Kevin Bogart

* On March 5, 1984, State Department spokesperson John Hughes addressed Iraq's use of chemical weapons against Iran: "The United States strongly condemns the prohibited use of chemical weapons wherever it occurs." By year's end, the US had established full diplomatic relations with Iraq for the first time since 1967.
* Six months after that, the Reagan administration authorized the sale to Iraq of 45 dual-use, US-made Bell helicopters.Former Iraqi officer, General al-Shamari, told Newsweek that he was in charge of firing chemical weapons from howitzers against Iranian troops, and that US satellite information provided the targeting information. A former CIA official confirmed to Newsweek that the US provided military intelligence to Iraq, including on chemical warfare. General al-Shamari now lives safely in the U.S., running a restaurant outside of Washington DC.
* The US and UK continued support for Hussein after the gassing of the Kurds at Halabja in 1988.One possible reason for this support: 24 US corporations supplied Iraq with nuclear, chemical, biological, and missile technology, prior to 1991. The list includes Honeywell, Rockwell, Hewlett Packard, Dupont, Eastman Kodak, and Bechtel.
* If the Kurds are Hussein's people, the Tibetans are Hu Jintao's people; the Zapatistas are Vicente Fox's people; the Chechens are Putin's people; the Palestinians are Sharon's people; the Seminoles were Andrew Jackson's people; and the Puerto Ricans being bombed and radiated with DU in Vieques are Bush's people.