Reply #9: Arming Saddam.. [View All]

[Historic NY]

Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush sold hundreds of millions of dollars worth of weapons and provided the technology for Saddam's chemical, biological and nuclear programs.

The reasoning of the Reagan/Bush administrations for arming Iraq was that while Saddam was certainly an odious human being, he could serve as the region's policeman. He might be a bastard, but he was "our bastard". At the time, Iraq was fighting a war with Iran and the United States was worried that a victory for Saddam's nemesis could result in the spread of fundamentalist Islamic regimes which would destabilize the region and block our access to the oil in the Middle East.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/articles/02/12/13_iraq.html