(CNN) -- Documents obtained by CNN reveal the United States knew about, and even condoned, embargo-breaking oil sales by Saddam Hussein's regime, and did so to shore up alliances with Iraq's neighbors.
The oil trade with countries such as Turkey and Jordan appears to have been an open secret inside the U.S. government and the United Nations for years.
The unclassified State Department documents sent to congressional committees with oversight of U.S. foreign policy divulge that the United States deemed such sales to be in the "national interest," even though they generated billions of dollars in unmonitored revenue for Saddam's regime.
The trade also generated a needed source of oil and commerce for Iraq's major trading partners, Turkey and Jordan.
"It was in the national security interest, because we depended on the stability in Turkey and the stability in Jordan in order to encircle Saddam Hussein," Edward Walker, a former assistant secretary of state for Near East affairs, told CNN when asked about the memo documents.
"We had a great amount of cooperation with the Jordanians on the intelligence side, and with the Turks as well, so we were getting value out of the relationship," said Walker, who served in both the Clinton and Bush administrations.
The memos obtained by CNN explain why both administrations waived restrictions on U.S. economic aid to those countries for engaging in otherwise prohibited trade with Iraq.
According to the article the exceptions for Turkey and Jordan were made from 1998 until Saddam's regime fell, which means that the exceptions span both the Clinton and Bush administrations. The stated reason for the exceptions was that they secured strategic cooperation from Turkey and Jordan in our military dealings with Iraq.
Here's a key quote:
Deputy State Department spokesman Adam Ereli told CNN Tuesday the waivers were given to Jordan and Turkey every year since 1998.
He called both countries "special cases" in which the money Saddam made through the smuggling did not allow him weapons.
"With Jordan and Turkey the circumstances were unique," Ereli said. "We approached them in a way that preserved key alliances and didn't help the regime of Saddam Hussein."
So what we have here is the American government allowing two countries to break the UN oil-for-food resolutions in exchange for their cooperation in monitoring and invading Iraq. I'm not sure I'm comfortable with that explanation, but at least its something.
Its a bit much for me to wrap my head around right now. I think I'm going to have to await more details before I know what to make of it. One thing I'm not going to do is jump to conclusions in order to make cheap political points. This is not a Democrat vs. Republican issue, this is something America as a country needs to deal with.