14. March, 1987. President Reagan bows to the findings of the Tower Commission admitting the sale of arms to Iran in exchange for hostages.

So to maintain one US policy vital to the national interest, the national interests of many valuable US allies in the region and to secure the release of hostages held by a terrorist organisation several US allies were allowed to infringe conditions of sale of items of equipment. All done to avoid the US getting directly involved in a war that could then have escalated. I would say that that was a rather good solution, wouldn't you?

15. Late 1987. The Iraqi Air Force begins using chemical agents against Kurdish resistance forces in northern Iraq.

And the US could have known about this and stopped this how?

16. February, 1988. Saddam Hussein begins the "Anfal" campaign against the Kurds of northern Iraq. The Iraq regime used chemical weapons against the Kurds killing over 100,000 civilians and destroying over 1,200 Kurdish villages.

And the US could have known about this and stopped this how?

17. April, 1988. US Department of Commerce approves shipment of chemicals used in manufacture of mustard gas.

What else are those chemicals used for? What did the Iraqi's say they were going to be used for? Who were the chemicals being sent to?

"Mustard gas may be made in different ways according to whether ethylene, vinyl chloride or thiodiglycol is chosen as the starting material. Published UN findings suggest that the Iraqi mustard had been made from the last of these precursors. Thiodiglycol is a quite widely used industrial commodity, finding application as an antioxidant, as a vulcanizing agent, as an intermediate for other commodities, and as a solvent for dyes used in the textile industry."

18. August, 1988. Four major battles were fought from April to August 1988, in which the Iraqis massively and effectively used chemical weapons to defeat the Iranians. Nerve gas and blister agents such as mustard gas are used. By this time the US Defense Intelligence Agency is heavily involved with Saddam Hussein in battle plan assistance, intelligence gathering and post battle debriefing.

Judging by points put previously this should come as no surprise to anybody Schultz knew about it since 1983 and DIA had been involved in providing Iraq with intelligence on Iranian intentions since 1982, so this seems no more than duplication and answers/reasons for US c-operation have already been given.

As for "Use of chemical weapons in war is in violation of the Geneva Protocol of 1925" That should of course be "First use of chemical weapons in war is in violation of the Geneva Protocol of 1925". Which was why the augmenting treaty on Chemical Weapons was introduced in 1993.

And of course "by this time" allegations were rife that both sides were using Chemical weapons.