Donald Rumsfeld Meets Saddam Hussein (1983)

There was a period in which the US favored Iraq as a partner. The Iran-Iraq War began in 1980 and the United States began to tilt toward the government of Saddam Hussein. He was provided computer mainframes, arms, and even chemical weapons with the hope that Iraq could be victorious in the conflict.  The Ronald Reagan administration was intent on getting revenge on Iran for the hostage crisis, which caused the downfall of the Jimmy Carter presidency. Ronald Reagan then approved National Security Memorandum 139, authorizing support for Iraq. The reality was that the US was arming both Iran and Iraq during the conflict. The Iran-Contra scandal, which was an arms for hostages deal used funds from the transactions and sent it to the Contras in an attempt to overthrow the Sandinista government. Donald Rumsfeld was as special envoy met with Saddam Hussein December 20, 1983. This video does not contain sound, but it is obvious that the discussion was on military actions against Iran. The relations between the two countries would decline after the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait in 1990. Rumsfeld would come back to power as Secretary of Defense under the George W.  Bush administration promoting the 2003 invasion of Iraq. The results left a fractured and unstable nation after the removal of Saddam Hussein.