Report: US Ignored Iraq’s Use of Chemical Weapons Against Iran
Published at
iStockphoto/Thinkstock(WASHINGTON) — Did the U.S. look the other way when Iraq used chemical weapons in its decade-long war with Iran?
A new report in Foreign Policy magazine alleges that’s exactly what happened in the 1980s during the Reagan administration.
The magazine says it interviewed former intelligence operatives and read through declassified CIA files, which apparently reveal that the U.S. raised no objections when Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein ordered the use of mustard gas on Iranians.
Foreign Policy claims the documents “are tantamount to an official American admission of complicity in some of the most gruesome chemical weapons attacks ever launched.”
Meanwhile, the journal also says it learned that Washington shared information with Baghdad about Iran’s military positions, which led to a chemical attack.
While the U.S. and Iran broke off diplomatic relations in 1979, it wasn’t until Iraq’s invasion of Kuwait in 1990 that Washington determined that Baghdad could no longer be trusted.
Copyright 2013 ABC News Radio