Arms entered Iraq through Syrian Firm
- Thread starter Natoma
- Start date
Funny how Assad's playing all nice with Sharon lately.
YeuEmMaiMai
Regular
is anyone really suprised?
digitalwanderer
Legend
Well I sure am!
I thought Bush said the Syrians were on our side.
I thought Bush said the Syrians were on our side.
DemoCoder said:
Nah, we mainly helped them out on the chemical weapons front. Surely nothing bad can come from THAT!
Sad thing is arms-selling is too lucrative, which pretty much means everybody gets their hands dirty in it at one point or another. (Gotta make up for having to buy all those $1000 screwdrivers, right?
)Actually, I believe we didn't help them out on the chemical weapon front. We sold them dual use helicopters, gave them grain credits, and provided satellite imagry to help the war with Iran.
If you've got something to share that shows we did (beyond the Rumsfield handshake), please do.
If you've got something to share that shows we did (beyond the Rumsfield handshake), please do.
This isn't the first or the last time i imagine i will have to ask which chem weapons we provided them. If infact we provide them with precusiary chemicals please provide me with which, how they were used in making weapons and how you know were provide for said purpose by providing evidence.
I'm don't know if we ever, like, shipped it to them in crates (which would never be declassified even if we did to know for sure), but we helped him develop his existing chemical weapon program further, supplied him with intel on when and how to use them, and turned a blind eye to other ways he was using them at the time--which pretty much amounts to the same thing. Worse, perhaps, as we involved ourselves directly in helping him use the exact weapons we now decry, and effectively have him carte blanche because we couldn't precisely decry his personal uses of the weaponry when we still needed him as a toll against Iran.
What we knew about Saddam at the time: that he attacked a neighbor (Iran), had long-range nuclear aspirations, used and was willing to continue using chemical weapons on his enemies and his citizens, and abused the civil rights of his people. Every single reason we've seen today. Hell, the moment he came to power in 1979 he televised for posterity a meeting of the Iraqi leadership where he read out names of "enemies of state" and personally took a hand in their killing, followed by a week's worth of systematic slaughter of hundreds of other "enemies" he named. THIS is the guy we decided to assist.
One of the funniest things I ran across were talking points (unclassified beginning of the year) from a meeting between Rumsfeld, Tariq Aziz, and Saddam Hussein where Rumsfeld said "Iraq should maintain the moral high ground" by making sure to abide by all the conditions of USNC 540 before taking any other action. Damn, that phrase just gives me the giggles! Iraq should maintain the moral high ground... Whooo-eee! Tears come to my eyes! Both kinds. -_-
What we knew about Saddam at the time: that he attacked a neighbor (Iran), had long-range nuclear aspirations, used and was willing to continue using chemical weapons on his enemies and his citizens, and abused the civil rights of his people. Every single reason we've seen today. Hell, the moment he came to power in 1979 he televised for posterity a meeting of the Iraqi leadership where he read out names of "enemies of state" and personally took a hand in their killing, followed by a week's worth of systematic slaughter of hundreds of other "enemies" he named. THIS is the guy we decided to assist.
One of the funniest things I ran across were talking points (unclassified beginning of the year) from a meeting between Rumsfeld, Tariq Aziz, and Saddam Hussein where Rumsfeld said "Iraq should maintain the moral high ground" by making sure to abide by all the conditions of USNC 540 before taking any other action. Damn, that phrase just gives me the giggles! Iraq should maintain the moral high ground... Whooo-eee! Tears come to my eyes! Both kinds. -_-
So what you're saying is "you say so".
No, what I'm saying is "we have no lists" of specific arms sent--if we did--but what HAS been revealed amounts to the same or worse. What's the difference between actually supplying him with arms, and assisting him in furthering the development of his own chemical weapons programs? Net result--he has more weapons. Other results--we encouraged him and assisted him in using them. More weapons, better weapons, intel on using them, permission on using them, not OBJECTING to him using them... You don't see anything wrong with this?
We'll never be able to quantify it all (since the sum total was likely never compiled nor will ever be declassified), but it doesn't chance the fact that it was--how shall we say--a "decidedly bad thing" and what the current 180-degree stance holds as an "obvious evil that must be eradicated." You know... when it's convenient. If we don't have other plans at the time.
We'll never be able to quantify it all (since the sum total was likely never compiled nor will ever be declassified), but it doesn't chance the fact that it was--how shall we say--a "decidedly bad thing" and what the current 180-degree stance holds as an "obvious evil that must be eradicated." You know... when it's convenient. If we don't have other plans at the time.
Where's any proof or links, or news stories of the US assisting Iraq in developing chemical weapons?
What HAS been revealed is that we admittedly turned a blind eye to the useage of them in the Iran/Iraq war. But that isn't the same as assisting him in using and developing them.
What HAS been revealed is that we admittedly turned a blind eye to the useage of them in the Iran/Iraq war. But that isn't the same as assisting him in using and developing them.
Thanks for that alphawolf the only thing I can say is atleast the yanks ( here in aus we refer to all americans as yanks ) regret doing that I gotta wonder how much the germans and french regret there supply of miltary equipment I also think one of them built an iraqi nuclear reactor but doin't quote me on that.
the only thing I can say is atleast the yanks ( here in aus we refer to all americans as yanks ) regret doing that I gotta wonder how much the germans and french regret there supply of miltary equipment I also think one of them built an iraqi nuclear reactor but doin't quote me on that.