A picture of Saddam and Rumsfeld - back when they were friends

[lancemurdoch]

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

This is what I think of when I see Saddam's picture on the newspapers and headlines about how we "won" against the "enemy".

It reminds me of 1984 when it was necessary to doublethink...when Eastasia goes from ally to enemy, you have to stop thinking "Eastasia is our friend...Eastasia has always been our friend" to "Eastasita is our enemy...Eastasia has always been our enemy".

Then there's the "he gassed his own people (the Kurds)!" line. Of course not mentioned is that Reagan sent him weapons beforehand. And Reagan continued sending him weapons afterward. Not until he stopped killing people and went after some oil did he become a monster.

Also not mentioned is how the US business community doesn't want the Kurds to have their own country, and has never wanted it, and won't let it happen. Also very important, and almost never mentioned, is that the Turks have been killing Kurds for years, and are still massacring Kurds, worse than Iraq (which was pretty bad), and it's just fine because their useful to the foreign policy of US elites.

It goes without saying, I think, that these policies benefit the majority owners of US corporations, but not the majority of American workers.

[SeveneightyWhoa]

1. How about this one?

http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/nsa/publications/iraqgate/igpic.html

[pinkpops]

2. Rumsfeld and his 'old friend' Saddam

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

found this story/cartoon posted on michael moore's site

[buycitgo]

5. great link!

soon as I saw atimes.com, I thought, "Lobe?"

he's one of the few non-stenographers working.

course, look who he's working for.

everyone ought to put that "paper" on their desktop

from the asia times link:

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.

I really hope the dems just HAMMER them with this story, and that photo during the campaign, cause Iraq will 'resignate' with the voters, especially if things continue to go as HORRibly as they are now.

[BackDoorMan]

3. Thay still are friends, they have tea together, go on double dates, etc...

It's just that Saddam was a little stingy with his oil...and war is hard on realationships, of any kind.

Sure Hussein might be a little bitter about his sons, but nothing a nice basket of fruit can't fix...these two cut-ups are made for each other...buddies for life!

Mark my words...Rumsfeld and Saddam will be laughing it up, playing golf together and going to see the latest movies together within three weeks...as soon as Saddam gets some rest...Donald will pay a surprize visit and all will be well again and our soldiers will be coming home within days afterwards.

[UTUSN]

4. Could All of You "Do" the Pics, Please?

[cliss]

6. Thanks for sharing the photos, everyone.

Each one is worse than the last. Well, they say a picture is worth a thousand word. In this case, I'd say the US is clearly an arbitrary "democracy" choosing goodies over ethics. I've seen it happen to many times: the US will be very nice to dictators, and treat other, more democratic countries like crap because they may not have anything the US wants.

And believe me, if the US deals with foreign nations like this, they will be no different with their own "family" at home.