter Galbraith says that the U.S. seriously under-estimated Saddam Hussein.
"We would not be here today in a 2nd Gulf War against Saddam Hussein if he had understood and if he had been made to understand that his behaviour would have consequences."
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