XPost: alt.politics.usa.congress, alt.radio.talk, alt.fan.barbra.streisand   
   XPost: alt.fan.j-garofalo   
   From: griffen78@N0SPAM.C0M   
      
   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   
   allof 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   
      
   [continued in next message]   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)