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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.
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In
December 1983 Donald Rumsfeld traveled to
Baghdad to send a message of friendship to
Saddam Hussein.
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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."
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Dr.
Stephen Bryen worked to stop the sale of U.S.
technology to Iraq.
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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?"
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The
U.S. approved the sale of helicopters to Iraq
which may have been used by the military.
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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.
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The
Kurdish city of Halabja was attacked with
chemical weapons on March 16, 1988.
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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.
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For
a decade, the American government turned a
blind eye towards the Iraqi government.
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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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