Sunday, December 21, 2003

Why Let A Few CW's Spoil A Friendship?


Harry's Place posted a link to a memorandum [PDF format] from then-Secretary of State George Shultz to Donald Rumsfeld, with instruction on how to handle his 1984 meeting with Hussein. Included in the advice (emphasis added):
Setting: Two events have worsened the atmosphere in Baghdad since your last stop there in December: ... (2) Bilateral relations were sharply set back by our March 5 condemnation of Iraq for CW use, despite our repeated warnings that this issue would emerge sooner or later. Given its wartime preoccupations and its distress at our CW statement, the Iraqi leadership probably will have little interest in discussing Lebanon, the Arab-Israeli conflict, or other matters except as they may impinge upon Iraq's increasingly desperate struggle for survival. If Saddam or Tariq Aziz receives you against this background, it will be a noteworthy gesture of the GOI's interest in keeping our relations on track -- and perhaps a measure of how much they think we may ultimately have to offer to their war effort.

"CW", of course, stands for "chemical weapons".

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