"Then in mid-1990, Saddam made his claim that Kuwait was draining oil from an Iraqi field on the border and threatened to use force to take it back. There were hints of Iraqi troop movements. U.S. Ambassador to Iraq, April Glaspie, sat down with Saddam and indicated to him that the U.S. had no position on bilateral differences between Arab states, but that the use of force would be contrary to the UN Charter. Later, Saddam was to say that he felt the U.S. had given a green light for invasion. Glaspie later testified before Congress that the main American mistake was not to "realize he was stupid."

"Ten years ago, the systematic gassing of the Kurdish population of northern Iraq had far less impact on America. Only six months after the slaughter at Halabja, the White House lent Saddam Hussein another billion dollars. And in 1991, at the end of the Gulf war, US troops stood idly by while Saddam’s presidential guard ruthlessly suppressed the popular uprising by the Kurds for which the American president had himself called.

"The main tool by which U.S. policy makers sought to secure their position in Iran in 1985 and 1986 was secretly providing arms and intelligence information. As a proclaimed neutral in the Iran-Iraq war, the United States was not supposed to supply weapons to either side. Nevertheless, U.S. allies kept the combatants well-stocked.<74> Israel transferred vast quantities of U.S.-origin weapons to Iran;<75> to what extent U.S. permission for these shipments was obtained (as required by U.S. law) is not known, but surely the U.S. had enough leverage to prevent the transfers if it had wanted to. In 1984, because of Iranian battlefield victories and the growing U.S.-Iraqi ties, Washington launched "Operation Staunch," an effort to dry up Iran's sources of arms by pressuring U.S. allies to stop supplying Teheran.<76> U.S. secret arms sales to Iran in 1985 and 1986 thus not only violated U.S. neutrality, but undercut as well what the U.S. was trying to get everyone else to do. The cynical would note that Operation Staunch made the U.S. arms transfers to Iran that much more valuable.

"Peace agreement with the Kurdish Democratic Party collapsed with suppression of Kurdish uprising and resulting refugee crisis. Despite the US's role in encouraging and supporting the Kurdish revolt, it refused to aid the refugees. Kissinger, who had been responsible for crafting the plan stated: "Covert action should not be confused with missionary work (33)."