____________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________
United States Assistance to Iraq

During the Iran-Iraq War

The Making of Iraq’s Biological Warfare Program.

By Ryan McHargue

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Introduction

On August 2, 1990, 100,000-plus Iraqi forces rolled across the Kuwaiti border and seized the capital and occupied the presidential palace, quickly crushing the 16,000-man Kuwaiti armed forces.[1] Soon after, on November of 1990, the UN set a deadline for the Iraqi withdrawal from Kuwait, and authorized the use of force to get Iraq to comply.[2]

Iraq refused to move, and President George H.W. Bush led a coalition of forces into the Persian Gulf with the blessing of the UN, after an intensive bombing campaign against Iraqi troop movements and Iraqi military installations, including suspected chemical and biological weapons productions sites. When the 48-hour ground war in Iraq was over, US troops deployed in Iraq returned home, victorious in driving back Saddam Hussein’s regime under the threat of biological and chemical warfare.

Ten years later, many of those same soldiers have the specter of that conflict looming over their heads, in the form of an elusive disease known as Gulf War Syndrome. Of 690,000 American troops serving in the Persian Gulf during Operation: Desert Storm, 63,000 veterans and active-duty personnel have exhibited symptoms of Gulf War Syndrome, which, according to the American Legion, include chronic fatigue, skin rashes, unusual hair loss, muscle pain, gastrointestinal disturbances, neuropsychological disorders, and others. An undetermined number of the 3,000 US civilians in Iraq, along with hundreds of forces from the various members of the coalition and thousands of Kuwaiti, Iraqi, and Saudi civilians have exhibited symptoms similar to those exhibited by US troops.[3]

The cause of Gulf War Syndrome is as of yet unknown, but there are many suspects, including pesticide-containing flea-collars, exposure to low-level nerve gas, side effects from anti-nerve gas pyridostigmine tablets, and even constant exposure to DEET insect repellent.[4] Originally, the focus of the Congressional inquiry by Donald Riegle, Jr focused almost exclusively on chemical warfare agents, and various levels of soldiers’ exposures to said agents. His initial inquiry was met with reports from a number of researchers concerning what Riegle called a more “disturbing” proposal: that symptoms of Gulf War Syndrome could have been caused not only by chemical agents, but by biological ones.[5].

In March of 2003. President George W. Bush, son of George H.W. Bush, Commander-in-Chief of Operation: Desert Storm, commanded the invasion of Iraq in Operation: Enduring Freedom.

In his State of the Union address, Bush stated that “the United Nations concluded in 1999 that Saddam Hussein had biological weapons sufficient to produce over 25,000 liters of anthrax -- enough doses to kill several million people.” And also: “Saddam Hussein had materials sufficient to produce more than 38,000 liters of botulinum toxin -- enough to subject millions of people to death by respiratory failure.” Bush made these statements in an effort to garner support for military action against Iraq, which was eventually achieved by March of 2003 by a coalition of 47 different nations, comprising what Bush labeled a “Coalition of the Willing,” in defiance of UN Resolutions.[6]

In a matter of weeks, the invasion was finished, and President Bush declared an end to hostilities in Iraq in his speech on May 1, 2003, from the deck of the USS Abraham Lincoln, hostilities which resulted in the ouster of Iraqi President Saddam Hussein, and an occupation that costs the United States $1 billion each month, culminating in record deficits.

These instances have their roots in the Iran-Iraq War of 1980-1988. The United States played a very important, sometimes covert, sometimes classified, but always active role in the fighting, not through military support, but in many other ways. The United States is, in effect, responsible for the occurrence of Gulf War Syndrome, as well as the instability in the Middle East and the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction in the region. This report will attempt to state just how and why the United States Government was complicit in the arming of Iraq, resulting in occurrences of Gulf War Syndrome in US soldiers, and how US policy played an intimate role in the eventual overthrow of Saddam Hussein in 2003.

The Rise of Saddam Hussein

Saddam Hussein was born in April of 1937 to a poor family in the village of Al Awja, near Tikrit, north of the capital of Baghdad. His father died before he was born, and his stepfather was an extremely abusive man.[7] When he was 5 or 6 years old, he received a tattoo on his right hand: three dark-blue dots in a line near the wrist, a sign of his tribal roots.[8] As a boy, he was forced to steal in order to eat. He was illiterate until he was ten, when he learned his cousin could read and write, and demanded he be taught as well. Because of his adamant demands, he was sent to live with his uncle, an ardent Iraqi nationalist, for an education. At age 20, he joined the Ba’ath party as a gunman, and participated in the assassination attempt on General Abdel Karim Kassem.[9]

The main ideological objectives of the Ba’ath party include secularism, socialism, and pan-Arab unionism. It was originally formed in Damascus, Syria in the 1940’s, and closely identified with the Arab Nationalism of Egypt’s Gamal Abdel Nasser.[10]

After the failed assassination attempt, he fled first to Syria, then to Cairo, with the help of Nasser, where he regularly visited the US Embassy, supposedly to meet with the CIA, who were interested in overthrowing General Kassem, as they believed he was getting dangerously close to becoming a full-fledged Communist dictator.[11] Kassem was allowing Communists into his administration in high-ranking positions, and had very close ties with Moscow. According to Roger Morris, a former State Department Foreign Service officer, Hussein was actually on the CIA payroll.[12] At the height of the Cold War, the CIA often did as much as they could to stunt the spread of Communism, including the overthrow of Democratically elected leaders, such as in Chile. Hussein was seen as an effective tool towards this end.

In February of 1963, the Ba’ath party staged a coup, assassinating General Kassem in the process. While Hussein later claimed he had a planning part in the coup, his part was in fact minor. He returned to Iraq, but his stay was short-lived; the army overthrew the Ba’ath party 9 months later, and Hussein was jailed.[13]

In jail, Hussein studied the tactics of Adolf Hitler and the administrative tactics of Josef Stalin, whom he modeled his entire political career after. He often served coffee for the rest of his fellow prisoners. Even in jail, his pride never flagged. Once, after a scuffle between rival Ba’ath factions, the jail guard asked who was responsible, and what had happened to incite violence. All participants in the fight looked at Hussein, who responded with: “We are the revolutionaries of Ramadan [the 1963 Ba’athist coup]. You used to kiss the feet of General Abdel Karim Kassem, but we saved you and made you raise your head high. But we will return and soon everyone will have to be accountable for what they have done.[14]” In 1966, he was finally released from prison.

On July 30, 1968, the secular Ba’athist regime was at it again: a successful military coup occurred when an armored brigade seized control of the strategic buildings of Baghdad, a coup that was encouraged by the CIA. Hussein himself was one of the leaders of the revolt, and helped secure victory by organizing and expanding the Ba’ath party militia that kept control of the streets.[15] Soon, Ba’athist President Hasan al-Bakr, Saddam’s cousin, was in power, and Saddam Hussein was quickly appointed the head of the Revolution Command Council, and soon became his right-hand man.[16] By the mid-1970’s, as al-Bakr was beset by illness and a series of family tragedies, he delegated more and more power to Hussein. In 1979, Hussein staged a palace coup, and al-Bakr resigned for “health reasons.[17]” Hussein replaced him as President of the republic, secretary general of the Ba’ath Party Regional Command, chairman of the Revolutionary Command Council, and commander in chief of the armed forces. Later, he was promoted to Field Marshal.[18]

Hussein quickly purged the Ba’athist party of any and all dissenters, showing just how well he studied the administration and policies of Josef Stalin. In one instance, a week after his ascension to power, Hussein called a meeting of all Ba’athist officials, and publicly read the names of those he deemed “traitors.” These men, numbering more than 60, were led out of the room, and never seen or heard from again.[19] It is estimated he purged more than 500 members of the Ba’ath party and other organizations within the military and administration, settling scores of personal grudges and eliminating any and all opposition to his party.[20]

On September 22, 1980, Saddam Hussein invaded the Islamic Republic of Iran with a force of over 200,000 men, in one of the largest ground invasions since World War II, marking the beginning of the bloody Iran-Iraq War.[21]

Playing Sides

When Iraq invaded Iran in 1980, Washington looked on with an interested eye. Originally, the United States backed neither Iran nor Iraq, but was not upset that Iraq invaded the Islamic Republic of Iran, as they wanted to control the spread of militant Islam. The United States hoped the two countries would fight to a stalemate, and in the process weaken each other drastically, allowing the United States to form more strategic partnerships with Iraq, which has the world’s second largest volume of proven oil reserves. As the tide turned, and Iran launched a massive counterattack, the focus of the United States turned from support of neither side to support of Iraq, in an attempt to reaffirm the sovereignty of the secular Iraq, as the US Government wanted to contain the Islamic government of Iran in any way possible.

Following the Iranian Islamic Revolution, the United States sought to thaw relations with Iraq, as it posed a common threat to the United States and Iraq. The United States was critical of the Iraqi invasion of Khuzistan in 1980, but maintained a neutral policy, which evolved out of a preventative reaction of increasing support to Saudi Arabia in order to prevent expansion of the war. The US neutrality policy prevented direct “great power” involvement (particularly the United States and Soviet Union), prevented the spread of the conflict beyond the territory of those involved to threaten the Gulf oil supplies, contributed to the early military stalemate (before the Iranian counteroffensive), and preserved the possibility of developing a future relationship with Iran, at the same time minimizing openings for expansion of Soviet influence.[22]

When Iran began to gain ground after their counteroffensive began, the United States became worried that the secular Iraqi regime would topple as Iran waged a war of attrition in an attempt at destabilization. There was a distinct possibility that this would lead to the spread of an Islamic government into a country with the second largest volume of proven oil reserves, and that spelled disaster for a country that was known as the “Great Satan” in Iranian propaganda.[23]

In order to gain better relations with Iraq, the United States helped Iraq financially, and also chose to help Iraq diplomatically and militarily as well, expanding its interaction with Saddam Hussein’s regime. As Hussein was faced with increased military casualties, both human and economic, he sought to expand his relations with the United States, and the United States responded in kind by removing Iraq from the terrorism list restrictions that were established by the 1979 Fenwick amendment in the Export Administration Act, and the US Department of Agricultural Commodity Credit Corporation guaranteed credit for sales of agricultural commodities to Iraq.[24]

The United States, looking on from across the globe, decided with the aid of a National Security Council study in October of 1983 that US interests would not be served should Iraq collapse in the war of attrition with Iran.[25]

Reports of chemical weapons use on the battlefields by Iraq against Iran were taken with concern, and publicly condemned by the United States. Despite the use of chemical weapons, the United States still chose to promote Iraq over Iran, and outlined three policy points concerning Iraq:

§ US Government seeks negotiated settlement preserving sovereignty and territorial integrity of both sides.

§ US Government has publicly condemned Iraqi chemical weapon use and opposes bombing of cities.

§ United States does not supply arms to either side and actively discourages sales to Iran by US friends and allies.[26]

Maintaining the sovereignty of both nations was a key way to prevent the spread of Islamic regimes hostile towards the United States, particularly in the Gulf States, where oil is of key importance. While the United States condemned the chemical weapon use against both civilians and soldiers, as well as the bombing of civilian population centers, and actively discouraged sales to Iran, Iraq was most certainly not off limits, and the United States made no attempt to stifle the sales of materials integral to the manufacturing of chemical weapons systems.

The Profit Margin

Reports rolled in as Saddam Hussein was accused by the Iranians as having used chemical agents on both troops and civilians, with Iranian soldiers being sent to hospitals outside of the Middle East in order to showcase the horrors of Iraqi illegal chemical warfare, and draw international sympathy and support to their side. The United States condemned the attacks as illegal and reprehensible, making sure the world knew they were not condoning such tactics. Despite their outspoken and vehement condemnations, the United States secretly decided to aid Iraq in its war against the Iranians, which was led by an Islamic regime hostile towards the US.

Aid came in the form of financial help via bank credits and agricultural loans through the US Export-Import Bank, as well as through direct aid. Agricultural materials were sent to Iraq in quantity, many of which had “dual-use” properties, meaning they could be used as both agricultural implements and chemical warfare agents.[27]

The United States used less discretion with Iraq than should be afforded to a country accused of and proven to have used chemical weapons in combat and against civilian populations. In one case, according to a memorandum concerning the sale of Dow Chemical pesticides LORSBAN 4E and DURSBAN TC (ostensibly for use as agricultural aids, as the former is a general insecticide, and the latter is a termiticide), the active ingredient of both is 0,0-dimethyl 0-(3,5,6-trichloro-2-pyridyl)phosphate. The writer of the memorandum, a clerk named John Jennings, goes on to state:

It is not easily absorbed by the skin, however it is highly toxic to humans if ingested. It behaves like a nerve gas. Death ultimately results from asphyxiation. The recommended antidote, as with the war gasses, is atropine. In addition, if heated, it releases very toxic fumes.[28]

Jennings goes on to state that “considering al of the above, I can find no reason to deny the application.” He also states later that he “cannot categorically state that these materials cannot be used as chemical warfare agents, nor that they cannot be converted to such.[29]” A seemingly lax review when sending questionable materials to a country accused of war atrocities.

But the list doesn’t end there, and in fact goes on quite a long way. The United States allowed many US companies to ship chemicals and technology to Iraq that can be used in the procurement of chemical weapons. Evapco, Gorman-Rupp, Union Carbide, Honeywell, Alcolac, Sullaire Corp, and many others sent items such as ion exchange machinery, xylene, motors, air filters, and buffer vessels to Iraq, each with a stamp of approval for export from the United States. In one case, a company, Posi Seal Inc, even sold projectile filling systems to Iraq, used in filling warheads with chemical agents. [30]

After the Gulf War of 1991, chemical warfare agents that survived the allied bombing and were inventoried and set for destruction included:

§ 13,000 155-mm artillery shells loaded with mustard gas;

§ 6,200 rockets loaded with nerve agent;

§ 800 nerve agent aerial bombs;

§ 28 SCUD warheads loaded with Sarin;

§ 75 tons of the nerve agent Sarin;

§ 60-70 tons of the nerve agent Tabun;

§ 250 tons of mustard gas and stocks of thiodiglycol, a precursor chemical for mustard gasses.[31]

The UN concluded after the war that the chemical weapons manufacturing plant in Muthanna, Iraq was capable of producing two tons of Sarin and five tons of mustard gas daily. In addition to this, the plant was also capable of manufacturing VX gas, one of the most toxic substances ever created.[32]

These all were, of course, private companies, all selling for nothing but profit, and doing so legally under the scrutiny of the US Government. But what the US Government itself was supplying to Iraq throughout the war is even more chilling, and exponentially more dangerous.

Biowarfare

Biowarfare is not new; it has been used since WWI, by both the Soviets and Japanese. The Japanese had stockpiled enough weaponized biological agents to kill every living person on the planet. The Soviets have released anthrax as well as Tularemia into the atmosphere, the former as an accident, the latter on purpose, against German troops.[33]

The US Government itself did not aid in Iraq’s chemical weapons program, even though it allowed American companies to sell weapons material to Iraq. But what it did take direct part in was Iraq’s biowarfare program.

According to the UN, the Iraqi biowarfare program was initiated in 1986, at a site called Al Salman, near the town of Salman Pak. From February of 1985 through November of 1989, the United States shipped large quantities of biological materials to Iraq including five different biological specimens that have been considered for use in military arenas: Bacillus anthracis, Clostridium botulinum, Histoplasma capsulatum, Clostridium perfringens.[34]

Bacillus anthracis is the bacterial source of anthrax, an often-fatal infectious disease, and is caused by the ingestion of bacterial spores. Anthrax can manifest itself in four ways: cutaneously, gastrointestinally, inhalationally, and oropharyngeally.[35]

Cutaneous anthrax occurs when spores enter a scratch or cut on the skin. Within several days, a fluid-filled blister erupts, and in a week’s time, the center turns black as the skin begins to die. The blister is usually painless, and treatable with antibiotics and cutting out the dead skin, as this form of anthrax is a local infection.[36]

Gastrointestinal anthrax occurs after eating meat contaminated with the bacteria. It can be more serious than cutaneous anthrax but can be treated effectively with prompt use of antibiotics. However, if it is not caught in time, bloody diarrhea and bloody vomiting are common symptoms. Soon after infection, the abdomen fills with fluid, and shock and death occurs, usually within 2-5 days.[37]

Inhalational anthrax is the most fatal, and also the most common threat of weaponized anthrax. Generally within 2 or 3 days, an infected person experiences sore throat, mild fever, and muscle aches, and often mistakes anthrax for the flu. However, after just a few days a patient develops severe breathing difficulty, and shock and meningitis oftentimes develop. Once the infection becomes severe, it is difficult to treat, as the buildup of exotoxins remains even after the bacteria have all been killed. Inhalation anthrax is not contagious, as one must inhale the spores themselves directly from the environment for infection to take place.[38]

Oropharynreal anthrax is the least common, and entails swollen lymph nodes and breathing, after an incubation period of 1 to 7 days.[39]

Anthrax is a prime component of the Iraqi biological weapons program, and can be weaponized in order to deliver the spores via missile launch, which can explode in the atmosphere, dispersing the spores over a wide area. Anthrax is easy to deliver and the spores are resistant to heat and pressure, making it an ideal subject for a biowarfare program.

According to Donald Riegle’s report to Congress concerning US military personnel exposure to biological and chemical agents, the following was shipped by the CDC to Iraqi Ministry of Higher Education on May 2, 1986:

Bacillus Anthracis Cohn (ATCC 10)

Batch # 08-20-82 (2 each)

Class III pathogen.

Bacillus Anthracis (ATCC 14185)

Batch# 01-14-80 (3 each)

G.G. Wright (Fort Detrick) V770-NPI-R. Bovine anthrax,

Class III pathogen

Bacillus Anthracis (ATCC 14578)

Batch# 01-06-78 (2 each)

Class III pathogen [40]

It is a shocking and somewhat telling coincidence that Iraq began its offensive Biological Weapons program at the Al Salman site in the very same year, with extensive research done beginning in 1987 by Dr Rihab Taha, known today as “Dr. Germ” by the UN and members of the US “Coalition of the Willing.[41]” Additionally, on September 29, 1988, after research had begun, the CDC shipped the following to the Iraqi Ministry of Trade, strengthening the biowarfare research agenda of Saddam Hussein:

Bacillus anthracis (ATCC 240)

Batch#05-14-63 (3 each)
Class III pathogen

Bacillus anthracis (ATCC 938)

Batch#1963 (3 each)

Class III pathogen

Bacillus anthracis (ATCC 8705)

Batch# 06-27-62 (3 each)

Class III pathogen

Bacillus anthracis (.ATCC 11966)

Batch# 05-05-70 (3 each)

Class III pathogen [42]

But anthrax is not the only biological warfare threat being cooked up by Saddam Hussein. Clostridium botulinum, the bacterial source of botulinum toxin, was also an integral part of Hussein’s biological weapons program.

Clostridium botulinum is another spore-forming bacterium, much like anthrax, and produces a potent neurotoxin called (fittingly) botulinum toxin. It is the most potent lethal toxin known, with an estimated toxic dose of type A botulinum toxin being at 0.001 mg/kg of body weight. There are seven distinct types of botulinum neurotoxins, types A through G, which are produced by different strains of Clostridium botulinum. Types A, B, and E are the culprits that cause human botulism.[43]

Symptoms for botulism (the condition caused by infection of the bacteria and subsequent secretion of the botulinum toxin) include vomiting, constipation, thirst, general weakness, headache, fever, dizziness, dilation of the pupils, double vision, and paralysis of the muscles involved in swallowing. It is almost always fatal if left untreated.[44]

On March 10, 1986, and again on April 21, 1986, the CDC shipped one vial of botulinum toxoid to the al-Muthanna site, a place known to US intelligence as a possible chemical and biological research facility, and was the location of Saddam Hussein’s largest production plant for chemical warfare, as well as his original site for offensive biowarfare research. Later, on May 2, 1986, in the same shipment that contained large quantities of Bacillus anthracis, the CDC shipped the following to the Iraqi Ministry of Higher Education:

Clostridium botulinum Type A (ATCC 3502)

Batch# 07-07-81 (3 each)

Class III Pathogen

Clostridium botulinum Type E (ATCC 9564)

Batch# 03-02-79 (2 each)

Class III pathogen

Clostridium botulinum Type A (ATCC 19397)

Batch# 08-18-81 (2 each)

Class III pathogen

Clostridium botulinum Type A (ATCC 25763)

Batch# 8-83 (2 each)

Class III pathogen

Clostridium botulinum Type F (ATCC 35415)

Batch# 02-02-84 (2 each)

Class III pathogen [45]

On September 29, 1988, again bundled with quantities of Bacillus anthracis, the CDC shipped to the Ministry of Trade the following:

Clostridium botulinum Type A

Batch# 07-86 (3 each)

Class III pathogen [46]

In all, large amounts of Clostridium botulinum and Bacillus anthracis were sent to Iraq very close to a time that coincides with the time Saddam Hussein was beginning his biowarfare research.

In addition to the previous infectious substances, the US sent batches of Hisoplasma capsulatum, which causes a disease that superficially resembles tuberculosis, and can cause enlargement of the spleen and liver, as well as an acute inflammatory skin disease. When infection is reactivated, it generally involves the lungs, brain, and spinal membranes. Also sent were batches of Brucella melitensis, a bacterium that causes chronic fatigue, profuse sweating, loss of appetite, nausea, and damage to major organs. Clostridium perfringens was sent as well. It is the bacterium that causes gas gangrene, which rots flesh in the infected area, and causes systemic illness upon entering the bloodstream.[47]

Beginning in 2002, the West Nile Virus claimed many lives in New York, Colorado, as well as in Canada and Mexico. Interestingly, the CDC also sent Iraq samples of the West Nile Virus on May 11, 1985. In 2001 several people and many postal workers were infected by an anthrax outbreak that was most likely a product of domestic terrorism (and quite possibly petty score-settling), and while the outbreak was contained, several people died as a result. While it is extremely unlikely West Nile Virus in the United States was caused or released by Saddam Hussein, and it’s clear that the anthrax was procured and released domestically, it does well to show the lethality of the items sent to Iraq by the CDC, with the approval of the US Government..

Effectively, the US Government had sold the precursors necessary to kickstart a vast biological weapons program, and these sales would not be without repercussions for the United States.

Operation Desert Storm and Gulf War Syndrome

After months of tension and buildup, Saddam Hussein broke his promise to the world and invaded Kuwait on August 2, 1990, quickly seizing the capital and occupying royal palace, and causing the reigning monarch to flee.[48]

After some months of occupation, the UN finally agreed on military action to force Saddam Hussein’s occupying force out of Kuwait. Headed up by the US military under President George H.W. Bush, a coalition of forces embarked on a massive air campaign, bombing numerous strategic military and communications sites, as well as sites known for their biological and chemical weapons research. Soon, the ground invasion was underway, but ended with Iraq’s withdraw from Kuwait and surrender to the coalition within only 48 hours.

Upon returning home, many soldiers of the coalition forces experienced troubling symptoms of a phantom illness, which would soon be termed “Gulf War Syndrome.” Symptoms of this illness include the following: muscle and joint pain, memory loss, intestinal and heart problems, fatigue, nasal congestion, urinary urgency, diarrhea, twitching, rashes, sores, and numerous other symptoms.[49]

Originally, it was thought that this was due to exposure of chemical weapons agents such as mustard gas, Sarin, or Tabun, but soon, researchers came forward with news that it could possibly be due to biological warfare agent exposure and contamination.[50]

After expelling Hussein from Kuwait, the US-led coalition and UN inspectors found many remnants of the bombed-out remains of chemical and biological weapons facilities, as illustrated by the following account, concerning a Marine named Dale Glover, of the 1165^th Military Police Company, who was approximately 75 miles inside Iraq:

They entered a bunker that was half uncovered by the bombing. Inside there was a very strong ammonia smell. They discovered leaking chemical munitions inserts packed inside aluminum casings. A test confirmed a blister agent. They went back to their unit and reported what they had found. Mr. Glover recalled that "they didn't get back to us for 2-3 hours, then told us it was a false positive, nothing to be concerned about." However, he said, within hours they were ordered to move from the location where they were camped, about three miles from the bunker. Mr. Glover recalled that they had been at that position only a couple of weeks and had not expected to move that soon. When questioned if the site they discovered was south of the Euphrates, he confirmed that it was.[51]

Soldiers were routinely subjected to the bombed remnants of chemical and biological weapons stockpiles, and these stockpiles most certainly attributed to the illness of not just military personnel, but of civilians working in Iraq, Kuwait, and Saudi Arabia. More than 63,000 veterans have exhibited symptoms of Gulf War Syndrome,[52] which while remaining highly theoretical in nature, may very well be the result of US companies given the green light to export products to be used in chemical weapons productions, as well as US Government sales of biological components necessary to start a biological warfare program.

While the Department of Defense officially declares that no US soldiers were exposed to chemical agents in the Gulf War, it is harder to test for biological infection, as the physician must know exactly what it is they are looking for. This is particularly true if biological toxins (such as botulinum) and viruses were used or released.[53]

Operation Iraqi Freedom

What is the price of US biological and chemical warfare aid to Iraq during the Iran-Iraq War? In simple dollars, it can easily be argued that over $85 billion has been spent since President George W. Bush, son of George H.W. Bush, invaded Iraq, deposing Saddam Hussein.[54]

His reason for the invasion and occupation of Iraq? According to President Bush, it was because of the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, particularly of the chemical and biological variety. He listed point after point just how many chemical and biological weapons Saddam Hussein created up through January of 2003, when Bush delivered his State of the Union Address:

The United Nations concluded in 1999 that Saddam Hussein had biological weapons sufficient to produce over 25,000 liters of anthrax -- enough doses to kill several million people. The United Nations concluded that Saddam Hussein had materials sufficient to produce more than 38,000 liters of botulinum toxin -- enough to subject millions of people to death by respiratory failure. Our intelligence officials estimate that Saddam Hussein had the materials to produce as much as 500 tons of sarin, mustard and VX nerve agent. In such quantities, these chemical agents could also kill untold thousands.[55]

President George Bush’s reasoning for an incredibly costly occupation, in both dollars and human lives, is to prevent the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, and to keep those weapons from falling into the hands of terrorists to be used against the United States, weapons that were supplied or enhanced by the US Government itself.

In the world of foreign policy, Reagan’s short-sightedness during the Iran-Iraq War caused a huge and expensive problem in the post-Soviet era.

Conclusion

Despite his George H.W. Bush’s that “we did not enhance [Saddam Hussein’s] nuclear, biological, or chemical weapon capability,[56]” the US Government under President Ronald Reagan was complicit in building the Iraqi biological weapons program, and enhancing their chemical weapons program by granting export licenses to large amounts of equipment used in chemical weapons research and production.

The US Government approved the sale by the CDC to Iraq of anthrax, botulinum toxin, and several other highly infectious and fatal biological organisms, and quite possibly played a very large role in providing Iraq with the materials necessary to start research and production of biological components suitable for use in battlefield conditions, as well as in terrorist attacks.

Many people do not question the volatility and horrors of Saddam Hussein’s Ba’athist regime in Iraq, but few question the role of the US Government in the making of the regime’s most destructive aspects: chemical and biological weapons. In an era of disaster-provoked patriotism and volatile US nationalism, many choose to overlook the history of the situation, and that often leads to ignorant decisions, with disastrous outcomes.

Introduction

[1] Kuwait Invasion: Iraq Unrepentant 10 Years On. August 02, 2000. http://www.arabia.com/kuwait/news/article/english/0,5508,26168,00.html

[2] BBC Online. Kuwait Invasion 1991; Saddam’s Iraq: Key Events. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/shared/spl/hi/middle_east/03/v3_iraq_timeline/html/kuwait_invasion.stm

[3] From The Hartford Courant, May 29, 1995, via http://www.gulfweb.org

[4] CNN.com, http://www.cnn.com/2000/HEALTH/11/27/gulfwar.brain.reut/

[5] Riegle, Donald W. Arming Iraq: Biological Agent Exports Prior to the Gulf War. Statement to Congress, February 9, 1994.

[6] Bush, George W. State of the Union Address. January 28, 2003

The Rise of Saddam Hussein
[7] Knox, Kathleen. Radio Free Europe. April 11, 2003 http://www.rferl.org/nca/features/2003/04/11042003135957.asp

[8] Bowden, Mark. Tales of the Tyrant. The Atlantic Online. http://www.theatlantic.com/issues/2002/05/bowden.htm

[9] Aburish, Said K. The Survival of Saddam. PBS Frontline Interview.

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

[10] Ba’ath Party. Infoplease.org. http://www.infoplease.com/ce6/history/A0805601.html

[11] PBS Frontline. The Long Road to War. http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/longroad/etc/cron.html

[12] Morgan, David. Ex-U.S. Official Says CIA Aided Baathists. Reuters, April 20, 2003.

[13] PBS Frontline. The Long Road to War. http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/longroad/etc/cron.html

[14] Knox, Kathleen. Radio Free Europe. April 11, 2003 http://www.rferl.org/nca/features/2003/04/11042003135957.asp

[15] The Target; Saddam Hussein’s Life. Rocky Mountain News. February 26, 2003. via GlobalSecurity.org. http://www.globalsecurity.org/org/news/2003/030226-saddam01.htm

[16] Tripp, Charles. A History of Iraq. Cambridge University Press, 2000.

[17] PBS Frontline. The Long Road to War. http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/longroad/etc/cron.html

[18] Saddam Hussein al-Takriti. GlobalSecurity.org. http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/iraq/saddam.htm

[19] PBS Frontline. The Long Road to War. http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/longroad/etc/cron.html

[20] Tripp, Charles. A History of Iraq. Cambridge University Press, 2000.

[21] PBS Frontline. The Long Road to War. http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/longroad/etc/cron.html

Playing Sides

[22] Veliotes, Nicholas A. and Jonathan Howe. Iran-Iraq War: Analysis of a Possible U.S. Shift from Position of Strict Neutrality. Information Memorandum. October 7, 1983.

[23] Preece, Richard M. United States – Iraqi Relations. Congressional Research Service. July 30, 1986.

[24] Ibid.

[25] Ibid.

[26] Deputy Secretary Whitehead’s Trip to the Middle East. August 2-13, 1985.

The Profit Margin

[27] Preece, Richard M. United States – Iraqi Relations. Congressional Research Service. July 30, 1986.

[28] Jennings, John. Proposed Dow Chemical Sale of Pesticides to Iraq. December 6, 1988. Memorandum to Ken Tinsley.

[29] Ibid.

[30] Mullins, Janet G. List of US Companies Supplying Arms to Iraq. Feb. 26, 1992.

[31] Riegle, Donald W. US Chemical and Biological Warfare-Related Dual Use Exports to Iraq and their Possible Impact on the Health Consequences of the Persian Gulf War. May 25, 1994.

[32] Ibid.

Biowarfare

[33] History of Biowarfare and Bioterrorism. Arizona Department of Health Services. http://www.hs.state.az.us/phs/edc/edrp/es/bthistor2.htm

[34] Riegle, Donald W. US Chemical and Biological Warfare-Related Dual Use Exports to Iraq and their Possible Impact on the Health Consequences of the Persian Gulf War. May 25, 1994.

[35] Anthrax – Symptoms. WebMD. http://my.webmd.com/content/healthwise/35/8674.htm?lastselectedguid={5FE84E90-BC77-4056-A91C-9531713CA348}

[36] Ibid.

[37] Ibid.

[38] Ibid.

[39] Ibid.

[40] Riegle, Donald W. US Chemical and Biological Warfare-Related Dual Use Exports to Iraq and their Possible Impact on the Health Consequences of the Persian Gulf War. May 25, 1994.

[41] Salman Pak – Iraq Special Weapons Facilities. GlobalSecurity.org. http://www.globalsecurity.org/wmd/world/iraq/salman_pak.htm

[42] Riegle, Donald W. US Chemical and Biological Warfare-Related Dual Use Exports to Iraq and their Possible Impact on the Health Consequences of the Persian Gulf War. May 25, 1994.

[43] Botulism. WebMD. http://my.webmd.com/content/article/61/67290.htm?lastselectedguid={5FE84E90-BC77-4056-A91C-9531713CA348}

[44] Riegle, Donald W. US Chemical and Biological Warfare-Related Dual Use Exports to Iraq and their Possible Impact on the Health Consequences of the Persian Gulf War. May 25, 1994.

[45] Ibid.

[46] Ibid.

[47] Ibid.

Operation Desert Storm and Gulf War Syndrome

[48] Kuwait Invasion: Iraq Unrepentant 10 Years On. August 02, 2000. http://www.arabia.com/kuwait/news/article/english/0,5508,26168,00.html

[49] Riegle, Donald W. US Chemical and Biological Warfare-Related Dual Use Exports to Iraq and their Possible Impact on the Health Consequences of the Persian Gulf War. May 25, 1994.

[50] Riegle, Donald W. Arming Iraq: Biological Agent Exports Prior to the Gulf War. Statement to Congress, February 9, 1994.

[51] Riegle, Donald W. US Chemical and Biological Warfare-Related Dual Use Exports to Iraq and their Possible Impact on the Health Consequences of the Persian Gulf War. May 25, 1994.

[52] From The Hartford Courant, May 29, 1995, via http://www.gulfweb.org

[53] Riegle, Donald W. US Chemical and Biological Warfare-Related Dual Use Exports to Iraq and their Possible Impact on the Health Consequences of the Persian Gulf War. May 25, 1994.

Operation Enduring Freedom

[54] Cost of War. http://costofwar.com

[55] Bush, George W. State of the Union Address. January 28, 2003

Conclusion

[56] Assistance to Iraq. Interview with George H.W. Bush. From Administration of George Bush, 1992.