Thanks for the ping AAC. Much detail and extremely interesting; I like this little snippet -
'Iraq's use of terrorism was so widespread, in fact, that it became an issue in the 1992 presidential campaign, when Al Gore accused the first Bush administration of a "blatant disregard for brutal terrorism" practiced by Hussein and ignoring Iraq's "extensive terrorism activities."'
I thought the Gore information was interesting too. So I did a search and found the text of Al Gore's "blatant disregard" speech from September 29, 1992 here:
http://www.mit.edu/afs/net/user/tytso/usenet/nptn/campaign92/dems/15
A couple other quotes from that speech:
"The Reagan/Bush Administration was also prepared to overlook the fact that the terrorist who masterminded the attack on the Achille Lauro and the savage murder of American Leon Klinghoffer fled with Iraqi assistance. Nor did it matter that the team of terrorists who set out to blow up the Rome airport came from Baghdad with suitcase bombs."
"There might have been a moment's pause for reflection when Iraqi aircraft intentionally attacked the USS Stark in May 1987, killing 37 sailors -- but the Administration smoothed it over very fast."
"I like this little snippet - "
Yes, its a gem.
Well, this is uncomfortable.