quote:In the first of a two-part series written from Damascus, The Times reported that �1,000 heavy machine guns and up to 20 million bullets for assault rifles,� supplied by SES International Corp., �helped Baghdad�s ill-equipped army grow stronger before the war began in March. Some supplies may now be aiding the insurgency against the U.S.-led occupation.�
Files cited by the Times were taken from the abandoned office of Al Bashair Trading Co., by a reporter for the German magazine Stern shortly after U.S. troops entered Baghdad.
The newspaper said it had the 800 signed contracts translated from Arabic and sought confirmation internationally during a three-month investigation.
Among the findings The Times reported:
� A Polish company shipped up to 380 surface-to-air missile engines to Baghdad through Syria.
� A South Korean firm shipped $8 million in telecommunications equipment for �air defense.�
� A Slovenian firm shipped 20 battle tank barrels to the Syrian firm early in 2002.
� Two North Korean officials went to Damascus to discuss an Iraqi payment of $10 million for components for ballistic missiles.
According to the newspaper, a confidential U.N. report identifies Al Bashair as the biggest of 13 companies used to evade the U.N. arms embargo and other sanctions. Al Bashair made deals for as much as $1 billion a year in the 1990s.
Silly rabbits.
Posted by Styrofoaman (Member # 706) on :
This comming from the person who dreams of running the universe, yet who is thwarted by his lack of "Admin Access" on his computer.
Silly rabbit indeed.
Posted by Ritten (Member # 417) on :
When I saw the Times name I thought of Jason Blair at the NYT and thought, is this made up??? I haven't heard anything like that about the LAT though....
Now, without the sactions what would have been imported???
Posted by Jason Abbadon (Member # 882) on :
quote:Originally posted by Ritten: Now, without the sactions what would have been imported???
Religous zealots seeking to convert the heatheans to Christianity:
Makes me see some of the Arab world's concerns about our presence.
Posted by Saltah'na (Member # 33) on :
Conventional Weapons. What happened to WMDs?
Posted by Daryus Aden (Member # 12) on :
Saltah'na: What about WMD's? They've liberated a nation. Freed its resources and planted another garisson. Mission accomplised.
Posted by Ritten (Member # 417) on :
And from the Gore camp, uhh, oh, nevermind, he dropped out....
Posted by MinutiaeMan (Member # 444) on :
Re: missionaries -- I for one would be eager to see some of those conservative Christian nutcases go up against the conservative Muslim nutcases, in the latter's own backyard. Might be amusing, at the very least.
Re: the sanctions -- I really wish I'd saved a link to an article I saw a few weeks ago. Apparently, Saddam's government was working with North Korea to buy a complete missile production line, and last February (just before the invasion) they sent a multimillion-dollar down payment according to agreement. The North Koreans took the money and ran, leaving the Iraqis with nothing.
Posted by Lee (Member # 393) on :
I doubt that. No-one would ever buy arms from North Korea again, and what the hell else do they have to export?
Posted by Saltah'na (Member # 33) on :