“Had Israel not destroyed the [Osirak nuclear] reactor [in Iraq on June 7, 1981], Saddam would have had a nuclear capability well before the Gulf War–a fact recognized by, among others, Vice President Dick Cheney, who thanked Israel in the aftermath of that war, and today hails the strikes as a template for American action.” […]
Category: quotes
6/7/1981
On June 7, 1981, “the Israeli air force bombed the Tuwaitha [nuclear] plant [in Iraq] in a stunning and high-risk raid by F-15 and F-16 fighters. The French reactor, known to the outside world as Osirak but called Tammuz 1 by the Iraqis, was destroyed. The Israeli government of Prime Minister Menachem Begin announced that […]
5/15/1981
“The United States was officially neutral throughout the eight years of the Iran-Iraq war. Unofficially, however, the Reagan administration was hoping to make Iraq ‘the new Iran’–or rather, what the pre-1979 revolution Iran was to the United States and its corporations. …Thus, in May 1981, the State Department’s William Eagleton met with Iraqi Deputy Prime […]
4/15/1981
“According to classified documents uncovered by Robert Parry, a Washington, DC, investigative reporter, after meeting with [Saudi Arabia’s] Prince Fahd, [Secretary of State] Alexander Haig briefed President [Ronald] Reagan in April 1981 that Fahd had explained that Iran was receiving spare parts for U.S. equipment from Israel. Haig’s notes had another astonishing assertion: ‘It was […]
1/29/1981
Following the release of American hostages from Iran, President Ronald “Reagan warned of ‘swift and effective retribution’ for future acts of terrorism, but rejected any further response toward Iran. ‘I’m not thinking of revenge,’ he said at his first presidential news conference on January 29, 1981. ‘What good would revenge do? And what form would […]
1/27/1981
Following the release of American hostages from Iran, Representative Dick Cheney (R-WY) said, in an interview on January 27, 1981: ” ‘We’ve got some long-term strategic interests in the Persian Gulf, so I think it’s important that we put it [the hostage issue] behind us as quickly as possible. …We should not let the emotion […]
1/20/1981
-Ronald W. Reagan – Republican president inaugurated -George H.W. Bush – Vice President – […]
1/20/1981
“A few hours after [President Ronald] Reagan was inaugurated [on January 20, 1981], following four months of exhausting negotiations led by the Carter White House, Iran finally freed the American hostages, who had been in captivity for 444 days. Ultimately, the United States agreed to unfreeze nearly $8 billion in Iranian assets in exchange for […]
1/20/1981
“Shipments of arms and equipment from Israel to Iran began months before [President Ronald] Reagan was elected and were augmented after the [U.S. embassy] hostages [in Iran] were released [on January 20, 1981].” – Peter Dale Scott, The Road to 9/11, Page 107 […]
1/11/1981
“Joel Jacobson, the New Jersey State Energy Commissioner, wrote in the New York Times on January 11, 1981, ‘The blunt fact is that the gasoline shortage of 1979 was caused by an industry that manipulated production and marketing on near side of the supply-demand equation; contrived artificial shortages via a host of innovative ruses; stimulated […]