From the Riegle Report, which was delivered to the Senate regarding the health of Gulf War veterans on February 9, 1994, “In April 1993, two U.S. based human rights organizations confirmed that they had found residues of chemical weapons used by the Iraqi government of Saddam Hussein against [a] Kurdish village in northern Iraq in […]
8/25/1988
“On August 20, 1988, a ceasefire went into effect between Iran and Iraq. Just five days later [August 25, 1988], Saddam Hussein again staged poison-gas attacks against his own people in villages in Iraqi Kurdistan. None of this, however, changed the [Reagan] administration’s policy [of supporting Saddam with military aid].” – Craig Unger, House of […]
8/20/1988
In The Iraq War Reader, Murray Waas wrote: “On August 20, 1988, the day the Iran-Iraq cease-fire went into effect, Saddam Hussein did not see a need to end the terror. Now he could mass his military forces against the troublesome Kurdish population in northern Iraq. Only five days later, Iraqi warplanes and helicopters dropped […]
8/20/1988
Omar bin Laden, son of Osama bin Laden, wrote: “That 10-year [Iraq-Iran] war had begun on September 20, 1980…and had come to an exhausted conclusion on August 20, 1988… There was no clear victory for Iran or Iraq, and my father began monitoring the business of Iraq, believing that Saddam Hussein was so dissatisfied with […]
8/20/1988
“When the Iran-Iraq war ended in [August 20] 1988, Saddam Hussein was in command of the fourth largest army in the world.” – Ricardo S. Sanchez with Donald T. Phillips, Wiser in Battle, Page 63 […]
8/20/1988
On August 20, 1988, the founders of al Qaeda “wrote an oath that the new members would recite upon joining al-Qaeda: ‘The pledge of God and his covenant is upon me, to energetically listen and obey the superiors who are doing this work, rising early in times of difficulty and ease.’ ” – Lawrence Wright, […]
8/20/1988
On August 20, 1988, in one of the first meetings of al Qaeda, “The secretary listed the requirements of those who sought to join this new organization: *Members of the open duration. *Listening and obedient. *Good manners. *Referred from a trusted source. *Obeying statutes and instructions of al-Qaeda.” – Lawrence Wright, The Looming Tower, Page […]
8/20/1988
On August 20, 1988, in one of the first meetings of al Qaeda, “The founders divided the military work, as they termed it, into two parts: ‘limited duration,’ in which the Arabs would be trained and placed with Afghan mujahideen for the remainder of the war [against the invading Soviets]; and ‘open duration,’ in which […]
8/20/1988
Regarding the origin of al Qaeda: on August 20, 1988, bin Laden and a small group of followers “met again to establish what they called al-Qaeda al-Askariya (the military base). ‘The mentioned al-Qaeda is basically an organized Islamic faction, its goal is to lift the word of God, to make His religion victorious,’ the secretary […]
8/18/1988
According to the minutes of a three-day meeting at bin Laden’s house which began on August 18, 1988, military work for the mujahadeen was to be divided in two parts, according to duration: “*Limited duration: They will go to Sada Camp [a camp on the Afghan-Pakistan border], then get trained and distributed on Afghan fronts, […]