IRAQ

By SCOTT MACLEOD/PARIS

Last August, when SADDAM'S tanks crushed the Iraqi National Congress and blew apart a CIA support operation, embarrassed U.S. officials blamed INC infighting. True, a Kurdish INC faction did invite the dictator back into northern Iraq's no-go zone. But documents obtained by TIME suggest that by failing to match tough words with tough deeds, the U.S. helped bring on the rout.

Vice President AL GORE wrote to INC president Ahmed Chalabi on Aug. 4, 1993. He called INC leaders "spokespersons for millions," affirmed Washington's "solid commitment" to "your struggle" and pledged that U.S. officials "will not turn our backs." Chalabi used Gore's letter to rally anti-Saddam forces, only to have the U.S. refuse backing for an INC guerrilla offensive in March 1995.

Such mixed signals, Chalabi believes, caused fatal disillusionment and dissension. In the month before Saddam's assault, the Kurdistan Democratic Party wrote four letters to State Department and National Security Council officials asking Washington to condemn an Iranian incursion and attacks by a Kurdish rival faction. In its final missive, the K.D.P. warned of the "only option" left: turning to Saddam.

--By Scott MacLeod/Paris