Full story:
US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld - a leading advocate of war against Iraq - did little to stop the regime acquiring weapons of mass destruction, new documents reveal.
He was sent to meet Saddam Hussein and promised the dictator the American government would do "whatever was necessary and legal" to prevent it losing its war against Iran in the 1980s, the Washington Post reported.The Ronald Reagan administration allowed the export of biological agents such as anthrax and ingredients for chemical bombs - the very weapons the US is now demanding Iraq destroy.Bulwark
The administration knew at the time that Iraq was using chemical weapons against Iraqi Kurds.
The revelations are contained in newly declassified documents.
America's support for Iraq during the Iran-Iraq war is well documented.
The US, under President Ronald Reagan and Vice President George Bush Snr, hoped a strong Iraq would stop the spread of Islamic militancy in Iran and through the region, and so protect its oil supplies.
But the extent of Rumsfeld's involvement has come as a surprise and as an embarrassment for the politician.
Enovy
He acted as an envoy and visited Baghdad to meet Saddam at a time when Iraq was regularly using chemical weapons against Iran in defiance of international conventions.
Intelligence reports showed that Iraqi troops were resorting to "almost daily use of chemical weapons" against the Iranians.
Rumsfeld told Saddam during a meeting in December 1983 that Washington was ready for a resumption of full diplomatic relations, according to a US State Department report of the conversation.
David Newton, a former US ambassador to Baghdad, said the policy of helping Saddam was "fundamentally justified" and went on: "We were concerned that Iraq should not lose the war with Iran because that would have threatened Saudi Arabia and the Gulf.
'Horrible mistake'
"Our long-term hope was that Hussein's government would become less repressive and more responsible."
But former CIA military analyst Kenneth Pollack told the Washington Post it was a "horrible mistake".
"My fellow analysts and I were warning at the time that Hussein was a very nasty character. We were constantly fighting the State Department," he said.
come one dude, that was 1983. Rumsfeld is out of his mind by now.
:)