wait a minute

Publicly, the United States maintained neutrality during the eight-year Iran-Iraq war, which began in 1980.
Privately, however, the administrations of Reagan and the first President Bush sold military goods to Iraq, including poisonous chemicals and deadly biological agents, worked to stop the flow of weapons to Iran, and undertook discreet diplomatic initiatives, such as two Rumsfeld trips to Baghdad, to improve relations with Saddam.

http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.commondreams.org/headlines03/images/1219-04.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.commondreams.org/headlines03/1219-05.htm&h=257&w=350&sz=29&hl=en&start=3&tbnid=sXZUR-MctuixxM:&tbnh=88&tbnw=120&prev=/images%3Fq%3Ddonald%2Brumsfeld%2Bsaddam%2Bhussein%26gbv%3D2%26svnum%3D10%26hl%3Den