I would like to start this out with a little background information on our involvement in the Iran-Iraq War, since there are plenty of people out there who have misconceptions about it.
While he was not the greatest leader economically, in fact his administration ruined the economy of Iran, the Shah was very pro west and very much our ally. Since Iran bordered the Soviet Union, we, under Gerald Ford and Jimmy Carter, built Iran's military into one of the most formidable forces in the world. However, the country was falling apart all around him, and soon the revolution won and the Ayatollah was in power. It was easy to gain enforce the popular sentiment that the U.S. was the great Sata since Ford and Carter's administrations sat back while the country plunged into poverty, all the while contributing billions to Iran in the way of a military. So, the first thing Khomeini did upon taking power was destroy the military, and he made this very, very public.
Saddam Hussein, like the rest of the world, watched as Iran's military turned from one of the most dominant forces in the world to non existent, and he decided it was about time that Iraq controlled the oil in western Iran. So, Iraqi forces invaded, within 3 weeks they were in control of over half of Iran, and had met little to no resistance. The rest of the world felt that in a little over a month, all of Iran would be occupied by Iraq. However, Saddam Hussein, for reasons that military experts still endlessly ponder today, ordered his forces to halt and set up a defensive.
After a lengthy stalemate, Khomeini recruited millions of 11 to 14 year olds and turned them into a unit known as the Basji. Armed with nothing but the blessing of the Ayatollah and their faith, these human waves repeated assaulted fortified Iraqi positions, eventually pushing the Iraqi forces back to their border. Once this was accomplished, the Ayatollah made several public speeches in which his intentions were clear: conquer Iraq and use the military equipment gained through the conquest to wage war on the West, most importantly the U.S. and their allies. Of course, this sounded great to the USSR, so they went forward and pledged their support, through arms, to the Iranian cause. It is at this point that the U.S., and the Reagan administration, made the decision to keep Iran in check where they were.
With new weapons, Iraq from the U.S., Iran from the Soviets, the stalemate continued at the border. Khomeini decided it was time to put the Basji to use again, and again to unbelievable success. At this point, that Saddam is believed to have greatly accelerated his chemical weapons program, and eventually used them to ward off the human waves and bring about a cease fire. Is it regrettable? Yes. Is it any more brutal than sending millions and millions of middle school aged boys to their deaths? No.
Also, there was a poster that stated that Saddam is now being charged with the very war crimes that we promoted. First, we did not promote Saddam's chemical weapons program, we simply looked the other way, since there were very few other options to stopping the Basji. Second, the crimes that he is being charged with now, are not the use of chemical weapons on Iranians, it is the use of the chemical weapons against the Kurds and the southern Shiites. Which, interestingly enough, occured after the Gulf War.
While he was not the greatest leader economically, in fact his administration ruined the economy of Iran, the Shah was very pro west and very much our ally. Since Iran bordered the Soviet Union, we, under Gerald Ford and Jimmy Carter, built Iran's military into one of the most formidable forces in the world. However, the country was falling apart all around him, and soon the revolution won and the Ayatollah was in power. It was easy to gain enforce the popular sentiment that the U.S. was the great Sata since Ford and Carter's administrations sat back while the country plunged into poverty, all the while contributing billions to Iran in the way of a military. So, the first thing Khomeini did upon taking power was destroy the military, and he made this very, very public.
Saddam Hussein, like the rest of the world, watched as Iran's military turned from one of the most dominant forces in the world to non existent, and he decided it was about time that Iraq controlled the oil in western Iran. So, Iraqi forces invaded, within 3 weeks they were in control of over half of Iran, and had met little to no resistance. The rest of the world felt that in a little over a month, all of Iran would be occupied by Iraq. However, Saddam Hussein, for reasons that military experts still endlessly ponder today, ordered his forces to halt and set up a defensive.
After a lengthy stalemate, Khomeini recruited millions of 11 to 14 year olds and turned them into a unit known as the Basji. Armed with nothing but the blessing of the Ayatollah and their faith, these human waves repeated assaulted fortified Iraqi positions, eventually pushing the Iraqi forces back to their border. Once this was accomplished, the Ayatollah made several public speeches in which his intentions were clear: conquer Iraq and use the military equipment gained through the conquest to wage war on the West, most importantly the U.S. and their allies. Of course, this sounded great to the USSR, so they went forward and pledged their support, through arms, to the Iranian cause. It is at this point that the U.S., and the Reagan administration, made the decision to keep Iran in check where they were.
With new weapons, Iraq from the U.S., Iran from the Soviets, the stalemate continued at the border. Khomeini decided it was time to put the Basji to use again, and again to unbelievable success. At this point, that Saddam is believed to have greatly accelerated his chemical weapons program, and eventually used them to ward off the human waves and bring about a cease fire. Is it regrettable? Yes. Is it any more brutal than sending millions and millions of middle school aged boys to their deaths? No.
Also, there was a poster that stated that Saddam is now being charged with the very war crimes that we promoted. First, we did not promote Saddam's chemical weapons program, we simply looked the other way, since there were very few other options to stopping the Basji. Second, the crimes that he is being charged with now, are not the use of chemical weapons on Iranians, it is the use of the chemical weapons against the Kurds and the southern Shiites. Which, interestingly enough, occured after the Gulf War.