We Are the People Who Let It Happen

...The Commerce Department wanted to allow this equipment to be exported even though we gave Commerce exact information on how the equipment and technology would be used and for what it was intended...

...We had no problem selling Iraq a computer that would be used, for example, in a bank But if the computer can augment intelligence capability or warfare, we felt we shouldn't sell it If the material was for research and development and could be used for biological or chemical systems, it should not be sold because of the implied risk...

...After this case, of course, Commerce was less inclined to show Defense other license requests The Commerce Department had applications for many more export licenses that it secretly approved while we were fighting the few cases that came to our attention...

...Since export licenses are reviewed by professional analysts in the Commerce Department the person who read the request would have been familiar with such a specialized item and known that the equipment would have no other use than for military technology...

...They also argued that by selling computers to "private" business in (lran we were really helping "moderates" who, in turn, would enhance American leverage with the Iranians...

...In early 1985, based on a tip from a customs official, I learned that barrels of this chemical were being shipped out of Bayonne, New Jersey, to Iraq...

...The computer at the Department of Commerce was programmed to send our computer any of these requests, and we had an automatic computer system to flag suspicious cases...

...Instead, it is protected under Section 12C of the Export Administration Act This provision says that the Commerce Department has to hold confidential any business information on an export application, except when the secretary of commerce waives this provision or when the information is needed for a judicial proceeding or if withholding the information is contrary to the national interest No time frame is specified by the law...

...We also saw requests for shipments to certain end-users—Iran, for example We were watching for countries buying our computer equipment for possible diversion to Communist countries...

...it tried to be "even-handed," acting as moderator between all the agencies involved...

...I spent two years fighting these shipments because I believed they would be used for hostile, anti-American propaganda in the Persian Gulf that would aid and abet terrorism...

...While we were trying to stop this one license, the Commerce Department was allowing exportation of other material important to the Iraqi Sa'ad complex—such as special microwave antennas...

...Government officials must be held • accountable and this requires that the public have adequate information...

...The provision is there to protect exporters from competitors—particularly overseas competitors—who might learn about applications for export licenses by U.S...

...I corresponded with Undersecretary of Commerce Paul Freedenberg His view was that Defense had no particular authority in these matters, and privately he told me he was under a lot of heat from his superiors...

...The NSC should have taken the opportunity to establish some rules on handling missile technology cases and made sure Commerce agreed to these rules...

...To return to the computer headed for Iraq and the inter-agency meeting, the NSC, weakened by the Iran-contra scandal, was reluctant to get involved...

...The reason is perplexing to me...

...government as well as pur allies allowed and abetted the development and stockpiling of a major chemical warfare capability in the Middle East The U.S...

...But little concrete action is taken to deal with the problem...

...Equipment and technology for chemical and biological weapons and for missile technology flows out of Germany...

...Phony companies have been set up to facilitate these transfers and major German defense firms have been heavily engaged in making deliveries of equipment technology, know-how and training One West German official has now been charged and, it is said, he will be prosecuted for knowing what the companies were up to and granting them West German export licenses But more than forty German firms have been accused of supplying Iraq—as well as Iran, Libya and Syria—with the assistance necessary to produce chemical and biological weapons The fact is nearly everyone, both here and abroad, knows what was going on...

...In 1986 an application for an export license was submitted by a U.S...

...The equipment was recognizable as militarily useful hardware and it was certainly going to be used for the Iraqi missile program, to build both launchers and missiles...

...I had no way of knowing about other exports in time to stop them...

...The House Foreign Affairs and Senate Banking Committees have jurisdiction over the Commerce Department The House Foreign Affairs Committee is chaired by Dante Fas-cell and the Senate Banking Committee is chaired by Donald Riegle...

...sales of militarily useful hardware to Iraq secret even though it is not classified information...

...gets away with it, because the Department of Commerce has been allowed to keep information on U.S...

...The same was true of desk officers in the State Department Desk officers have a lot of power...

...The request was brought to my attention because we at the Department of Defense had successfully argued that we should see any licensing requests for computers and other related high-technology material...

...It took a year of interagency meetings to block the export license for this one request In this instance, we were able to prevail because the NSC was disposed to our view...

...International non-proliferation agreements don't deal with chemical or biological weapons In early 1989 an international conference on chemical weapons, held in Paris, attempted to ban their proliferation without success I believe that when we know countries are building stockpiles for.chemical warfare, we should restrict sales of chemicals that" can be used for this purpose even if the stated purpose of the purchase is something else...

...It was a weak case because all of the information we were able to gather indicated that there was no real use for this equipment other than for building missiles...

...Usually their view becomes our official policy for that country...

...They defended their clients, who told them the material would be used for scientific research...

...I would even advocate that it be a crime for any government official to knowingly approve the export of goods that could be used for such weapons development to a location where it is known that chemical and biological weapons are being produced or developed...

...After seeing how long it would take to obtain a position from an uncooperative desk officer, I bypassed him and went to the National Security Council (NSC) to ask for an interagency meeting The Iraq desk officer then mobilized the support of his boss, the assistant secretary of defense for international security affairs, who came out in support of his staffs view and against mine At the interagency meeting it was clear that the Commerce Department didn't want to block the export license The State Department came out in support of granting the export license State sided with Commerce on every case of this sort, whether the material was bound for Iran or Iraq...

...Time is an important factor because the struggle to prevent such exports is a long, uphill battle...

...I told Commerce I would create an embarrassing scene if they let those chemicals be shipped to Iraq, so they backed down...

...This information is not classified because there are no grounds for classification—you can only classify something if it's been done under a secrecy order, which doesn't apply here...

...But it was not true in this instance since this particular item is not made in Japan...

...I suppose the heat was originating from the companies...

...Some of the companies were in bad shape and would go under if they couldn't export In the shadow of all this was the Iran-contra affair...

...Again, State and Commerce used the rationale that if we don't sell it to Iran, the Germans or Japanese would...

...The best explanation may be that they were under pressure from manufacturers to allow them to sell goods...

...Our machine caught this one—the specialized analog computer to Iraq...

...If the officer wouldn't cooperate, we wouldn't be able to send out a position paper...

...If we are ever to get the necessary information on what material the government is licensing for export to Iraq and other countries for chemical and biological warfare, we need to persuade these senators and members of Congress to take action...

...The secretary of commerce technically has the final say on whether or not a license will be granted, but the NSG represents the president and can overrule a cabinet secretary...

...These measures would be especially effective if our allies, particularly the West Germans, did the same...

...This Section 12C provision is subject to two possible interpretations It can be interpreted to mean that the information can never be released, or it can be seen as meaning that the information cannot be released during the licensing process and up to the time of actual export The Commerce Department interprets 12C to mean that information about licenses they have granted can be withheld forever and this amounts to a form of classification...

...The president wasn't informed about this case, but he would have been had the commerce secretary not acceded to the wishes of the NSC In the meantime, the NSC did little to block the Commerce Department's approval of other exports of this kind...

...If we don't sell it the Japanese or Germans will," is a standard argument and often true...

...In defense of their acts, Commerce attempted to portray the use of the item as scientific rather than military...

...In fact dozens of computers and satellites were exported to Iran's Islamic News Agency...

...firms and then compete for that business...

...If information on the items we were selling and the countries getting these items were known, perhaps the public would be roused to do something about it But no one can get a list of those items of hardware that have been granted export licenses...

...As deputy undersecretary of defense for trade security policy during the Reagan years, I witnessed this appalling performance and usually could do little to stop it ¦ On one occasion when I discovered in time what was happening, I tried to block the sale and I did block it But in most cases I was unable to learn of these sales until it was too late to take action...

...Currently, there are no laws or international agreements that restrict the sale of materials used in chemical warfare because those substances are common chemicals For example, the basic chemical used in making mustard gas is used to make fertilizer...

...If we had wanted to send out a Pentagon position paper on this transaction, we would have had to coordinate our position with the desk officer at the Pentagon...

...No one wanted to do anything decisive Even my own department the Department of Defense, was ambivalent Desk officers in both the Defense and State Departments are inclined to be boosters for the country they represent and to advocate uncritical support for whatever requests their clients make Our Iraq desk officers at the Defense Department were inclined to let the exports go ahead because they were trying to improve relations with Iraq...

...Technically I wasn't supposed to get in touch with Commerce before obtaining such a position paper...

...I ordered Customs to seize the chemicals, but Commerce wanted the shipment released...

...Our view at the Defense Department was that as far as Iran was concerned, there was no reason to send them anything because they were at war and threatening our interest in the Persian Gulf...

...Not only is there no national security reason to classify this information, but on the contrary, there are good reasons not to keep it secret Government officials who approve export licenses have a great deal of discretionary judgment These officials need to be monitored, and there should be more precise guidelines directing their decisions The export of goods and technology useful for manufacturing chemical and biological weapons or the long-range and specialized delivery systems needed for such weapons can be stopped—provided a strong export control program is competently administered...

...computer company to the Department of Commerce for a special type of analog computer used for missile testing to be sent to the Sa'ad 16 complex in Iraq...

...There is no doubt that Syria as well as Iraq developed chemical warfare programs thanks to approved export licenses from democratic countries —Stephen D. Bryen...

...the end user was questionable and so was the item for export I attempted to prevent this sale by showing Commerce our evidence of its probable use as soon as we identified the computer material as being related to military industry and obtained hard evidence that the Iraqi Sa'ad complex was a missile development center...

...Army White Sands missile testing program...

...If government officials knew that they would be held accountable by law, they could and would act responsibly and seriously...

...The same computer equipment is used in the U.S...

...It could be used for the development of a long-range delivery system for chemical and biological warfare agents...

...The Defense Department was not informed, even though we had raised a substantial complaint and shared our intelligence information with Commerce...