An Associated Press article from Baghdad last week generates much food for thought.  The article dealt with the trial of brutal Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein and a line of argument being vigorously pursued by the prosecution.

The focus was on 1982 and the brutal genocide of significant segments of the Kurdish population of Iraq's northern territories.  The Shia beliefs of the Kurds clashed with Saddam's Sunni regime and many were forced to pay the ultimate price of death for those basic underlining differences.

The important element was to register on the year mentioned by the prosecution.  The year 1982 should be familiar to those studying the Iraq-U.S. relationship for a fundamental reason.  It preceded 1983, a pivotal year in that relationship.  Remember those photos of a glowing Donald Rumsfeld sitting in the office of none other than the perpetrator of genocide himself?  

The delighted Rumsfeld, as President Reagan's emissary, had helped shape a trade deal that provided the U.S. with Iraq's most valuable commodity of oil in exchange for weapons and technology.