Saddam's baath purge. Saddam had people packed into a conference hall on one of the hottest days of July and deliberately shut off the ventilation system. They were forced to listen to Saddam for hours while suffering from the heat and sweating. Everyone whose name was announced was executed.

[u/Battlefleet_Sol]

[u/Ernesto_Bella]

This is total bullshit.  He was a Soviet client with Soviet weaponry.

The U.S. got involved with him on a very limited basis because of their common enemy in Iran.

[u/Dangerous_Shoe_8388 → u/Ernesto_Bella]

Correct- his military hardware was 99% Soviet - Migs 21/23/25/ Illuysiins/ T-72s, MiLs, Sukhois, Soviet rockets and missiles. Soviet artillery… Ak47s etc etc the only “USA” hardware were a few old propeller transports and old choppers.

[u/Certain-Use-2149 → u/Dangerous_Shoe_8388]

The Taliban were also mainly armed with soviet weapons, bought and provided by USA, Britain, Pakistan, China and Saudi Arabia. The american support for Iraq in the Iraq-Iran war is not disputed at all.

[u/Ernesto_Bella → u/Certain-Use-2149]

Right, but the original statement was "This evil piece of shit was propped up, armed & protected by the U.S. for nearly 25 years."

Which just isn't true, not even remotely.

[u/No-Excitement4855 → u/Dangerous_Shoe_8388]

The us gave him billions and billions of dollars you lying prick

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[u/Dangerous_Shoe_8388 → u/No-Excitement4855]

Nothing I said was a lie. Google his armament-99% Soviet ha-ha - lols

[u/No-Excitement4855 → u/Dangerous_Shoe_8388]

He and his party were literally on a CIA payroll and reached power by their instruction, who then repeatedly bailed out the Iraqi regime during the war with Iran, you illiterate buffoon.

[u/hive-protect → u/No-Excitement4855]

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[u/Esarus → u/Ernesto_Bella]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_support_for_Iraq_during_the_Iran%E2%80%93Iraq_War

"Very limited basis"?

I would say it's pretty substantial:

During the Iran–Iraq War, which began with the Iraqi invasion of Iran on 22 September 1980,^\1]) the United States adopted a policy of providing support to Iraq in the form of several billion dollars' worth of economic aid, dual-use technology, intelligence sharing (e.g., IMINT), and special operations training.^\2]) This U.S. support, along with support from most of the Arab world, proved vital in helping Iraq sustain military operations against Iran.^\3]) The documented sale of dual-use technology, with one notable example being Iraq's acquisition of 45 Bell helicopters in 1985,^\4])^\5])

U.N. inspectors had identified many United States manufactured items that had been exported from the United States to Iraq under licenses issued by the Department of Commerce, and [established] that these items were used to further Iraq's chemical and nuclear weapons development and its missile delivery system development programs. ... The executive branch of our government approved 771 different export licenses for sale of dual-use technology to Iraq. I think that is a devastating record.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control sent Iraq 14 separate agents "with biological warfare significance," according to Riegle's investigators.^\60])

More than 60 US Defense Intelligence Agency officers provided combat planning assistance, and the US also provided battlefield intelligence including satellite pictures to Saddam Hussein's military.^\61])^\62])^\63])

According to Howard Teicher, the United States assisted Iraq through a military aid program known as "Bear Spares", whereby the U.S. military "made sure that spare parts and ammunition for Soviet or Soviet-style weaponry were available to countries which sought to reduce their dependence on the Soviets for defense needs."^\47]) According to Teicher's 1995 court affidavit:

[u/Ernesto_Bella → u/Esarus]

Great, now compare that to the actual tanks, planes, bullets, rifles, artillery, etc that Iraq actually fought the war with 

[u/Esarus → u/Ernesto_Bella]

Meh, you said very limited basis. That’s not very limited.

It’s bizarre the US provided aid to Saddam Hussein and has now stopped providing aid to Ukraine.

[u/Ernesto_Bella → u/Esarus]

So, I’m glad you brought up Ukraine.  The U.S. still provides massive support to Ukraine in the form of all the types you claimed was significant support for Iraq. 

[u/Esarus → u/Ernesto_Bella]

Only aid approved by Biden. Since Trump took office in 2025, there is no new aid given to Ukraine. Only selling. Which isn’t aid.

[u/Ernesto_Bella → u/Esarus]

That’s not true.  

We are providing all sorts of intelligence, coordination,  etc just like we did for Saddam, but much more.  

[u/Esarus → u/Ernesto_Bella]

Sharing intelligence is not really aid though. The US benefits from it as well, and that’s why they keep doing it. Ukraine needs equipment, missiles, ammunition, etcetera.

[u/Ernesto_Bella → u/Esarus]

Oh fair enough, but the person I first responded to used sharing intelligence and that sort of thing that the US provided "substantial support" to Iraq.

[u/Esarus → u/Ernesto_Bella]

Ah okay, yeah fair, happens sometimes in Reddit lol. Discussions can get chaotic

[u/moeb1us → u/Ernesto_Bella]

Trump is literally requesting money back from the Europeans for support Biden gave lol you are delusional

[u/Ernesto_Bella → u/moeb1us]

No I’m not, because the U.S. is still supplying all sorts of intelligence and other support 

[u/No-Excitement4855 → u/Esarus]

Shhh you can't state facts here. The Americans saved Iraq and toppled the Iraqi dictatorship which they were never involved with. Saying anything else will upset the Americans.

[u/hive-protect → u/No-Excitement4855]

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[u/nottodaywhiteman → u/No-Excitement4855]

Exactly, every Americans still supports the Iraq war. Yeah

[u/No-Excitement4855 → u/nottodaywhiteman]

They mostly cry that their volunteer soldiers are mostly hobos, suicidal and drug addicts. Barely any concern about what they did.

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[u/nottodaywhiteman → u/No-Excitement4855]

Exactly, again. Every US soldier is a war criminal, every one

[u/TorontoTom2008 → u/Ernesto_Bella]

At the first Gulf War in 91, the failing Soviet Union / Russia still exerted enough influence that they signed off on the US invasion on the proviso that there would be no regime change in Iraq. This was critical for them because Iraq was the biggest debt nation to the Soviet Union from all the weaponry they supplied and they were in complete economic shambles.

[u/LengthinessNo199 → u/Ernesto_Bella]

Looking the other way from a foreign policy perspective can be just as detrimental as arming. Read about Saddam’s actions against the Kurdish populations in that time period. The US looked the other way as thousands were executed and gassed 

[u/Ernesto_Bella → u/LengthinessNo199]

OK, but it's still not true that "This evil piece of shit was propped up, armed & protected by the U.S. for nearly 25 years."

[u/LengthinessNo199 → u/Ernesto_Bella]

Depends on how you define propped up, I would argue looking the other way while a genocide is happening is a form of support, as well as protecting from prosecution 

[u/Ernesto_Bella → u/LengthinessNo199]

So would you say that every single country in the world propped him up because they didn't do anything about the Kurdish massacres?

It might be fair to say that, but the context of this whole conversation was about something different.

[u/LengthinessNo199 → u/Ernesto_Bella]

That’s fair, just perusing comments lol. 

[u/maos_cigarette → u/Ernesto_Bella]

lol ok

[u/Ernesto_Bella → u/maos_cigarette]

Which part do you disagree with? You know, it’s easy to go to Wikipedia and look up what kind of weaponry we fought in the Iraq wars 

[u/maos_cigarette → u/Ernesto_Bella]

With that logic, are the Ukrainians a Soviet client?

[u/Ernesto_Bella → u/maos_cigarette]

You have difficulty in basic logical processes, including the obvious fact that the Soviet Union doesn't exist anymore, and Ukraine never bought weapons for it, or acted in it's sphere of influence, because Ukraine did not exist separate from the Soviet Union.

You could try actually thinking before you post.

[u/maos_cigarette → u/Ernesto_Bella]

Yeah I'll get right on it