What did the CIA originally say about the Saddam Hussien "gassing his own people"?

Question

I actually know the answer to this, but wanted to see how many other people knew about the incident at Halabja during the Iran/Iraq war.

Bonus question: What do you think about the treatment of this event before vs. after Saddam became our enemy?

Answer 1

I have no idea what the CIA said about Hussein using poison gas against the Kurds in Iraq--but the fact that it happened is public knowledge. I doubt it got much press at the time in the US. We rarely take interest in what happens in foreign countries. The US was also supporting Iraq in the war against Iran. It wasn't until Hussein invaded Kuwait that the US public paid much attention to him.

Answer 2

I'm not sure what the CIA originally said about Saddam's gassing of the Kurds. But I do know what the CIA didn't say about it. That the poison gas which Saddam used to kill masses of people was supplied by the US. In a way, the US was guilty of providing Saddam with the poison gas, fully aware that such chemicals were banned by the Geneva Conventions.

It's all hypocrisy when the US considers its own action as politically correct, while denouncing the Soviets or the Chinese and branding them as criminals whenever they do exactly the same thing.

Answer 3

It happened in 1988 in northern Iraq with nerve gas

Answer 4

"Oh, come on dude. Don't do that. That's not cool."

They didn't think it was a good idea at the time, but supporting Saddam Hussein's government served the American government's interests better at the time to do anything to stop or punish them.

Answer 5

Hussein was the CIA installed buffer against Iran. We turned a blind eye to it.

Answer 6

Are the C.I.A part of the military??