Reply #68: Missing U.S.-Iraq History

[Octafish]

Here's a heapin' helpin' of Truth the Corporate McPravda seems to want to keep buried:

Missing U.S.-Iraq History

By Robert Parry
February 27, 2003

Before George W. Bush gives the final order to invade Iraq -- a nation that has not threatened the United States -- the American people might want a few facts about the real history of U.S.-Iraq relations. Missing chapters from 1980 to the present would be crucial in judging Bush’s case for war.

But Americans don’t have those facts because Bush and his predecessors in the White House have kept this history hidden from the American people. When parts of the story have emerged, administrations of both parties have taken steps to suppress or discredit the disclosures. So instead of knowing the truth, Americans have been fed a steady diet of distortions, simplifications and outright lies.

This missing history also is not just about minor details. It goes to the heart of the case against Saddam Hussein, including whether he is an especially “aggressive” and “unpredictable” dictator who must be removed from power even at the risk of America’s standing in the world and the chance that a war will lead to more terrorism against U.S. targets.

SNIP...

Senior Bush's Advice

Beyond those “dual-use” supplies, other unanswered questions relate to whether then-Vice President George H.W. Bush urged Saddam to use greater ferocity in waging his war with Iran, advice that led the Iraqi air force to bomb civilian centers in Tehran and other Iranian cities in 1986.

A lengthy article by Murray Waas and Craig Unger in the New Yorker in 1992 described the senior Bush passing on advice to Saddam, through Arab intermediaries, for this more aggressive bombing campaign. Yet the historical question has never been settled. The senior Bush has never been subjected to a careful questioning, though it is true that Saddam did intensify his air campaign after Bush’s trip.

The answer would be relevant now as the younger Bush asserts that Saddam’s penchant for military aggression justifies a new war. If Bush’s father actually was counseling Saddam to be more aggressive, that’s a fact that the American people ought to know.

Waas and Unger described the motive for the Reagan administration’s tactical advice as a kind of diplomatic billiard shot. By getting Iraq to expand use of its air force, the Iranians would be more desperate for U.S.-made HAWK anti-aircraft missile parts, giving Washington more leverage with the Iranians. Iran’s need to protect their cities from Iraqi air attacks gave impetus to the Reagan administration’s arms-for-hostage scheme, which later became known as the Iran-contra affair.

CONTINUED...

http://www.consortiumnews.com/2003/022703a.html

Thanks for giving a damn, malaise. These NAZI gangster warmongers know they can't keep a lid on the truth much longer.