Ronald Reagan backed Saddam in the Iraq-Iran war of the 1980's. Did we also supply him with chemical weapons?

Question

Did Reagan help create the monster that gassed all those civilians?

Answer 1

Yes this is true. The American government was very friendly with the Iraq government all through the 80's. They had many dealings with them, Americans also supplied them with some helicopters that Iraq used to help commit genocide.
I don't think Reagan helped create the mad man that is known as Hussein but he sure turned a blind eye when it was known that the chemicals supplied to Iraq were not going to be used for testing as the Iraqis said, Iraq was also offered gas masks but they said they wouldn't need them (big clue), American gov't said "oh, okay, here's your gas" and away they went. They they (USA) acted shocked when it was found out Hussein had gassed his own people.
A little piece of history the American government would rather we not bring up.
It's a sick sick world sometimes!

Answer 2

All we did during the Iran-Iraq war was ensure that neither side won.

And initially the US sold 'dual-use' chemicals to Iraq that were supposedly for insecticide use. The moment the US became aware of the (German-built) chemical weapons plants we cut off all supplies of 'dual-use' chemicals.

Of course this did not do any good because Europe simply stepped in and sold him those chemicals.

Anybody notice how the Europeans seem not to ever get criticized for:

1) Designing and building Saddam's chemical weapons plants?
2) Selling him the chemicals he used in those same plants?
3) Loaning him the money to pay for those plants?

The really sad part of all this is that all of the stupid people blame the US without bothering to check the facts.

Want to know more? See the link below:

Answer 3

We supported Saddam to replace his uncle as President, and continued to support him for years until he ceased to be amenable to suggestions from our government (see Manuel Noriega).

Remember the Iran/Contra hearings, that put Oliver North on the map during the Reagan Administration?

We were officially neutral, but were funneling money to Saddam, while supplying Iran with weapons, also. Gosh, those would be the actions of someone who didn't want either side to win, just wanted to keep things stirred up for as long as possible!

As to the weapons--yes, and so did a lot of other countries.

Answer 4

Actually it was the democrat Jimmy Carter whose CIA installed Saddam as ruler or Iraq in 1979. And why wouldn't Reagan back him in a war against Iran? Iran has hated us for years, not to mention at the time, during a little thing called the Cold War, Iran was friends with....wait for it....the Soviet Union. So of course the U.S was going to back Iraq in that war. Would you please try to know and understand history.

Answer 5

Yes. The United states did in fact supply him with the technology for the production of WMDs.

Yes TurboWeegie, we supplied him with the intel and with the go ahead to use chemical weapons on his own people. It's a little thing called historical fact. Something you should check on before you post.

Answer 6

You really should look into the FACTS before you post. We did not provide Saddam with any warmaking materials.

What we did do is vouch for him to the World Bank, so he could borrow money to purchase arms, ammo, etc.

You have to understand that Iran was really trying to sweep through Iran and take over the entire Arabian peninsula, and elimiate Israel while they were at it. We didn't particularly care for Saddam, but he was preventing the Iranis from success in their idiot jihad. Our allies in the region - Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, UAE, etc - were in no position to resist this invasion should Iraq have failed.

So, the truth is that it did not quite occur according to 'conventional liberal wisdom'.

Answer 7

Probably. All powerful countries are guilty of doing the same thing at some point in history, they sell weapons for loads of money and then realise they've made a monster.

Answer 8

The US did give Saddam chemical WMDs to use against Iran, yes. This sh!t is what happens when we back murderous dictators. Apparently, no administration will ever LEARN from these lessons..

Answer 9

No, but the US gave Saddam money which was probably used to finance the chemical weapons.

Answer 10

For cryin' out loud! We trained him in at our Embassy in Egypt! Doesn't anybody do any research? And yes - we did him 'sell' weapons grade chemicals (we've got the receipts, we know he had them).