A clandestine American program during former President Ronald Reagan’s administration provided Iraq with crucial battle planning assistance, at a time when US intelligence agencies knew that Iraqi commanders would employ chemical weapons in waging the decisive battles of the Iran-Iraq war, high-ranking military officers with direct knowledge of the program had said, according to The New York Times.
In its Sunday edition, the newspaper reported that those officers, most of whom agreed to speak on condition of anonymity, spoke in response to a reporter's questions about the nature of gas warfare on both sides of the conflict between Iran and Iraq between the years 1981 to 1988.
Iraq's use of gas in that conflict is continuously cited by President Bush and, this week, by his national security adviser, Condoleezza Rice, as justification for "regime change" in Iraq. The covert program, according to the report, was carried out at a time when President Reagan's senior aides, including Secretary of State George P. Shultz, Defense Secretary Frank C. Carlucci and General Colin L. Powell, then the national security adviser, were publicly condemning Baghdad for its use of poison gas, in particular after Iraq attacked Kurds in Halabja in March 1988.
In the course of the Iran-Iraq war, Washington decided it was essential that Tehran be thwarted, so it could not overrun the significant oil-producing countries in the Persian Gulf. It has long been known that the United States provided intelligence assistance to Iraq in the form of satellite photography to help the Iraqis understand how Iranian forces were deployed against them. However, the full nature of the program, as described by former Defense Intelligence Agency officers, was not previously revealed, the daily added.
Meanwhile, US Secretary of State Powell, through a spokesman, said the officers' description of the program was "dead wrong," but declined to discuss it. His deputy, Richard L. Armitage, a top defense official at the time, used an expletive relayed through a spokesman to indicate his denial that the United States acquiesced in the use of chemical weapons.
According to The New York Times, the Defense Intelligence Agency declined to comment, as did Lt. Gen. Leonard Perroots (ret.), who supervised the program as the head of the agency. Carlucci conveyed, "My understanding is that what was provided" to Iraq "was general order of battle information, not operational intelligence."
"I certainly have no knowledge of U.S. participation in preparing battle and strike packages," he said, "and doubt strongly that that occurred." Later on, he added, "I did agree that Iraq should not lose the war, but I certainly had no foreknowledge of their use of chemical weapons."
Though top officials of the Reagan administration publicly condemned Iraq's employment of mustard gas, sarin, VX and other poisonous agents, the American military officers said President Reagan, Vice President George Bush and senior national security aides never withdrew their support for the highly classified program in which over 60 officers of the Defense Intelligence Agency were secretly providing detailed information on Iranian deployments, tactical planning for battles, plans for air-strikes and bomb-damage assessments for Iraq.
Iraq shared its battle plans with the Americans, without admitting the use of chemical weapons, the military officers added. However, Baghdad’s use of chemical weapons, already established at that point, became more evident in the war's final stage. (Albawaba.com)
© 2002 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
