The impact of a shifted and isolates ally turning sour: Iraq and the US

Abstract

The United States and Iraq had a very close relationship in the 1980’s when Iraq was in a long and deep war with Iran for over eight years. Iraq was a perfect ally in many ways for the US because of its location and the threat that it could provide to its neighboring country around the resources that were of US interest, mainly oil. There was a partnership between Iraq and the US through a sharing of CIA (central intelligence agency) and intelligence sharing as well as through biological and chemical agents being sent to Iraq for experimentation, later used as ‘weapons of mass destruction.’ When we speak of Iraq as an isolated country that has developed certain capabilities, we also must reflect on the ways that this was being supported and encouraged from the outside. One of these ways was through the United States.

<i>(Párrafo extraído del texto a modo de resumen)</i>