RexRed wrote:Any weapons that were to go to Saddam during the Reagan admin. were first voted and approved by congress...
True ... but then, after Saddam gassed the Kurds, Congress asked for sanctions -- and it was the White House that scuttled the bipartisan proposal, and instead awarded another billion dollar of loans to Saddam's regime.
This background from previous posts (this one, this one and this one):
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When news of Saddam gassing the Kurds had emerged in 1988, Democratic Congressman Senator Claiborne D. Pell tabled a resolution for the US to impose sanctions against Iraq, the Prevention of Genocide Act. "Iraq's conduct is a crime against humanity", Pell said, and "we cannot be silent to genocide again".
The resolution got unanimous support in the Senate, and Pell's move to table it was quickly seconded by Jesse Helms. (Yes, odd bedfellows).
This is what the
US Army War College Quarterly article that touches on it has on what the Prevention of Genocide Act entailed:
Quote:Although Congress did not act to condemn Iraq for the gassing of Iranian soldiers on four verified occasions in the mid-1980s, Saddam's gassing of Kurdish civilians in 1988 from American-made helicopters did foment a significant congressional reaction, primarily from the Senate.
In early September the Senate unanimously passed the Prevention of Genocide Act of 1988. In its original form, the legislation called for the following changes in US policy toward Iraq:
- An embargo on all dual-use technology exports
- The elimination of all CCC and Export-Import Bank credits
- An embargo on all US imports of Iraqi oil
- A requirement that all loans to Iraq under consideration in international financial institutions (the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank, etc.) be opposed by the United States
It was, however, blocked by the White House.
(Different links I found use different choice of words here. Le Monde Diplomatique says the Act was "vetoed by President Bush". Even the most cautious source you get Googling this one up, from The US Army Professional Writing Collection, says: "the sanctions bill was systematically watered down, and it eventually died under the heavy influence of both the Administration and opponents within the House of Representatives".)
To Reagan and Bush's credit <sarcasm>, they were not the only ones who opposed the Senate push for sanctions.
After news of Saddam gassing the Kurds had come out, a vote was also brought to the United Nations Sub-Committee on Human Rights to condemn Iraq for human rights violations.
It was rejected by 11 votes to 8.
The US was not among those who voted for it. Scandinavian countries, Australia and Canada, however, like the European Parliament and the Socialist International, did clearly condemn Iraq.
In both Congress and the UN, it was the President and Administration that had final responsibility for the failure of action. It could have easily followed through.
