Jim Lobe--Rumsfeld and his 'old friend' Saddam

[Gloria]

Just posting this separately from the Saddam threads and the WMW so more people can get the whole history of Rummy and Saddam....

http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/EL17Ak01.html

Rumsfeld and his 'old friend' Saddam
By Jim Lobe

WASHINGTON - At last in United States military captivity, ousted former Iraqi president Saddam Hussein will soon mark an important 20th anniversary, the kind of anniversary that brings with it an appreciation of the ironies of life, and politics.

His captor, Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld, might also recall long-forgotten memories - or memories best forgotten - of what he was doing exactly 20 years ago.

If so, he will remember that he was in Baghdad, as a special envoy from then-president Ronald Reagan, assuring his host that, to quote the secret National Security Decision Directive (NSDD) that served as his talking points: the US would regard "any major reversal of Iraq's fortunes as a strategic defeat for the West".

So began the effective resumption of close relations between Baghdad and Washington that had been cut off by Iraq during the 1967 Arab-Israeli War. Within a year, Washington would fully normalize ties with Saddam, and even suggest that the dictator had become a full-fledged "Arab moderate", ready to make peace with Israel.

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A very handy scorecard to keep around
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[salin]

1. Lobe has written some hard hitting items

is he carried here in the US?