- Fresh controversy about Donald Rumsfeld's personal dealings
with Saddam Hussein was provoked yesterday by new documents that reveal
he went to Iraq to show America's support for the regime despite its use
of chemical weapons.
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- The formerly secret documents reveal the Defence Secretary
travelled to Baghdad 20 years ago to assure Iraq that America's condemnation
of its use of chemical weapons was made "strictly" in principle.
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- The criticism in no way changed Washington's wish to
support Iraq in its war against Iran and "to improve bi-lateral relations
... at a pace of Iraq's choosing".
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- Earlier this year, Mr Rumsfeld and other members of the
Bush administration regularly cited Saddam's willingness to use chemical
weapons against his own people as evidence of the threat presented to the
rest of the world.
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- Senior officials presented the attacks against the Kurds
- particularly the notorious attack in Halabja in 1988 - as a justification
for the invasion and the ousting of Saddam.
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- But the newly declassified documents reveal that 20 years
ago America's position was different and that the administration of President
Ronald Reagan was concerned about maintaining good relations with Iraq
despite evidence of Saddam's "almost daily" use of chemical weapons
against Iranian troops and Kurdish rebels.
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- In March 1984, under international pressure, America
condemned Iraq's use of such chemical weapons. But realising that Baghdad
had been upset, Secretary of State George Schultz asked Mr Rumsfeld to
travel to Iraq as a special envoy to meet Saddam's Foreign Minister, Tariq
Aziz, and smooth matters over.
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- In a briefing memo to Mr Rumsfeld, Mr Shultz wrote that
he had met Iraqi officials in Washington to stress that America's interests
remained "in (1) preventing an Iranian victory and (2) continuing
to improve bilateral relations with Iraq".
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- The memo adds: "This message bears reinforcing during
your discussions."
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- Exactly what Mr Rumsfeld, who at the time did not hold
government office, told Mr Aziz on 26 March 1984, remains unclear and minutes
from the meeting remain classified. No one from Mr Rumsfeld's office was
available to comment yesterday.
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- It was not Mr Rumsfeld's first visit to Iraq. Four months
earlier, in December 1983, he had visited Saddam and was photographed shaking
hands with the dictator. When news of this visit was revealed last year,
Mr Rumsfeld claimed he had "cautioned" Saddam to stop using chemical
weapons.
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- When documents about the meeting disclosed he had said
no such thing, a spokesman for Mr Rumsfeld said he had raised the issue
with Mr Aziz.
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- America's relationship with Iraq at a time when Saddam
was using chemical weapons is well-documented but rarely reported.
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- During the war with Iran, America provided combat assistance
to Iraq that included intelligence on Iranian deployments and bomb-damage
assessments. In 1987-88 American warships destroyed Iranian oil platforms
in the Gulf and broke the blockade of Iraqi shipping lanes.
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- Tom Blanton, the director of the National Security Archive,
a non-profit group that obtained the documents, told The New York Times:
"Saddam had chemical weapons in the 1980s and it didn't make any difference
to US policy. The embrace of Saddam and what it emboldened him to do should
caution us as Americans that we have to look closely at all our murky alliances."
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- Last night, Danny Muller, a spokesman for the anti-war
group Voices in the Wilderness, said the documents revealed America's "blatant
hypocrisy". He added: "This is not an isolated event. Continuing
administrations have said 'we will do business'. I am surprised that Donald
Rumsfeld does not resign right now."
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- © 2003 Independent Digital (UK) Ltd
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