Editing Saddam Hussein (section)

==== International support and opposition ====
{{Main|International aid to combatants in the Iran–Iraq War|United States support for Iraq during the Iran–Iraq War}}
[[File:Cardoen Saddam.jpg|thumb|Saddam greeting [[Carlos Cardoen]] — a Chilean businessman who provided Iraq with weapons]]Backed by the [[United States]], the [[United Kingdom]], several European nations, and heavily financed by the [[Arab states of the Persian Gulf]], Saddam positioned himself as "the defender of the Arab world" against a revolutionary, fundamentalist and [[Shia Islamism|Shia Islamist]] Iran.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2013-06-12 |title=The Lion of Babylon Roars - a Ba'athist Iraq wank |url=https://www.alternatehistory.com/forum/threads/the-lion-of-babylon-roars-a-baathist-iraq-wank.282523/ |access-date=2025-04-08 |website=alternatehistory.com |language=en-US}}</ref> The only exception was the [[Soviet Union]].<ref>This section: Mesbahi pp.74–78</ref><ref name="ivapn">{{cite journal |date=1 January 1968 |title=Iraq and U.S.S.R.: Oil Agreement |journal=International Legal Materials |volume=7 |issue=2 |pages=307–311 |doi=10.1017/s0020782900052517 |jstor=20690330 |s2cid=249004473}}</ref> It initially refused to supply Iraq on the basis of neutrality in the conflict.<ref>Sajjadpour pp.32</ref> In his memoirs, Mikhail Gorbachev claimed that Brezhnev initially refused to aid Saddam due to anger over the regime's treatment of Iraqi communists.<ref name="HISTORY-2021" /> However, by 1982, the [[Soviet Union]] began [[Soviet Union during the Iran-Iraq War|supplying Iraq with military aid]], and in the final years (1986–1988), it actively supported Iraq.<ref>Sajjadpour p.35</ref>

In a U.S. bid to open full diplomatic relations with Iraq, the country was removed from the [[State Sponsors of Terrorism (U.S. list)|U.S list of State Sponsors of Terrorism]] in February 1982.<ref>[https://www.nytimes.com/1990/08/13/world/confrontation-gulf-us-aid-helped-hussein-s-climb-now-critics-say-bill-due.html Confrontation in the Gulf; U.S. Aid Helped Hussein's Climb; Now, Critics Say, the Bill Is Due] ''The New York Times'', 13 August 1990.</ref> Ostensibly, this was because of improvement in the regime's record, although former U.S. Assistant Secretary of Defense Noel Koch later stated, "No one had any doubts about [the Iraqis'] continued involvement in [[State terrorism|terrorism]] ... The real reason was to help them succeed in the war against Iran."<ref name="Borer">{{cite web |url=http://www.army.mil/professionalWriting/volumes/volume1/july_2003/7_03_2v2.html |title=Inverse Engagement: Lessons from U.S.-Iraq Relations, 1982–1990 |access-date=12 October 2006 |last=Borer |first=Douglas A. |year=2003 |work=U.S. Army Professional Writing Collection |publisher=U.S. Army |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061011195656/http://www.army.mil/professionalwriting/volumes/volume1/july_2003/7_03_2v2.html |archive-date=11 October 2006}}</ref> Middle East special envoy [[Donald Rumsfeld]] met Saddam on 19–20 December 1983 at Baghdad.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Borger |first=Julian |date=2002-12-31 |title=Rumsfeld 'offered help to Saddam' |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2002/dec/31/iraq.politics |access-date=2025-04-08 |work=The Guardian |language=en-GB |issn=0261-3077}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=When Rumsfeld was chummy with Saddam.. |url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2003/9/4/when-rumsfeld-was-chummy-with-saddam |access-date=2025-04-08 |website=Al Jazeera |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |author=ABC News |title=Saddam Hussein's Gift to Donald Rumsfeld: Video of Syrian 'Atrocities' |url=https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/donald-rumsfeld-video-saddam-hussein-depicts-barbaric-syrian/story?id=13087737 |access-date=2025-04-08 |website=ABC News |language=en}}</ref> After which, Saddam sent his deputy Aziz to visit the United States in 1984.<ref name=":37">{{Cite web |last=Al-Marashi |first=Ibrahim |title=A divisive legacy: Tariq Aziz (1936-2015) |url=https://www.aljazeera.com/opinions/2015/6/6/a-divisive-legacy-tariq-aziz-1936-2015 |access-date=2025-04-08 |website=Al Jazeera |language=en}}</ref> He met with President [[Ronald Reagan]] and then vice-president [[George H. W. Bush]] at the [[White House]] and secured further [[United States support for Iraq during the Iran–Iraq War|U.S support for Iraq]].<ref name=":37" />

The Soviet Union, [[France]], and [[China]] together accounted for over 90% of the value of Iraq's arms imports between 1980 and 1988.<ref>[http://armstrade.sipri.org/armstrade/page/values.php SIPRI Database] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151125105813/http://armstrade.sipri.org/armstrade/page/values.php |date=25 November 2015 }} Indicates that of $29,079 million of arms exported to Iraq from 1980 to 1988 the Soviet Union accounted for $16,808 million, France $4,591 million, and China $5,004 million (Info must be entered)</ref> While the U.S supplied Iraq with arms, dual-use technology and economic aid, it was also involved in a covert and controversial illegal arms deal, providing sanctioned Iran with weaponry.<ref name="HISTORY-2021" /> This political scandal became known as the [[Iran–Contra affair]].<ref>[http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/NSAEBB/NSAEBB210/ ''The Iran-Contra Affair 20 Years On'']. The National Security Archive (George Washington University), 24 November 2006</ref> Saddam reached out to other Arab governments for cash and political support during the war, particularly after Iraq's oil industry severely suffered at the hands of the [[Islamic Republic of Iran Navy|Iranian navy]] in the [[Persian Gulf]].<ref name="HISTORY-2021" /> 

Chemical weapons were developed by Iraq from materials and technology supplied primarily by [[West Germany|West German]] companies as well as using dual-use technology imported following the [[Presidency of Ronald Reagan|Reagan administration]]'s lifting of export restrictions.<ref name="Isa">Dr. Khalil Ibrahim Al Isa, [https://fas.org/nuke/guide/iraq/cw/az120103.html Iraqi Scientist Reports on German, Other Help for Iraq Chemical Weapons Program], ''Al Zaman (London)'', 1 December 2003.</ref> The [[Federal government of the United States|United States government]] also supplied Iraq with "satellite photos showing Iranian deployments."<ref>{{cite news |author1=Dickey, Christopher |author2=Thomas, Evan |date=22 September 2002 |title=How Saddam Happened |url=http://www.thedailybeast.com/newsweek/2002/09/22/how-saddam-happened.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111213041515/http://www.thedailybeast.com/newsweek/2002/09/22/how-saddam-happened.html |archive-date=13 December 2011 |access-date=20 August 2011 |newspaper=Newsweek}}</ref> This satellite imagery may have played a crucial role in blocking the [[Operation Ramadan|Iranian invasion of Iraq]] in 1982.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Blight |first1=James G. |title=Becoming Enemies: U.S.-Iran Relations and the Iran-Iraq War, 1979-1988 |publisher=[[Rowman & Littlefield]] Publishers |year=2012 |isbn=978-1-4422-0830-8 |pages=21, 97, 113–119 |display-authors=etal}}</ref> However, Saddam's government later blamed the Iraqi defeat in the [[First Battle of al-Faw]] in February 1986 on "misinformation from the U.S."<ref>{{Cite news |date=19 January 1987 |title=IRAQ ASCRIBES A KEY DEFEAT IN '86 TO MISINFORMATION FROM THE U.S. |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1987/01/19/world/iraq-ascribes-a-key-defeat-in-86-to-misinformation-from-the-us.html |access-date=17 February 2024 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}}</ref>