“By this time, international bankers had cut off virtually all loans to the Iraqi dictator [Saddam Hussein]. But on October 31, 1989, [Secretary of State] James Baker called the secretary of agriculture, Clayton Yeutter, and pressed for a billion dollars in new agricultural loan guarantees for Iraq. State Department officials were aware that Iraq was diverting some of its dual-use technology to its nuclear weapons program, yet it decided not to tighten export licenses.”
– Craig Unger, House of Bush, House of Saud, Page 81