axis of weasel

[pattbateman]

for one thing france prolly made enough money off their secret contracts with iraq they really dont care about this news, same with germany and russia! just shut your liberal holes and read

Who Armed Iraq?

Charles R. Smith

Monday, March 17, 2003

Myth vs. Fact

Name one weapon in the Iraqi arsenal that was made in the United States.

I have offered that challenge to dozens of so-called anti-war activists who claim that the U.S. armed Iraq. According to these protesters for "peace," George Bush Sr. and Ronald Reagan supplied Iraq with tons of weapons.

None have been able to name the specific weapon – missile, bomb, fighter, tank or shell – that is U.S.-made or has U.S. equipment installed in it. None have been able to name any specific weapon system.

All of them have failed the challenge, providing no more than allegations that U.S. parts are in Iraqi missiles or U.S. electronics are being used by the Iraqi military. One protester even claimed that Iraq was armed with U.S.-made trucks.

Since when is a truck a weapon? Are the Iraqis going to drive backwards, fuel tank first, into the U.S. Army?

Time to separate the myth from the reality. The propaganda spun by the far left is false. The facts show that Iraq is armed with a wide range of weapons – none of which came from the U.S.

Iraqi Air Force

The Iraqi air force does not fly Falcons or Eagles. The majority of the Iraqi air force is made in Russia. The Russian MiG and Sukhoi design bureaus supplied Iraq with hundreds of advanced strike-fighters and the Mach 3 Foxbat interceptor.

Saddam could field a force of advanced MiG-29 Fulcrum fighters if they had not chickened out of combat during the Gulf War, flying to Iran for asylum. The Iranians, who love Saddam even less than we do, never returned the MiGs.

The remainder of the Iraqi air force comes from France and China. The Chinese supplied Saddam with the Chengdu F-7, a copy of the Russian MiG-21. The F-7 can fly from unimproved runways and is known to be a vicious in-close dog fighter.

However, the French Mirage F-1 is reportedly the best jet fighter in Iraqi hands. You can view an Iraqi F-1 in action on the State Department Web site, testing a chemical spraying system.

If you still believe that the Iraqis have no chemical weapons, think again. Iraq did not modify its best multimillion-dollar fighter jet to spray for fruit flies.

Anyone with half of a brain knows that you cannot keep a modern jet fighter in the air without spare parts. Thus the Russian, Chinese and French jets should be museum pieces after 12 years of a so-called U.N. ban on weapons sales to Iraq. Yet somehow Saddam has his air force flying over 1,000 sorties a month.

Thanks to excellent reporting by Bill Gertz we now know that France has been supplying spare parts for Saddam's Mirage fighters. The French spare parts arrived in Baghdad not 20 years ago during the Cold War but last year, just in time to face our forces today.

Merci! With friends like, that who needs enemies?

Iraqi Missiles

Perhaps the Iraqi missile force has some U.S.-made weapons? Not. The primary Iraqi missile is the Russian-made Scud. Other missiles include the FROG-7 from Russia, the Exocet from France and the Silkworm from China.

The Iraqi air defense has plenty of missiles ... from Russia, China and France. The SA-2 Guideline, SA-3 Goa and SA-6 Gainful SAM missiles are all of Russian or Chinese manufacture. The French also supplied Baghdad with a number of Roland air defense missile systems.

Even the missile parts are from Chinese, German and French sources. Israeli authorities know full well what is inside Iraqi-made Scud missiles since many of them fell on Tel Aviv during the Gulf War. The Israelis found that the Scud warhead electronics were made in Germany – not the U.S.A.

In addition, William Safire recently wrote a column noting that a Chinese chemical company had supplied rocket fuel to Iraq through a French front company. Safire identified the fuel, the companies and the Iraqi missile facility where it was mixed into new Iraqi rockets. Again, the missile fuel sale was made within the last year, just in time to make new Iraqi missiles pointed at Kuwait, Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Iran.

Saddam sends his love to Paris and Beijing. Without your help he certainly could not threaten his neighbors with nerve gas and anthrax.

Iraqi Army

Okay, if not jet fighters and missiles, then how about tanks? Certainly the biggest weapons seller in the world, the U.S.A., sold tanks to Iraq.

The Iraqi armor force is made up of Chinese and Russian models familiar to any "cold" warrior. The Iraqi T-72 and T-55 tanks are all of Russian manufacture. The Iraqis also have a large number of Type-59 Chinese tanks and Russian-made BMP armored troop carriers. No M-1 Abrams here.

How about attack helicopters? The Iraqis have a number of choppers they used against the Kurds and Shiites.

So sorry, the Iraqi attack chopper force is Russian and French. The Russians supplied Iraq with a large number of the Mil-24 Hind attack helicopters, armed to the teeth with cannon, missiles and even chemical weapon sprayers.

The French supplied Saddam with a large number of Gazelle attack helicopters. The same French also managed to keep Saddam's attack helicopter force flying today with spare parts.

Guns, then? Surely the U.S. supplied Saddam with guns?

Nope. The main Iraqi artillery is the French 155mm howitzer. The remainder of Iraq's artillery is 122mm Russian-made cannons and Russian-made short-range rocket launchers. Even the Iraqi foot soldier is armed with the venerable AK-47 of Russian and Chinese make.

Iran-Iraq War

The facts are that during the Iran-Iraq war the U.S. supplied Iraq with something much more valuable than guns: satellite information on when and where the Iranians were going to attack.

Of course, current anti-war activists seize this piece of information without putting it into historical context. The information was supplied during the height of the Cold War. The main threat to America was the Soviet Union and the biggest fear in the Gulf was the Ayatollah Khomeini.

You remember the chant "death to America"? It almost seems that the ayatollah invented it. Ironically, the Ayatollah made his way to Tehran from his home in exile – Paris.

The Reagan administration, aware that the Iranian ayatollah had threatened to turn the Gulf into a sea of fire, assisted Saddam so that he would not lose the war. The assistance stopped short of helping Saddam win the war.

In fact, when it appeared the Iraqis were on the verge of victory, the Reagan administration transferred real weapons to the Iranians. The infamous Iran-Contra scandal involved a large number of badly needed U.S. TOW anti-tank missiles that were sold to Iran.

The U.S. missiles proved to be critical to the Iranian defense against Iraq's superior Russian tank force. The result was a stalemate and the war ended.

France/Russia/China

The fact is that Saddam owes billions to France, Russia and China for weapons purchases. Clearly, Iraq is buying more weapons from Paris and Beijing despite a U.N. arms embargo. Perhaps one reason why Paris, Moscow and Beijing oppose a war in Iraq is because they would lose their best customer.

The propaganda spun by the far left that the U.S. armed Iraq is false and backed by no facts. The so-called anti-war types are more interested in slamming Bush than stopping a war. None have been able to name one American-made weapon in the Iraqi arsenal.

More importantly, none of them can give one good reason why Saddam should stay in power.

* * * * * *

[cintron]

nice post. and all fact for once, not opinion.

that's a refreshing change on this board.

i've been saying it all along - france is NOT anyone's friend but their own. They will all too gladly yank the carpet out from under us if it means they can step over us and reap the rewards - which, in this case is complete control over the Iraq situation.

If they can't be victorious in persueding us, they'll fuck us over until we fail and the world blames US for screwing everything up...

then France will be remembered as the "nation that told you so"

yet of course nobody notices or acknowledges this stuff because France does everything on the downlow. You don't see France's weapon shipments to Iraq end up on Larry King live, like our weapons shipments to other countries have. France doesn't do shit. They just sit in their corner quietly and plot.

and of course, let the US take all the heat while they slip in the back door and do their business.

Fuck France.

[igloo]

Good post

[pattbateman]

its weird when you post these facts there is nothing these left wingers can say!!

[jamiroguy1]

I'll say something... You're full of shit...and so is this article if that's what your call it. It's a bullshit op-ed from NEWSMAX.com filled with half truths and spin. Instead of looking for M16's or US made trident missles, look at the technology we provided him.

Published on Sunday, September 8, 2002 by the Sunday Herald (Scotland)

[pattbateman]

your enemies enemy is yourfriend at the time iran was obviously more of a threat. and it does not speak of weapons (refering to your article) it speaks of biological chemicals we sent to the Iraqi Ministry of Higher Education, not to the fuckin military. they were not a threat to us at that time, iran was plain and simple

[xpyrate]

Originally posted by pattbateman

your enemies enemy is yourfriend at the time iran was obviously more of a threat. and it does not speak of weapons (refering to your article) it speaks of biological chemicals we sent to the Iraqi Ministry of Higher Education, not to the fuckin military. they were not a threat to us at that time, iran was plain and simple

me --><--you

[marksimons]

how was iran a threat?

outside of the great game of falling dominoes and spheres of influence, and the black stuff?

oh, and why was iran turning against america?

did it have anything to do with the coup in the 50's - CIA backed - which put in place one of the cruellest regimes in the world until it was overthrown by the islamic revolution in the 79...

OH FUCK!

and I forgot.

iran contra.

uuuurrrr.

America gave weapons to IRAN, it's supposed enemy?, to secure the release of some prisoners in lebanon.

"In the summer of 1985 the Israeli Government suggested to the Reagan administration that weapons be sold to Iran in exchange for the release of seven American hostages held in Lebanon. The motion was opposed by both the Secretaries of State and Defence, who declared that such an arms-for-hostages deal was against the U.S. public policy of not dealing with governments which supported international terrorism. They also argued that this would breach both the Arms Export Control Act and the U.S. arms embargo that had been placed against Iran after the attack on the U.S. embassy in Tehran 1979. The opposition to this motion had little effect and in the summer of 1985 the President authorised Israel to advance with the salessales. Although the agreement stated that Iran would ensure the release of all the hostages, only Reverend Benjamin Weir returned, despite the 504 TOW anti-tank missiles supplied in August and September 1985. The President signed a Finding to authorize this action. Congress was not notified about this action, although it must be said that by law, the President was not obliged to inform the immediately, except that he was contradicting his own Administration's publicly declared stance. Only those who needed to know within the NSC were informed."

http://teaching.arts.usyd.edu.au/history/hsty3080/3rdYr3080/IranContra/Design/Iran.htm

so erm yeah.

America helps Iraq get cluster bombs and develop chemical weapons, which they knew they were using:

"The US administration now considers Iraq's development of weapons of mass destruction among its justifications for war, but the Washington Post reported that it once allowed Iraq to buy "dual use" items, including some that could be used to make chemical and biological arms.

"In addition, William Casey, a former CIA director, was said to have used a Chilean company, Cardoen, to supply Iraq with cluster bombs for its war against Iran."

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2002/12/31/wirq31.xml

Some of the stuff the US did help iraq get:

During its alliance with the United States in the 1970s and 1980s, Iraq had active programs producing chemical and biological weapons, and researching and working towards production of a nuclear weapon. These programs were actively and knowingly supported by U.S. corporations and the U.S. government, as revealed in 1994 House Banking Committee hearings. Those hearings revealed, among other things, that the American Type Culture Collection, a company outside of Washington DC, had provided Iraq with the seed stock for biological weapons agents including anthrax, botulinum, e-coli and many more, under license by the U.S. Commerce Department.

A leak in the German newspaper die Tageszeitung of some of the 8,000 pages that Washington deleted from Iraq's December 7, 2002, arms declaration provided further information. The deleted sections documented 24 U.S. corporations, 55 U.S. subsidiaries of foreign corporations, and a number of U.S. government agencies that provided parts, material, training and other assistance to Iraq's chemical, biological, missile, and nuclear weapons programs throughout the 1970s and 80s, some continuing till the end of 1990. The U.S. corporations include Honeywell, Rockwell, Hewlett Packard, Dupont, Eastman Kodak, Bechtel, and more. U.S. government Departments of Energy, Commerce, Defense and Agriculture, as well as federal laboratories at Sandia, Los Alamos and Lawrence Livermore, were also involved.

A major front-page article in the Washington Post (December 30, 2002) further documented U.S. support for Iraq's WMD programs, especially the chemical program, including trade in weapons and other military goods. The article also detailed the active involvement of Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, then a special envoy of President Reagan to Iraq, in reestablishing full diplomatic relations and improving trade and other economic ties that bolstered Washington's military support of Iraq.

Other Republican insiders were involved in shady deals that helped build Iraq's WMDs. In 1989, news broke of a secret $4 billion loan made to Iraq by a U.S. branch of Banca Nazionale del Lavoro (BNL) of Italy, which at the time employed Henry Kissinger on its Consulting Board for International Policy. Congressman Henry Gonzalez, chair of the banking committee, also noted that an executive of Kissinger Associates met Saddam Hussein in Baghdad in June 1989 at a meeting in which the Iraqi leader apparently expressed interest in expanding commercial relations with the U.S. "Many Kissinger Associates clients received U.S. export licenses for exports to Iraq. Several were also the beneficiaries of BNL loans to Iraq," Congressman Gonzalez wrote in a letter to then-President Bush (senior). Iraq also used the BNL loans to attempt to buy difficult-to-manufacture nuclear weapons components.

http://www.ips-dc.org/iraq/primer4.htm#33

[jamiroguy1]

You're wasting your time, marksimons... This one is hopelessly lost.