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For Immediate Release:
February 25, 2003
For more information contact:
Joyce Battle (202) 994-7145
(Right: Iraqi President Saddam Hussein
greets Donald Rumsfeld, then special envoy of President
Ronald Reagan, in Baghdad on December 20, 1983.)
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Go to the Electronic
Briefing Book
U.S. DOCUMENTS SHOW EMBRACE OF SADDAM HUSSEIN
IN EARLY 1980s
DESPITE CHEMICAL WEAPONS, EXTERNAL AGGRESSION, HUMAN RIGHTS
ABUSES
Fear of Iraq Collapse in Iran-Iraq War
Motivated Reagan Administration Support;
U.S. Goals Were Access to Oil, Projection of Power, and Protection
of Allies;
Rumsfeld Failed to Raise Chemical Weapons Issue in Personal
Meeting with Saddam
Washington, D.C., 25 February 2003 - The National
Security Archive at George Washington University today published
on the Web a series of declassified U.S. documents detailing
the U.S. embrace of Saddam Hussein in the early 1980's,
including the renewal of diplomatic relations that had been
suspended since 1967. The documents show that during this
period of renewed U.S. support for Saddam, he had invaded
his neighbor (Iran), had long-range nuclear aspirations
that would "probably" include "an eventual
nuclear weapon capability," harbored known terrorists
in Baghdad, abused the human rights of his citizens, and
possessed and used chemical weapons on Iranians and his
own people. The U.S. response was to renew ties, to provide
intelligence and aid to ensure Iraq would not be defeated
by Iran, and to send a high-level presidential envoy named
Donald Rumsfeld to shake hands with Saddam (20 December
1983).
The declassified documents posted today include the briefing
materials and diplomatic reporting on two Rumsfeld trips
to Baghdad, reports on Iraqi chemical weapons use concurrent
with the Reagan administration's decision to support Iraq,
and decision directives signed by President Reagan that
reveal the specific U.S. priorities for the region: preserving
access to oil, expanding U.S. ability to project military
power in the region, and protecting local allies from internal
and external threats. The documents include:
- A U.S. cable recording the December 20, 1983 conversation
between Donald Rumsfeld and Saddam Hussein. Although Rumsfeld
said during a September 21, 2002 CNN interview, "In
that visit, I cautioned him about the use of chemical
weapons, as a matter of fact, and discussed a host of
other things," the document indicates there was no
mention of chemical weapons. Rumsfeld did raise the issue
in his subsequent meeting with Iraqi official Tariq Aziz.
- National Security Decision Directive (NSDD) 114 of November
26, 1983, "U.S. Policy toward the Iran-Iraq War,"
delineating U.S. priorities: the ability to project military
force in the Persian Gulf and to protect oil supplies,
without reference to chemical weapons or human rights
concerns.
- National Security Decision Directive (NSDD) 139 of April
5, 1984, "Measures to Improve U.S. Posture and Readiness
to Respond to Developments in the Iran-Iraq War,"
focusing again on increased access for U.S. military forces
in the Persian Gulf and enhanced intelligence-gathering
capabilities. The directive calls for "unambiguous"
condemnation of chemical weapons use, without naming Iraq,
but places "equal stress" on protecting Iraq
from Iran's "ruthless and inhumane tactics."
The directive orders preparation of "a plan of action
designed to avert an Iraqi collapse."
- U.S. and Iraqi consultations about Iran's 1984 draft
resolution seeking United Nations Security Council condemnation
of Iraq's chemical weapons use. Iraq conveyed several
requests to the U.S. about the resolution, including its
preference for a lower-level response and one that did
not name any country in connection with chemical warfare;
the final result complied with Iraq's requests.
- The 1984 public U.S. condemnation of chemical weapons
use in the Iran-Iraq war, which said, referring to the
Ayatollah Khomeini's refusal to agree to end hostilities
until Saddam Hussein was ejected from power, "The
United States finds the present Iranian regime's intransigent
refusal to deviate from its avowed objective of eliminating
the legitimate government of neighboring Iraq to be inconsistent
with the accepted norms of behavior among nations and
the moral and religious basis which it claims."
Go to the Electronic
Briefing Book
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