As a part of an ongoing discussion over at LaughingMeme, I have taken it upon myself to do a bit of link digging for material related to Regan-era foreign policy towards Iraq, and the supposed sale of chemical weapons agents by the US to Iraq.
One of the best resources I came across was the National Security Archive at George Washington University. They have a good collection of documents and writeup related to shift in US policy in the early 1980's to aiding Iraq in the Iran-Iraq war. The writeup includes a WMV movie of Donald Rumsfeld shaking hands with Saddam, while he was visiting as a special envoy of President Reagan. Find there also a publication covering what came to be known as Iraqgate, including aid that violated our supposedly neutral stance on the Iran-Iraq war at the time. The archives at GWU are a great place to start.
Moving on, check out a time-line of events between 1980 and 1990 related to our policy towards Iraq.
Digging further, it isn't hard to find find material critical of Clinton's dual-containment policy in the region. It is fairly humorous, however, to read a pre-war article that concludes with a warning about an "awful, shocking, but seminal event." Something that could have happened had Saddam still had those weapons of mass destruction that he turned out not to have.
On the subject of non-conventional weapons in Iraq, many people allege that the US sold chemical and biological agents to Iraq. The claim is that the Department of Commerce and the ATCC provided these shipments to Iraq. The American Gulf War Veterans Association cites Senate Report 103-97 (alternate link) on this topic, which as best as I can tell, doesn't cover the topic. Is there any reliable evidence of US sale of chemical or biological agents to Iraq? I haven't found anything definitive, but the best resource I've come across is a collection of article references at the Monterey Institute of International Studies, although that is scant little. Also check out their Weapons of Mass Destruction in the Middle East page.
Well, that about wraps it up for two hours worth of link digging. Feel free to comment and contribute links or other information.