In the process [of a public trial], he might raise the question as to why those who later opposed him once supplied him with technical, military and diplomatic muscle....Iraq had invaded Iran in 1980 but the Iranians had held the advance and were striking back with human wave attacks. Iraq was known, by 1983, to have used chemical weapons to stop these. A US State Department memorandum in 1983 stated: "We have recently received additional information confirming Iraqi use of chemical weapons."
President Reagan determined nevertheless that Iraq should be supported and he sent Mr Rumsfeld to Baghdad with a personal letter from himself to Saddam Hussein. Mr Rumsfeld had been defence secretary under President Ford and was then head of a private pharmaceutical company.
Minutes of their meeting in December 1983 were taken... The report also sums up Saddam Hussein's reaction: "Saddam Hussein showed obvious pleasure with the President's letter and Rumsfeld's visit."
--BBC News, 16 December 2003