I just wanted to remind people that the idea that America was a major supplier of weapons to Saddam Hussein and Iraq is a myth.
Name one weapon in the Iraqi arsenal that was made in the United States.Everyone seems to buy into this myth, but the facts of the matter are pretty simple: even when we were ostensibly "allied" with Iraq during the 1980s, America was never a major supplier of arms to Saddam Hussein. From what I've seen, the most that can be substantiated is that America sold $200,000 worth of weapons to Iraq between 1972 and 1990, out of a total of $40 billion spent by Iraq during the same period. For more myths, check out StrategyPage.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. ...
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.
Mike, if you haven't already I'd recommend Ken Pollack's book, The Gathering Storm. He was the main Iraq analyst at the CIA during the Clinton years.
My view is that whatever military assistance the US gave Saddam in the 80's was well worth it, because it prevented Iraq being overrun by Iran and establishing a theocracy there.
One notable piece of US assistance was sharing of overhead intel that was key in preventing an Iranian takeover of the southern Iraqi oil fields.
Can you imagine what the world would have been like with Iran in control of one the major oil shipment ports in the Persian gulf?
Here's a helpful graph showing weapons sales to Iraq in dollar amounts. Look at the top three nations and think "Veto Power":
BILLIONS AND BILLIONS
Here are some of the underlying numbers:
THAT'S 25 BILLION...WITH A 'B'
I've got to think that there were probably undocumented "gifts" from the US during Iraq's war with Iran, but I'm sure there were also similar undocumented transfers from other nations, as well.
I believe it was the French who armed Iraq...