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Originally Posted by Outofdodge  You're wasting your fingers on this one Ms. Bainbridge. |
When the US adopted this strategy with Gaddafi in Libya it worked so it could have worked equally well with Saddam but it was never tried, perhaps action had already been decided.
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However I do need to point out that during the Iraq-Iran war up to the invasion of Kuwait, and that includes the period when the Kurds were gassed, Iraq was an active buyer of American military hardware and overtly received other aid from the US.
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In February 1982 the US State Department removed Iraq from its list of states supporting international terrorism, and in November 1984 restored normal relations. Why? At that time the greater perceived threat to the US's national interest came from Iran.
Why even Donald Rumsfeld paid Saddam a visit in 1983 as a special envoy of Ronald Reagan - note the long & friendly hand-shakes.
YouTube - Donald Rumsfeld meets Saddam Hussein 1983 (full)