BEIRUT, LEBANON – Former U.S. President Barack Obama’s much anticipated book, A Promised Land, hit the shelves of bookstores on November 17th, two weeks after the U.S. presidential election.

In the book, the former U.S. President discusses his tenure in length, while also highlighting several major events that took place while he was commander-in-chief.

Among the topics discussed in the book was Iran and their ongoing feuds with several countries, including the Gulf Arab states.

On page 452, Obama discusses the Islamic Republic of Iran their eight-year-long war with neighboring Iraq that saw several countries providing arms and support to the warring sides.


However, while mentioning the Iran-Iraq War, Obama erroneously claims that the Soviet Union, who armed both Iraq and Iran during the conflict, provided chemical weapons to the Islamic Republic.

Furthermore, Obama fails to mention that of the two belligerents in this war, it was Iraq that used chemical weapons, with some historical sources claiming that it was the administration of Ronald Reagan that supplied the weapons.

It was no secret that the Iraqi Armed Forces, under the direction of ex-President Saddam Hussein, used these internationally banned munitions against Iran and the Iraqi-Kurdistan town of Halabja, as it was well documented; however, why Obama failed to mention this, rather than erroneously claiming Iran received chemical weapons from the Soviet Union, remains a mystery.

One would have to assume that the editors of the book either failed to fact check the claim or trusted its source.

Al Masdar News