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Article: Eastern Europe and Arms Sales Opportunities: Tom Owen looks at who provided military ordinance to Iraq. (Iraq).
- Article from:
- The Middle East
- Article date:
- May 1, 2003
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2003 IC Publications Ltd. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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In the last Iraq war, as in this one, leftist commentators have made great play of the supposed arming of Iraq by the West. Yet there is scant evidence for this. A glimpse at the standard Iraqi armoury reveals vast quantities of Soviet-produced kit: T-55 and T-72 tanks, BMP and BRDM armoured vehicles, Scud missiles and the inevitable Kalashnikovs. Most of this obsolete equipment is a relic of Iraq's past as a Soviet client in the Cold War, yet recently an increasing weight of detail has emerged pointing to former Warsaw Pact and communist states continuing (in many cases in contravention of UN resolutions) to arm Iraq.
With Iraq desperate to replenish its armoury ...