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---
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aliases:
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- Annie M. Jacobsen
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category: "Authors & Journalists"
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aliases:
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- Annie M. Jacobsen
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- Annie Jacobsen
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created: 2025-08-05
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updated: 2026-10-05
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tags:
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- Person
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summary: "Annie Jacobsen is an American investigative journalist and author, known for her non-fiction books focusing on government secrecy, national security, and warfare."
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- Journalist
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- Author
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- Area51
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- OperationPaperclip
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- DARPA
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- Stargate
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- CIA
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summary: "American journalist and author of Area 51 (2011), Operation Paperclip (2014), The Pentagon's Brain (2015), Phenomena (2017), Surprise, Kill, Vanish (2019) and Nuclear War: A Scenario (2024); 2016 Pulitzer Prize finalist in History."
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born: 1967-06-28
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location: "Middletown, Connecticut"
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location: "Los Angeles, California"
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relations:
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- type: employed_by
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with: "[[Los Angeles Times]]"
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role: "contributing editor, Los Angeles Times Magazine"
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fn: 1
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---
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Annie Jacobsen is an American journalist and author. A graduate of [[Princeton University]], she was a contributing editor at the [[Los Angeles Times]] Magazine and lives in Los Angeles.[^1] Her books on American secret programs are *Area 51* (2011), *Operation Paperclip* (2014), *The Pentagon's Brain* (2015), *Phenomena* (2017), *Surprise, Kill, Vanish* (2019) and *Nuclear War: A Scenario* (2024); *The Pentagon's Brain* was a finalist for the 2016 Pulitzer Prize in History.[^1][^2]
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Annie Jacobsen is an American investigative journalist and author, known for her non-fiction books focusing on government secrecy, national security, and warfare. She is a graduate of [[Princeton University]].
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### Northwest Airlines Flight 327, 2004
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### Bibliography
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* [[Phenomena - The Secret History of the U.S. Government's Investigations into Extrasensory Perception and Psychokinesis]] (2017)
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* [[The Pentagon's Brain]]
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* [[Operation Paperclip]]
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* [[Area 51]]
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On June 29, 2004, Jacobsen, her husband and their son were passengers on Northwest Airlines Flight 327 from Detroit to Los Angeles, on which 14 Middle Eastern men were also traveling. On July 12, 2004 she published an account on the website WomensWallStreet.com, "Terror in the Skies, Again?," describing consecutive use of the lavatories, a McDonald's bag passed between men, and, as the plane prepared to land, seven men entering lavatories in turn; she wrote that one man drew a forefinger across his neck and mouthed "No." On arrival, the plane was met by officers of the [[Federal Bureau of Investigation]], the Los Angeles Police Department, the [[Federal Air Marshal Service]] and the [[Transportation Security Administration]].[^3][^4] Dave Adams, head of public affairs for the Federal Air Marshal Service, told her the 14 men were Syrian musicians hired to play at a casino, had been questioned at length by the air marshals, the FBI and the TSA, had no arrest records and were not on the FBI no-fly or most wanted terrorist lists. Asked why marshals had not acted, he said, "Our FAM agents have to have an event to arrest somebody."[^4] The story circulated widely and she expanded it in *Terror in the Skies: Why 9/11 Could Happen Again* (Spence Publishing, 2005), which the writer Anne Morse of *National Review* reviewed in October 2005, reporting that Jacobsen received more than 5,000 e-mails after the article, that her persistence angered higher-ups in the Federal Air Marshal Service, and that it led to her testimony to the House Judiciary Committee.[^3]
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### Affiliations
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* Los Angeles Times Magazine (contributing editor)
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* Princeton University (alumna)
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The Department of Homeland Security Office of Inspector General investigated the flight for about two years. A redacted report released in May 2007 after a Freedom of Information Act request by the *Washington Times* stated that the Syrians (12 musicians and their Lebanese-born promoter) were traveling on expired visas that had been extended a week after the flight, that a June 18, 2004 FBI National Crime Information Center check returned "positive hits" for criminal records or suspicious behavior for eight of the 12, and that the promoter was in a separate FBI database for acting suspiciously on a flight in January 2004. It found TSA's follow-up on the incident "inadequate" and said logging the matter with the Homeland Security Operations Center only after a July 22, 2004 *Washington Times* article undercut TSA's statement that it had been "determined to be unfounded, and not a terrorist threat."[^5]
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### Notes
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* Her book "Phenomena" details the U.S. government's decades-long interest in anomalous mental phenomena, including extrasensory perception (ESP) and psychokinesis (PK).
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* She conducted extensive interviews with scientists and psychics who worked on government programs for her book.
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* Her work often involves declassified documents and in-depth research into sensitive topics.
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### Area 51, 2011
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*Area 51: An Uncensored History of America's Top Secret Military Base* (Little, Brown, 2011), according to its publisher, rests on interviews with nineteen men who served at the base and fifty-five other military, intelligence, scientific and aviation personnel, thirty-two of whom lived and worked there, covering nuclear testing, supersonic aircraft and the war on terror. The *New York Times* review called it "cauldron-stirring" and "an assertive account."[^6] The book proposes that the 1947 [[Roswell Incident]] involved a Soviet aircraft crewed by surgically altered human children. *Publishers Weekly* (May 16, 2011) wrote that Jacobsen "demolishes her own credibility by proposing a novel conspiracy theory, sourced mainly to a nameless engineer," linking Roswell to Soviet-built flying saucers and a hoax in which "the 'aliens' were human children created by Josef Mengele," and concluded: "Let the reader beware."[^7]
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### Operation Paperclip, 2014
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*Operation Paperclip: The Secret Intelligence Program That Brought Nazi Scientists to America* (Little, Brown, 2014) follows more than a dozen German scientists through their postwar lives, drawing on interviews with Paperclip family members, colleagues and interrogators, German archival documents, Freedom of Information Act files and dossiers found at Harvard University. The book is covered on the page for [[Operation Paperclip]].[^8]
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### The Pentagon's Brain, 2015
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*The Pentagon's Brain: An Uncensored History of DARPA, America's Top Secret Military Research Agency* (Little, Brown, 2015) is a history of the [[Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency]]. The Pulitzer Prize board named it a finalist in History for 2016.[^2]
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### Phenomena, 2017
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*Phenomena: The Secret History of the U.S. Government's Investigations into Extrasensory Perception and Psychokinesis* (Little, Brown, 2017, 527 pages) treats government interest in ESP and PK, among them the [[Andrija Puharich]] theory, the [[Uri Geller]] testing at [[Stanford Research Institute]], the physicists [[Russell Targ]] and [[Hal Puthoff]], remote viewing and the GRILL FLAME and [[Stargate Project]] programs of the [[Defense Intelligence Agency]] and the [[Central Intelligence Agency]]. Its chapter list includes a chapter on skeptics and the CIA, and the publisher's description states that it describes Soviet interest in the field, including the microwave bombardment of the U.S. Embassy in Moscow.[^9]
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### Surprise, Kill, Vanish, 2019
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*Surprise, Kill, Vanish: The Secret History of CIA Paramilitary Armies, Operators, and Assassins* (Little, Brown, 2019, 545 pages) concerns the Special Activities Division of the CIA, based on her interviews with members of its Senior Intelligence Service, counterterrorism chiefs, targeting officers and Ground Branch operators. J. R. Seeger, reviewing it in the CIA's *Studies in Intelligence* (September 2019), wrote that it presents vignettes of special operations from World War II to the present and that its biographical threads follow Billy Waugh and Lewis Merletti; he also wrote that Jacobsen places the British Special Operations Executive inside the Secret Intelligence Service in her first chapter, and that in fact the two were entirely separate.[^10]
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### Nuclear War: A Scenario, 2024
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*Nuclear War: A Scenario* (Dutton, 2024) presents a minute-by-minute account of a hypothetical nuclear missile launch against the United States and the response decisions, based on interviews with military and civilian experts.[^11]
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### Footnotes
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[^1]: "Annie Jacobsen," Hachette Book Group contributor page and "Area 51" title page, author biography ("A graduate of Princeton University"; "contributing editor at the Los Angeles Times Magazine"). https://www.hachettebookgroup.com/contributor/annie-jacobsen/
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[^2]: Hachette Book Group, "Area 51" title page, author biography ("the Pulitzer Prize finalist The Pentagon's Brain"). https://www.hachettebookgroup.com/titles/annie-jacobsen/area-51/9780316202305/
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[^3]: Anne Morse, "Could It Happen Again?," *National Review Online*, October 26, 2005 (reprinted by CBS News), reviewing Annie Jacobsen, *Terror in the Skies: Why 9-11 Could Happen Again* (Spence Publishing, 2005). https://www.cbsnews.com/news/could-it-happen-again
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[^4]: Daniel Pipes, "Those Fourteen Syrians on Northwest Airlines Flight #327," July 13, 2004, quoting Annie Jacobsen, "Terror in the Skies, Again?," WomensWallStreet.com, and her conversation with Dave Adams of the Federal Air Marshal Service. https://www.danielpipes.org/blog/2004/07/those-fourteen-syrians-on-northwest-airlines
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[^5]: "Report Confirms Terror Dry Run; Government Handling Hit," *Washington Times*, May 31, 2007, reprinted by Aviation Pros, reporting the redacted Department of Homeland Security Office of Inspector General report on Northwest Flight 327. https://www.aviationpros.com/home/news/10388457/report-confirms-terror-dry-run-government-handling-hit
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[^6]: Hachette Book Group, "Area 51: An Uncensored History of America's Top Secret Military Base," description and praise (quoting the *New York Times*). https://www.hachettebookgroup.com/titles/annie-jacobsen/area-51/9780316202305/
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[^7]: Review of *Area 51: An Uncensored History of America's Top Secret Military Base*, *Publishers Weekly*, reviewed May 16, 2011. https://publishersweekly.com/9780316132947 Sole source for the passages so cited on the Roswell proposal as characterized.
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[^8]: Hachette Book Group, "Operation Paperclip" title page (description and sources). https://www.hachettebookgroup.com/titles/annie-jacobsen/operation-paperclip/9780316221054/
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[^9]: Annie Jacobsen, *Phenomena: The Secret History of the U.S. Government's Investigations into Extrasensory Perception and Psychokinesis* (Little, Brown, 2017), publisher's description and table of contents as catalogued by library records and *Publishers Weekly*. https://catalog.sbplibrary.org/Record/34646
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[^10]: J. R. Seeger, review of *Surprise, Kill, Vanish*, *Studies in Intelligence* 63, no. 3 (extracts, September 2019), p. 73 ff. https://cia.gov/resources/csi/static/Review-Surprise-Kill-Vanish.pdf
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[^11]: Annie Jacobsen, *Nuclear War: A Scenario* (Dutton, 2024), publisher and library descriptions. https://catalog.washoecountylibrary.us/Record/757603
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@ -20,21 +20,22 @@ Ruhollah Mostafavi Musavi Khomeini was born on May 17, 1900 (some sources cite 1
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Khomeini's public profile shifted in the early 1960s when he began delivering speeches condemning the rule of [[Mohammad Reza Pahlavi|Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi]]. He criticized the White Revolution land reforms, what he characterized as the selling of Iranian interests to foreign powers, and the subordination of Islamic law to secular governance. He was arrested in 1963 following an especially provocative speech and briefly jailed. The Shah's government exiled him in 1964; he spent the following years in Najaf, [[Iraq]].[^1]
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In October 1978, [[Saddam Hussein]]'s government, under pressure from Iran, expelled Khomeini from Iraq. He relocated to Neauphle-le-Chateau, a suburb of Paris, from which his circle distributed audio recordings of his speeches and coordinated the revolutionary movement inside Iran. The combination of labor strikes, mass demonstrations, and military defections in late 1978 forced the Shah to flee on January 16, 1979.[^2]
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In October 1978, [[Saddam Hussein]]'s government expelled Khomeini from Iraq. He relocated to Neauphle-le-Chateau, a suburb of Paris, from which his circle distributed audio recordings of his speeches and coordinated the revolutionary movement inside Iran. The combination of labor strikes, mass demonstrations, and military defections in late 1978 forced the Shah to flee on January 16, 1979.[^1]
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Khomeini returned to Tehran on February 1, 1979, greeted by an estimated crowd of up to five million people. Within weeks the revolutionary government had consolidated power and declared the Islamic Republic of Iran. He was formally designated Supreme Leader in December 1979 under the Constitution of the Islamic Republic, embodying the principle of velayat-e faqih - guardianship of the jurist - which he had articulated as a theological and political concept across decades of writing.[^1]
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Khomeini returned to Tehran on February 1, 1979, greeted by enormous crowds. Within weeks the revolutionary government had consolidated power and declared the Islamic Republic of Iran. He was formally designated Supreme Leader in December 1979 under the Constitution of the Islamic Republic, embodying the principle of velayat-e faqih - guardianship of the jurist - which he had articulated as a theological and political concept across decades of writing.[^1]
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### Hostage Crisis and October Surprise
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On November 4, 1979, Iranian students seized the American embassy in Tehran and took more than sixty American diplomats and staff hostage. Khomeini endorsed the seizure. The crisis lasted 444 days and consumed the final year of President [[Jimmy Carter]]'s administration. The hostages were released on January 20, 1981, the day of [[Ronald Reagan]]'s inauguration - a coincidence that became the basis for the [[1980 October Surprise conspiracy theory|October Surprise]] theory, which alleged that Reagan campaign officials had secretly negotiated with Khomeini's government to delay the release.[^2]
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On November 4, 1979, Iranian students seized the American embassy in Tehran and took more than sixty American diplomats and staff hostage.[^2] A November 9, 1979 CIA report quoted a confidant of former Prime Minister [[Shahpour Bakhtiar]] in Paris as saying the occupation was "certainly a planned action authorized by Khomeini."[^2] The crisis lasted 444 days and consumed the final year of President [[Jimmy Carter]]'s administration. The hostages were released on January 20, 1981, the day of [[Ronald Reagan]]'s inauguration - a coincidence that became the basis for the [[1980 October Surprise conspiracy theory|October Surprise]] theory, which alleged that Reagan campaign officials had secretly negotiated with Khomeini's government to delay the release.[^3] The January 3, 1993 joint report of the House task force chaired by [[Lee Hamilton|Lee H. Hamilton]] and [[Henry Hyde|Henry J. Hyde]] examined the allegation.[^3]
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The [[Iran-Iraq War]], which began with Iraq's invasion in September 1980, provided the context for the subsequent arms channels to Iran that became the [[Iran-Contra Affair]]. Iran's need for weapons and spare parts during the war was the lever through which intermediaries including [[David Kimche]], [[Manucher Ghorbanifar]], and others brokered arms transfers in exchange for American hostages held in Lebanon by Iranian-linked groups.[^1]
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### Death and Succession
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Khomeini died on June 3, 1989, in Tehran. The funeral drew an estimated ten million or more attendees, one of the largest in recorded history. He was succeeded as Supreme Leader by [[Ali Khamenei]]. *Time* magazine had named him its Man of the Year for 1979 following the revolution.[^1]
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Khomeini died on June 3, 1989, in Tehran. The funeral drew an estimated ten million attendees, one of the largest in recorded history. He was succeeded as Supreme Leader by [[Ali Khamenei]]. *Time* magazine had named him its Man of the Year for 1979 following the revolution.[^1]
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### Footnotes
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[^1]: "Ruhollah Khomeini," *Encyclopaedia Britannica.* https://www.britannica.com/biography/Ruhollah-Khomeini
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[^2]: "Ruhollah Khomeini," Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ruhollah_Khomeini
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[^2]: Foreign Relations of the United States, 1977-1980, vol. XI, part 1, Iran: Hostage Crisis, November 1979-September 1980, memorandum "Takeover of Embassy Tehran," November 4, 1979, and CIA comment of November 9, 1979. https://history.state.gov/historicaldocuments/frus1977-80v11p1
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[^3]: Joint Report of the Task Force to Investigate Certain Allegations Concerning the Holding of American Hostages in Iran in 1980, Lee H. Hamilton, Chairman, and Henry J. Hyde, Ranking Republican Member, January 3, 1993 (Washington: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1993). https://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/003230365
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@ -17,13 +17,13 @@ David Kimche was born on February 14, 1928, in London. He joined [[Mossad]] in 1
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### Iran-Contra Role
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Kimche is consistently identified as the principal Israeli official who initiated and structured the arms-for-hostages channel between the United States and Iran that became the foundation of the [[Iran-Contra Affair]].
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Kimche is consistently identified as the principal Israeli official who initiated and structured the arms-for-hostages channel between the United States and Iran that became the foundation of the [[Iran-Contra Affair]].[^2]
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In mid-1985, Kimche, serving as director-general of the Foreign Ministry, approached U.S. National Security Advisor [[Robert McFarlane]] and pressed him to authorize the transfer of American weapons to Iran via Israel in exchange for the release of American hostages held in Lebanon. Kimche framed the proposal as a potential opening to moderate Iranian factions; McFarlane presented it to President [[Ronald Reagan]], who agreed. The arrangement violated an international arms embargo on Iran.[^2]
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Kimche met [[Robert McFarlane]] in Washington on July 3, 1985; McFarlane's later account of that meeting was that there was no request for arms and no linkage to the hostages, though Kimche mentioned that arms might be raised later, and that President [[Ronald Reagan]] approved a political dialogue. On July 7 and 8, 1985 Kimche, [[Yaacov Nimrodi]], [[Al Schwimmer]], [[Manucher Ghorbanifar]] and Adnan Khashoggi met in Geneva and Hamburg to discuss TOW missiles and hostages. On August 2, 1985 Kimche asked McFarlane whether it would be different if Israel delivered the TOWs, and McFarlane testified that Reagan then approved Israel's delivery with replacement sales to follow.[^3]
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Kimche operated as part of what contemporaneous accounts called a "troika" of Israeli facilitators alongside [[Yaacov Nimrodi]], a former military attache, and [[Al Schwimmer]], founder of Israel Aircraft Industries. The three managed the first three arms transfers to Iran in 1985, which consisted of TOW anti-tank missiles supplied from Israeli stocks in exchange for American replacement weapons.[^3]
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Nimrodi was a former military attache and Schwimmer the founder of Israel Aircraft Industries. Working through Nimrodi, Schwimmer and Ghorbanifar, Israel shipped 96 U.S.-made TOW missiles to Iran on August 20, 1985 and 408 more on September 14, 1985, after which one American hostage, Benjamin Weir, was released.[^3] Secretary of Defense Caspar Weinberger objected on December 7, 1985 that the United States embargo on arms sales to Iran would make such a sale illegal even if it were done through Israel.[^3]
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Kimche stepped back from the operation by late 1985, reportedly concerned about the growing complexity of the arrangement and its departure from the original policy rationale. By that point, the channel had been handed off to figures including [[Manucher Ghorbanifar]], [[Oliver North]], and the network that would produce the scandal's subsequent stages.[^1]
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Kimche met McFarlane on November 8, 1985, spoke with him about a HAWK missile shipment on November 18, 1985, and attended the London meetings of December 7 and 8, 1985 with McFarlane, [[Oliver North]], Richard Secord, Ghorbanifar, Schwimmer and Nimrodi. By May 1986 Amiram Nir had replaced Kimche as the Israeli official in the arms deals.[^3]
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### Later Career
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@ -33,4 +33,4 @@ After leaving the Foreign Ministry in 1987, Kimche served as Israel's ambassador
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[^1]: Ignatius, David. "David Kimche dies; Israeli spy involved in Iran-contra scandal," *Washington Post,* March 9, 2010. https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/03/09/AR2010030903843.html
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[^2]: "David Kimche: Israel's Leading Spy and Would-Be Mossad Chief," *Washington Report on Middle East Affairs,* October 1991. https://www.wrmea.org/1991-october/david-kimche-israel-s-leading-spy-and-would-be-mossad-chief.html
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[^3]: "David Kimche," Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Kimche
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[^3]: Lawrence E. Walsh, *Final Report of the Independent Counsel for Iran/Contra Matters*, vol. I (Washington, D.C.: U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, Division for the Purpose of Appointing Independent Counsels, 1993), chapter 1, "United States v. Robert C. McFarlane," account of the Iran arms sales, July 1985 to May 1986 (citing McFarlane, SSCI testimony, December 7, 1986; Israeli Historical Chronology, Part One, July 29, 1987; Weinberger and Hill notes). https://irp.fas.org/offdocs/walsh/chap_01.htm
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died: 2006-12-30
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location: "Al-Awja, Iraq"
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---
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Saddam Hussein Abd al-Majid al-Tikriti was born on April 28, 1937, near the town of Tikrit in central [[Iraq]], the son of a peasant family. He joined the [[Ba'ath Party]] in 1957. In 1959, he participated in a failed [[Central Intelligence Agency|CIA]]-linked assassination attempt against Prime Minister [[Abd al-Karim Qassem]] and subsequently lived in exile in [[Egypt]].[^1]
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Saddam Hussein Abd al-Majid al-Tikriti was born on April 28, 1937, near the town of Tikrit in central [[Iraq]], the son of a peasant family. He joined the [[Ba'ath Party]] in 1957. On October 7, 1959 Prime Minister [[Abd al-Karim Qassem]] was wounded in the shoulder in an assassination attempt.[^1] The journalist Richard Sale reported in 2003, citing unnamed former U.S. intelligence and diplomatic officials and the writer Adel Darwish, that Saddam Hussein was part of a "CIA-authorized six-man squad" tasked with killing Qasim and was later paid and trained by the [[Central Intelligence Agency|CIA]] in Beirut and watched over in Cairo, in [[Egypt]]; the CIA declined to comment, and the historian Bryan Gibson has cited declassified records showing that on October 1, 1959 [[Allen Dulles]] told the National Security Council only that an attempt might be made in the next two months.[^2]
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### CIA and Ba'ath Rise to Power
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U.S. intelligence played a documented role in the 1963 Ba'athist coup that first brought the party to power in Iraq. Evidence that Saddam was on the CIA payroll in 1959 emerged in later investigations. After the 1963 coup, the CIA provided lists of suspected communists and leftists to the incoming Ba'athist government; those lists facilitated the killing of thousands of political opponents.[^1]
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A Defense Department memorandum of February 8, 1963 quoted White House aide Robert Komer's note to President [[John F. Kennedy]] that the Iraqi coup was "almost certainly a net gain for our side," and the State Department asked on February 9 for authority to recognize the new regime.[^3] Historians disagree about a CIA role in the coup: Brandon Wolfe-Hunnicutt cites "compelling evidence of an American role," while Bryan Gibson concludes the preponderance of evidence shows the CIA was not behind it.[^4] King Hussein of Jordan was reported in September 1963 as saying that a secret radio beamed to Iraq on February 8 supplied the coup plotters with the names and addresses of Communists, and Richard Sale reported in 2003, citing unnamed former U.S. intelligence officials, that the CIA gave Iraqi National Guardsmen lists of suspected communists; the same report quotes a former very senior CIA official as saying the Agency was "absolutely stunned" by the coup, and the CIA declined to comment.[^2][^4]
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The Ba'ath Party was ousted from government in the same year and returned to power in a 1968 coup. Saddam served as deputy to President [[Ahmad Hassan al-Bakr]] and was the de facto strongman of the regime through the 1970s. He forced al-Bakr to resign on July 16, 1979, formally assuming the presidency. Within days he convened a party congress at which he personally identified and had arrested dozens of alleged conspirators; hundreds of senior Ba'athists were executed in the following weeks.[^2]
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The Ba'ath Party was ousted from government in the same year and returned to power in a 1968 coup. Saddam served as deputy to President [[Ahmad Hassan al-Bakr]] and was the de facto strongman of the regime through the 1970s. He forced al-Bakr to resign on July 16, 1979, formally assuming the presidency. Within days he convened a party congress at which he personally identified and had arrested dozens of alleged conspirators; hundreds of senior Ba'athists were executed in the following weeks.[^5]
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### Iran-Iraq War and Western Support
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In September 1980, Saddam launched an invasion of [[Iran]] following the instability created by the [[Iranian Revolution]]. The eight-year [[Iran-Iraq War]] (1980-1988) killed an estimated half million to one million people. Beginning in 1982, the [[Central Intelligence Agency]] began providing Iraq with satellite intelligence during the conflict. The Reagan administration extended credits, arms, and dual-use technology to Baghdad while simultaneously running the secret arms-for-hostages pipeline to Iran that became the [[Iran-Contra Affair]].[^1]
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In September 1980, Saddam launched an invasion of [[Iran]] following the instability created by the [[Iranian Revolution]]. The eight-year [[Iran-Iraq War]] (1980-1988) killed an estimated half million to one million people. A State Department memorandum of October 7, 1983 assumed that the United States was already providing tactical intelligence to Iraq, and on November 29, 1984 Secretary of State [[George Shultz]] told Tariq Aziz that superior intelligence must be an important factor in Iraq's defense.[^6] According to a January 31, 1995 affidavit by former National Security Council staff member Howard Teicher, Director of Central Intelligence [[William Casey]] led efforts to ensure that Iraq received weapons, financial credits, intelligence and strategic military advice.[^6] The administration meanwhile ran the secret arms-for-hostages pipeline to Iran that became the [[Iran-Contra Affair]].
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[[Donald Rumsfeld]] visited Saddam in December 1983 as a special envoy for President [[Ronald Reagan]], cementing the relationship at a moment when U.S. intelligence knew Iraq was using chemical weapons against Iranian forces. The arms and technology transfers to Iraq during the 1980s - including chemical and biological precursors - were later examined in congressional investigations and linked to the [[BNL scandal]] involving the [[Atlanta]] branch of [[Banca Nazionale del Lavoro]].[^3]
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[[Donald Rumsfeld]] visited Saddam in December 1983 as a special envoy for President [[Ronald Reagan]], cementing the relationship at a moment when U.S. intelligence knew Iraq was using chemical weapons against Iranian forces.[^6] The arms and technology transfers to Iraq during the 1980s - including chemical and biological precursors - were later examined in congressional investigations and linked to the [[BNL scandal]] involving the [[Atlanta]] branch of [[Banca Nazionale del Lavoro]].[^7]
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### Arms Procurement Networks
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Iraq's weapons procurement during the 1980s passed through several networks that intersect with vault subjects. [[Carlos Cardoen]], a Chilean arms manufacturer with CIA connections, supplied cluster bombs to Iraq. Iraqi procurement agents operated through front companies in Europe, the United States, and the [[United Kingdom]], the exposure of which became known as the [[Arms-to-Iraq affair]] in Britain.[^3]
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Iraq's weapons procurement during the 1980s passed through several networks that intersect with vault subjects. [[Carlos Cardoen]], a Chilean arms manufacturer with CIA connections, supplied cluster bombs to Iraq.[^6] Iraqi procurement agents operated through front companies in Europe, the United States, and the [[United Kingdom]], the exposure of which became known as the [[Arms-to-Iraq affair]] in Britain.[^7]
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[[PROMIS]] software was among the products allegedly sold to Iraqi intelligence. [[Ari Ben-Menashe]] and other sources placed Iraq on the list of recipients of the Israeli-distributed, backdoor-equipped version of the software.[^4]
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[[PROMIS]] software was among the products allegedly sold to Iraqi intelligence. [[Ari Ben-Menashe]] and other sources placed Iraq on the list of recipients of the Israeli-distributed, backdoor-equipped version of the software.[^8]
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### Gulf War and Fall
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Saddam invaded Kuwait on August 2, 1990. The resulting [[Gulf War]] saw a U.S.-led coalition expel Iraqi forces in February 1991. The regime survived until the 2003 [[Iraq War]], during which U.S. and coalition forces invaded and captured Baghdad in April 2003. Saddam was captured in December 2003, tried by an Iraqi tribunal, and executed by hanging on December 30, 2006.[^2]
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Saddam invaded Kuwait on August 2, 1990. The resulting [[Gulf War]] saw a U.S.-led coalition expel Iraqi forces in February 1991. The regime survived until the 2003 [[Iraq War]], during which U.S. and coalition forces invaded and captured Baghdad in April 2003. Saddam was captured in December 2003, tried by an Iraqi tribunal, and executed by hanging on December 30, 2006.[^5]
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### Footnotes
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[^1]: "CIA activities in Iraq," Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CIA_activities_in_Iraq
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[^2]: "Saddam Hussein," *Encyclopaedia Britannica.* https://www.britannica.com/biography/Saddam-Hussein
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[^3]: "US and British Support for Hussein Regime," Global Policy. https://archive.globalpolicy.org/iraq-conflict-the-historical-background-/us-and-british-support-for-huss-regime.html
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[^4]: Ben-Menashe, Ari. *Profits of War: Inside the Secret U.S.-Israeli Arms Network.* TrineDay, 1992.
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[^1]: Foreign Relations of the United States, 1958-1960, vol. XII, Near East Region; Iraq; Iran; Arabian Peninsula, document 205 (editorial note on the October 7, 1959 attempt) and document 206 (CIA memorandum of October 13, 1959). https://history.state.gov/historicaldocuments/frus1958-60v12
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[^2]: Richard Sale, "Exclusive: Saddam key in early CIA plot," United Press International, April 10, 2003, https://www.upi.com/Exclusive-Saddam-key-in-early-CIA-plot/65571050017416/ ; Foreign Relations of the United States, 1958-1960, vol. XII, document 204 (NSC 420th meeting, October 1, 1959); Bryan R. Gibson, *Covert Relationship: American Foreign Policy, Intelligence, and the Iran-Iraq War, 1980-1989* (Praeger, 2010).
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[^3]: Foreign Relations of the United States, 1961-1963, vol. XVIII, Near East, 1962-1963, documents 153 (memorandum from Stephen O. Fuqua to Sloan, "Iraqi Coup," February 8, 1963) and 154 (Rusk to Kennedy, February 9, 1963). https://history.state.gov/historicaldocuments/frus1961-63v18
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[^4]: Brandon Wolfe-Hunnicutt, "Embracing Regime Change in Iraq: American Foreign Policy and the 1963 Coup d'Etat in Baghdad," *Diplomatic History* 35, no. 1 (2011); Bryan R. Gibson, *Covert Relationship* (Praeger, 2010); King Hussein's remarks as published in Al-Ahram, September 27, 1963.
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[^5]: "Saddam Hussein," *Encyclopaedia Britannica.* https://www.britannica.com/biography/Saddam-Hussein
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[^6]: Joyce Battle, ed., "Shaking Hands with Saddam Hussein: The U.S. Tilts toward Iraq, 1980-1984," National Security Archive Electronic Briefing Book No. 82, February 25, 2003, documents 22, 24, 26, 29, 31, 53, 60 and 61 (document 61 is the affidavit of Howard Teicher, United States v. Cardoen, S.D. Fla., January 31, 1995). https://nsarchive2.gwu.edu/NSAEBB/NSAEBB82/
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[^7]: Friedman, Alan. *Spider's Web: The Secret History of How the White House Illegally Armed Iraq.* Bantam Books, 1993.
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[^8]: Ben-Menashe, Ari. *Profits of War: Inside the Secret U.S.-Israeli Arms Network.* TrineDay, 1992.
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