Friedman, Alan. Spider's Web: The Secret History of How the White House
Illegally Armed Iraq. New York: Bantam Books, 1993. 455 pages.
This is the story that Bill Clinton promised to investigate if he got
elected, but now (January 1994) it appears that his handlers have other
plans. It's about how the White House, with assistance from allies in
London and Rome, violated the law in order to support Saddam Hussein. Then,
following the invasion of Kuwait, George Bush compared him to Hitler, set up
the American response, and he and Margaret Thatcher began covering up their
past dealings. The story involves the Banca Nazionale del Lavoro (BNL), the
Department of Agriculture's Commodity Credit Corporation, Iraq's nuclear
procurement program, and the CIA and Carlos Cardoen (a Chilean arms dealer).
Given this ten-year history, it was not unreasonable for Saddam Hussein to
assume that U.S. ambassador April Glaspie was giving him the green light to
invade Kuwait. And maybe she was; perhaps Bush thought he needed a quick-fix
war to try out the Pentagon's new toys and crank up his popularity.
Alan Friedman is an American citizen who began covering Iraqgate while
serving as the Milan correspondent for the Financial Times of London. His
book includes 74 pages of reproduced bank and government documents, as well
as extensive end notes.
ISBN 0-553-09650-8
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