The Iran-Iraq War officially began on September 22nd when Iraq invaded Iran. The war resulted in 1 million casualties and cost $1.19 trillion in USD. Although there had been border disputes between Iraq and Iran since they were called Mesopotamia and Persia, the hostilities between the nations grew intense as oil was discovered under the disputed territory of Khuzestan. Other territories, such as the Shatt al-Arab waterway, were also called into question. Iraq encouraged Arabs in Iran to rebel against their government, while Iran encouraged Kurds in Iraq to do the same against Iraq’s leadership.

Saddam had entertained the idea of successfully invading Iran since before he was president. Such a takeover would strengthen his oil trade and elevate Iraq as a great regional power. In 1979, the pro-western Shah of Iran was ousted in the Iranian Revolution, and replaced by the Ayatollah Khomeini. The Ayatollah despised the secularism of Saddam and the Ba’ath Party, and threatened to spread Islamic revolution throughout the Middle East. However, due to the degenerating state of Iran’s army and the destabilization of the country, Saddam saw this as the perfect time to strike.

After the Iran-Iraq War had been raging for two years, the US started to make its backing of Iraq more public and normalized relations with its government. The US began to openly supply Iraq with intelligence, economic aid, and weapons. President Reagan declared that the United States “could not afford to allow Iraq to lose the war to Iran”, and that we “would do whatever was necessary and legal to prevent Iraq from losing the war with Iran.” This policy was formalized by Reagan in the National Security Decision Directive in June of 1982.

In 1987, the US itself started to actively attack Iran by destroying its oil platforms and gunboats. In 1988, while in Iranian waters, a US cruiser shot down Iran Air Flight 655, resulting in the death of all 290 passengers. Because of the bad press, the US eventually paid compensation but never apologized. In 1984 Iraq started to use chemical weapons against Iran. Nonetheless, from 1985–1989, US companies sent numerous fatal biological cultures, including anthrax, to Saddam. These transactions were all done with the approval of the Reagan and the first Bush administrations. Eight shipments of cultures, which were later classified by the Centers for Disease Control as having “biological warfare significance”, were approved by the Department of Commerce. Iraq received at least seventy-two shipments of clones, chemicals, and germs, all with chemical and biological warfare potential. The Saddam Regime further used chemical weapons against the Kurds in northern Iraq in 1988, yet the U.S. continued to ship them deadly substances.

However, America was not only supplying Iraq with weaponry. According to a report put out by the US Congressional Committees Investigating the Iran-Contra Affair, “the sale of U.S. arms to Iran through Israel began in the summer of 1985, after receiving the approval of President Reagan.” These covert sales to Iran included over 2,000 anti-tank missiles, 235 parts kits for surface-to-air missiles, 18 F-4 fighter-bombers, 46 A-4 Skyhawk fighter-bombers, and almost 4,000 missiles. Additionally, “unverified reports alleged that Israel agreed to sell Iran AIM-9 Sidewinder air-to-air missiles, radar equipment, mortar and machinegun ammunition, field telephones, M-60 tank engines and artillery shells, and spare parts for C-130 transport planes.” The London Observer estimated that Israel’s arms sales to Iran totaled $500 million USD a year while Time Magazine reported that the Israelis had set up Swiss bank accounts for obvious reasons.

What is widely known, but seldom discussed is that in 1980 Saddam was not only an ally of America, but encouraged to invade Iran (a country three times that of Iraq) with US support. The US was weary of the Iranian Revolution, for good reason, and wanted to prevent Iran becoming the regional superpower. However, the US did not want Iraq to dominate either. Therefore, the US decided to conduct a policy of duel containment. Henry Kissinger made the policy clear when he said, “The ultimate American interest in the war is that both sides should lose”. After eight years of bloodshed and tremendous debt, with none of the issues that started the war being resolved, neither country emerged victorious except for America.

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