Rumsfeld visited Baghdad in 1984 to reassure iraqis....

[DeaconBlues]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A13558-2003Dec18.html




Rumsfeld Visited Baghdad in 1984 to Reassure Iraqis, Documents Show
Trip Followed Criticism Of Chemical Arms' Use
By Dana Priest
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, December 19, 2003; Page A42


Donald H. Rumsfeld went to Baghdad in March 1984 with instructions to deliver a private message about weapons of mass destruction: that the United States' public criticism of Iraq for using chemical weapons would not derail Washington's attempts to forge a better relationship, according to newly declassified documents.

Rumsfeld, then President Ronald Reagan's special Middle East envoy, was urged to tell Iraqi Foreign Minister Tariq Aziz that the U.S. statement on chemical weapons, or CW, "was made strictly out of our strong opposition to the use of lethal and incapacitating CW, wherever it occurs," according to a cable to Rumsfeld from then-Secretary of State George P. Shultz.

The statement, the cable said, was not intended to imply a shift in policy, and the U.S. desire "to improve bilateral relations, at a pace of Iraq's choosing," remained "undiminished." "This message bears reinforcing during your discussions.".... (more)

Notice how this story is buried on page A42. Damn liberal press!

[Nlighten1]

1. Damed liberal presstitutes!

Welcome to DU!

[w13rd0]

2. So Rummy told them it was ok...

...so is Rummy like the bad cop that tries to plant crack on the kids he pretends to befriend, teaches them how to shoot a gun, and talks about smacking his wife around...then merrily arrests him and steals his money?

Would I be making this comparison if it weren't absurdly true? You're damned tootin.

What can one possibly say about this?

And these are the SAME PEOPLE the US trusts to FIX THE PROBLEM THAT THEY CREATED?!?!! Did someone put something in the water of every Republican across the nation? Hey yall, you sure do have a LOT of patience for criminally incompetent fuck-ups in high office, don't ya?

[ze_dscherman]

3. Rumsfeld should do time for this.

In the same cell with Saddam Hussein.

[Norquist Nemesis]

4. Hell! That's how Rummy knew

where the WMDs were...20 years ago anyway.

[ithacan]

5. more of the dirty details of GOP support for Saddam

under Reagan and Bush I can be found here:

U.S. Diplomatic and Commercial Relationships with Iraq, 1980 - 2 August 1990
http://www.cam.ac.uk/societies/casi/info/usdocs/usiraq80s90s.html

[deutsey]

6. Here's a nice link to send to your conservative friends

http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/NSAEBB/NSAEBB82/press.htm

I sent it to one who was gloating about Saddam's capture (as I supported the dictator, or something). He had no response. :evilgrin:

[Monkey see Monkey Do]

9. Here's today's release from the National Security Archive:

Saddam a "presentable young man" with "engaging smile,"
Let's "do business," said British Embassy in 1969.

Rumsfeld met Saddam in 1984 with instructions to improve relations,
Despite chemical weapons use and sanctuary for terrorists.

U.S. construction giant Bechtel planned to evade 1988 CW sanctions,
Now has biggest AID contract for reconstructing Iraq.

http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/special/iraq/index.htm

[ithacan]

11. that's the document the WP article is based on

Rumsfeld saying to Saddam, don't believe us when we protest your use of chemical weapons... It's fine with us.

How can anyone deny that Rumsfeld and other Bush I and Reagan players should be hauled before a court and prosecuted as complicit in these crimes against humanity?

[ignatius]

21. At the time, Rummy was president of Searle and Co., a chemical

company. I have never been able to find anything online that shows he sold chemicals to Iraq, but I sure wonder if there was some money made by Rummy's company back then in supplying the chemcials.

[scipan]

14. I didn't know this

from the link:
Overview
Items sent from the U.S. during the Reagan and Bush Administrations that helped Iraq’s non-conventional weapons programs and that were shipped to known military industrial facilities include:
Computers to develop ballistic missiles and nuclear weapons;<59> machine tools and lasers to extend ballistic missile range;<60> graphics terminals to design and analyze rockets;<61> West Nile Fever virus, a known potential BW agent, sent by the U.S. government’s Centers for Disease Control (CDC);<62> the agents for botulism, tetnus, and anthrax.<63>

[Robb]

7. Hee hee hee....

I like a good picture book as much as the next guy, but it's still nice to have some words to go with it. :)

[dani]

13. complicity

in crimes against humanity. Rummy and the Reagan and Bush 1 administrations knew exactly what Saddam was doing with the weaponry they provided him.

[cosmicdot]

8. what else could be found in the Ray-gun papers?

[stevebreeze]

12. won't it be nice if you had access to Reagan's papaers?

like for instance 12 years or so after a pres left office you had compleat access to any non-clasified docs? NA congress would never pass a law like that.
:kick:

[GRClarkesq]

10. We'll help you fight the war, just not win

Bloody stalemate between Iraq and Iran was the policy.

[Name removed]

15. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Bridget Burke]

16. My, you're really a radical leftist, aren't you?

One of those anti-American, anti-capitalist Dean supporters, I see.

Or, maybe, you really aren't?

[Name removed]

19. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[myrna minx]

20. The lady doth protest too much, methinks.

So Sully is logging on to provide material for his own blog? :eyes:

[ignatius]

22. Did you forget to take your meds again. Condi?

Calm down, take a deep breath, and swear off Limpbaugh's rantings and ravings for a day or two and you will be just fine.

[Whoa_Nelly]

17. The real story cannot be be completely re-spun

The Saddam in Rumsfeld’s Closet

<snip>
Throughout the period that Rumsfeld was Reagan’s Middle East envoy, Iraq was frantically purchasing hardware from American firms, empowered by the White House to sell. The buying frenzy began immediately after Iraq was removed from the list of alleged sponsors of terrorism in 1982. According to a February 13, 1991 Los Angeles Times article:

“First on Hussein's shopping list was helicopters -- he bought 60 Hughes helicopters and trainers with little notice. However, a second order of 10 twin-engine Bell "Huey" helicopters, like those used to carry combat troops in Vietnam, prompted congressional opposition in August, 1983... Nonetheless, the sale was approved.”

In 1984, according to The LA Times, the State Department—in the name of “increased American penetration of the extremely competitive civilian aircraft market”—pushed through the sale of 45 Bell 214ST helicopters to Iraq. The helicopters, worth some $200 million, were originally designed for military purposes. The New York Times later reported that Saddam “transferred many, if not all to his military.”

In 1988, Saddam’s forces attacked Kurdish civilians with poisonous gas from Iraqi helicopters and planes. U.S. intelligence sources told The LA Times in 1991, they “believe that the American-built helicopters were among those dropping the deadly bombs.”

more...
http://www.commondreams.org/views02/0802-01.htm

[Cocoa]

18. I'm curious about the criticism of Iraq back then

and curious about the response from the Reagan administration to defend Saddam. I can just hear Rummmy saying "Oh goodness gracious! Mr. Hussein would never use chemical weapons!"

[bobthedrummer]

23. Historic links to Iraqgate, Teicher, Iran-Contra, Reagan/Bush/Thatcher

Rumsfeld shaking hands with Saddam when they were on the same page
http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/NSAEBB/NSAEBB82/index.htm

2003 Rumsfeld "Message to the People of Iraq" transcript
http://www.dod.gov/transcripts/2003/tr20030430-secdef0138.html

Teicher document
http://www.webcom.com/~lpease/collections/hidden/teicher.htm

BCCI and Saudis, Reagan/Bush/Thatcher and Saudis
http://cryptome.org/soil/soiled-dove2.htm

Republican Iraq support
http://www.populist.com/02.17.burns.html

http://www.onlinejournal.com/Special_Reports/Chin111402/chin111402.html

[buycitgo]

24. great links, my man! pah RUM pah pum pum

here's an excellent thread containing this story, as well as a report from SEEN/IPS, detailing how that trip was more in regard to getting business for BECHTEL (building an Iraq-Jordan pipeline, among other things) than anything else.



http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=104&topic_id=942580

[0007]

25. Paging Mr. Rumsfeld