Saddam received key to city of Detroit in 1980

The Detroit News ^ | 3/26/03 | Jennifer Brooks

[Pest]

I hope Mayor Kilpatrick has changed the locks!

[Calpernia]

Why do I keep seeing references to SH being a puppet for the US? What did I miss and where?

I just did a search and saw that SH used mustard gas on his people in 1980: http://www.thestateonline.com/pdf/iraqsaddam.pdf

This sounds MORE like the eagerness to take money and not take responsibility to where it comes from.

[ambrose]

I don't think SH was ever anything more than the "enemy of our enemy" during the 80's.

[Pan_Yans Wife]

We supported Iraq in the Iran-Iraq conflict.

[headsonpikes]

If Saddam and the RG don't surrender, Rummy promises to make Bag LOOK like Detroit, civilian casualties be d*mned.

;^)

[Calpernia]

That was only because Iran made the first move in breaking the treaty. That didn't necessarily make SH an ally or puppet. Iran just got the negative reinforcement for doing the shelling first.

But is this where the misconception came from?

[k2blader]

Interesting...

[VOA]

"Now, you must remember that in those days, Saddam Hussein was a puppet.
He was an American puppet," said Yasso, who leads the Chaldean Catholic parish
on Detroit's west side.
snip

Even so, Yasso was surprised by his warm welcome in Baghdad in 1980.

Wasn't Jimmy Carter President of the United States of America in 1980...and until
about the third week of Jan. 1981?

If my memory is correct...I guess he was also the puppet of a hyper-moralistic
Democrat...
So much for the "Saddam was fed by Repbublican Presidents" (alone)

[CheneyChick]

ping

[Pan_Yans Wife]

In the past, I believe our CIA had many connections with Saddam, going back to even before the Iran-Iraq conflict. I do not believe that our government ever meant for anyone to have the impression that he was an ally. Our hands are not bloodied by his past transgressions. Global politics has always been a mixture of good and evil together, often on the same page of history. The media or others may try to make it seem that we supported Saddam, much like they try to say that we were buddies with bin Laden. Our government's position really fluctuates, as alliances form a spidery web across the globe.

[JohnGalt]

Rumsfeld signed off on the Saddam regime early 1984 as gas shells were exploding. James Baker secured 'agricultural' loans for Iraq through the Export/Import Bank and BCCI which allowed Saddam to purchase duel use technology from Italian, British, and American companies.

The scandal was called Iraqgate, but it went nowhere after the Clinton election, probably because Hillary sat on the board for Kenemetal, which was being investigated for selling, you guessed it, duel use technology illegally to the Iraqis.

[Tacis]

Well, of course! Most of the area's Congressmen, Conyers and Obey (now, gone) want to destroy America as badly as Saddam does!

[Calpernia]

What does that mean?

"Rumsfeld signed off on the Saddam regime early 1984"

[Calpernia]

I hear stuff like that; yet, I can never find any documentation (well, talking preClinton).

I have seen unsupported articles, editorial inuendos, nothing substantiated. That is how propaganda works. This is why I'm suspicious. Cause I see official trackings: usinfo.state.gov/regional/nea/iraq/chron.htm

Yet nothing to support or explain: CIA/Rumsfeld signed off etc.

[JohnGalt]

I read this (see below) as Rumsfeld was sent to Iraq to bolster relations and legitmize the United States in the Persian Gulf. Rumsfeld led the party that signed off on a return to 'normal diplomatic relations.'


'In March of 1984, with the Iran-Iraq war growing more brutal by the day, Rumsfeld was back in Baghdad for meetings with then-Iraqi Foreign Minister Tariq Aziz. On the day of his visit, March 24th, UPI reported from the United Nations: “Mustard gas laced with a nerve agent has been used on Iranian soldiers in the 43-month Persian Gulf War between Iran and Iraq, a team of U.N. experts has concluded... Meanwhile, in the Iraqi capital of Baghdad, U.S. presidential envoy Donald Rumsfeld held talks with Foreign Minister Tarek Aziz (sic) on the Gulf war before leaving for an unspecified destination.”

The day before, the Iranian news agency alleged that Iraq launched another chemical weapons assault on the southern battlefront, injuring 600 Iranian soldiers. “Chemical weapons in the form of aerial bombs have been used in the areas inspected in Iran by the specialists,” the U.N. report said. “The types of chemical agents used were bis-(2-chlorethyl)-sulfide, also known as mustard gas, and ethyl N, N-dimethylphosphoroamidocyanidate, a nerve agent known as Tabun.”

Prior to the release of the UN report, the US State Department on March 5th had issued a statement saying “available evidence indicates that Iraq has used lethal chemical weapons.”

Commenting on the UN report, US Ambassador Jeane J. Kirkpatrick was quoted by The New York Times as saying, “We think that the use of chemical weapons is a very serious matter. We've made that clear in general and particular.”

Most glaring is that Donald Rumsfeld was in Iraq as the 1984 UN report was issued and said nothing about the allegations of chemical weapons use, despite State Department “evidence.” On the contrary, The New York Times reported from Baghdad on March 29, 1984, “American diplomats pronounce themselves satisfied with relations between Iraq and the United States and suggest that normal diplomatic ties have been restored in all but name.”

A month and a half later, in May 1984, Donald Rumsfeld resigned. In November of that year, full diplomatic relations between Iraq and the US were fully restored. Two years later, in an article about Rumsfeld’s aspirations to run for the 1988 Republican Presidential nomination, the Chicago Tribune Magazine listed among Rumsfeld’s achievements helping to “reopen U.S. relations with Iraq.” The Tribune failed to mention that this help came at a time when, according to the US State Department, Iraq was actively using chemical weapons.'

[Pan_Yans Wife]

I think you could probably find books relating to these issues. Or, you may just do an in-depth Western publication search for even a biography of Saddam. When he was in exile, in Egypt, (I think?) this was the first of his connections with the US, either through the US embassy, or the CIA... I am not certain. I think there is a great deal of information out there. I am just going by what I remember reading, and the biographical information that I am aware of. I think if you found a paper copy of a biography, you could then check for sources through the bibliography of the book. Just some suggestions. Good luck searching, if you really want to look into this.

[Pan_Yans Wife]

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/saddam/interviews/aburish.html

Read this, to start... then see if you can broaden your search, using this information.

[Calpernia]

Great link! Fills in a lot of my blanks. Thanks for the info.

[Hillary's Lovely Legs]

This is not surprising considering that Coleman Young was a communist and thuggish dictator.

[Pan_Yans Wife]

Let me know, after you have read it, if you think it is just propaganda, or if you think that with further digging, you will answer a lot of your questions. I am interested in hearing your thoughts on it, at a later date.

Best wishes.