At the onset of the Iran-Iraq War, “Washington feared that the entire region, including Saudi Arabia and Kuwait, would be destabilized, threatening oil supplies. Thus the Reagan administration backed Iraq, which was removed from the State Department’s list of known terrorist countries in February 1982, despite strong objections from Congress. [The 15th of the month used for date sorting purposes only.]
– Deepak Tripathi, Overcoming the Bush Legacy in Iraq and Afghanistan, Page 65