Iraqi's Saddam Hussein: CIA Asset - Client Dictator

- 1959: After failed attempt upon life  of Iraqi President General Qassim,  Saddam flees to Egypt. - In Cairo, Hussein repeatedly visits the  US Embassy, and meets with CIA agents  interested in the downfall of the Qassim  Government - PBS Frontline - Upon his return to Iraq, the CIA installs  Hussein in an apartment on al-Rashid St.,  directly opposite Qassim's office in Iraq's  Ministry of Defense, to observe his  movements. - UPI - 1963: President Qassim is assassinated  in the first Ba'athist coup. The United States  is among the first nations to recognize the  new government, and arms shipments begin  immediately. - The next five years bring two more CIA-backed  Ba'athist coups. Under their regimes, Western  business interests, such as Mobil, Bechtel and  British Petroleum begin operations in Iraq. - 1968: The final Ba'athist coup brings Ahmad  Hassan Al Bakr to power, who places his cousin,  Saddam Hussein in charge of the state security  apparatus.  - 1979: CIA asset, Saddam Hussein seizes power  in a palace coup - afterwards, he liquidates all  political opponents within the Iraqi Ba'ath party. - 1980: The incoming Reagan administration,  seeing the Islamic revolution in Iran as a threat,  encourages the subsequent Iraqi invasion of Iran,  with promises of arms, money and intelligence. - In addition to billions of dollars in arms, the  Reagan Administration provides the Iraqi Regime  with chemical and biological weapons. - One year after Iraq uses US-supplied chemical  weapons against Iranian troops, the Reagan  Administration resumes normal diplomatic relations  with Iraq, and removes it from the list of countries  that support terrorism [picture of Donald Rumsfeld  greeting Saddam Hussein]. - The Iran/Iraq War stretches on for 8 years, claims  over a million lives and bankrupts Iraq. - 1988: After the war ends, Iraq's erstwhile ally,  Kuwait floods the world oil market, lowering oil  prices, worldwide. - This undercuts Iraq's efforts to rebuild its  war-ravaged economy and infrastructure. - After Hussein's pleas fall on deaf ears, he begins  to consider military action against Kuwait. - When he informs the US about his plans to invade  Kuwait, US Ambassador, April Glaspie tells him: "We  (The United States) have no opinion on your border  dispute with Kuwait. James Baker (then Secretary of  State) has instructed our spokesmen to EMPHASIZE  this instruction." - Given this green light to invade Kuwait, Saddam  Hussein does so. - The Bush Administration immediately renegs on  its assurances, and begins preparations for war. - Iraqi offers to withdraw from Kuwait, in exchange  for convening a Middle East peace summit are ignored. - The rest is history... - September 11, 2001: Al-qaeda terrorists launch  a coordinated attack on the World Trade Centers  and the Pentagon - Using these attacks as a pretext, the Bush  Administration launches a second war against  Hussein's Iraq - Even though there are no links  between Iraq and the terrorists who executed the  9/11 attacks. - In this invasion, hundreds of Americans and  thousands of Iraqi civilians die. - December 13, 2003: 40-year veteran CIA-asset,  Saddam Hussein is handed over to US occupation  forces by an undisclosed Iraqi group. - Ladies and Gentlemen, we've always had him. Video (about 4 mins):  Iraq's Saddam Hussein: CIA Asset - Client Dictator