January 11, 2004

U.S. Says It Has Proof of Sales to Iraq

U.S. officials have found evidence corroborating the Bush administration's allegations that Russian companies sold Saddam Hussein high-tech military equipment that threatened U.S. forces during the invasion of Iraq last March, a senior State Department official said Friday.

The United States has found proof that Russian firms exported night-vision goggles and radar-jamming equipment to Iraq, the official said. The evidence includes the equipment itself and proof that it was used during the war, said the official.
[...]...the gear had been sold relatively recently, and with an understanding that it could be used in such a war.

High-tech military equipment is a top export for Russia. Though the country's military budget has shrunk dramatically, its military industry exports about $5 billion annually in tanks, planes, small arms and other equipment — directly or through transshipment — to dozens of countries.

During the war, U.S. military sources gave differing accounts of how much the Russian-made equipment affected American-led coalition forces. Some military officials were quoted as blaming jamming gear for sending missiles off course and into Iran and Saudi Arabia, and claiming that Russian-made Kornet antitank missiles destroyed at least two American M1A1 tanks during the war, the first time such tanks had been destroyed in battle.

But other officials said the equipment had little effect during the rapid sweep to Baghdad.
[...]
Leonid B. Roshal, deputy director of KBP Tula, said in an interview late last year that his company sold about 1,000 Kornets to Syria three or four years ago, but insisted that the transaction was "absolutely legitimate." "As of today, there is no evidence that Kornet antitank missiles have ever been discovered in Iraq," he said.

Looks like some things never change about the Russians, that being their tendency to lie about arming America's enemies coupled with their actually doing it.
I suppose losing that Kremlin mindset is tough!
What else *did* and do they make in the old USSR, now the Russian Federation, but weapons?
Vodka from potatoes and jars for caviar?
Certainly it's easiest to fall back on what you know, particularly when until about 14 years ago, 1/3 of the Russian workforce was employed as neighborhood snoops in the KGB.
And I'm sure you've noticed that everywhere Islamist terrorist thugs turn up in the world, they're always equipped with Russian guns and armaments.
And I can't help remembering that one of the last caravans out of Baghdad before we hit Saddam with "Shock and Awe" was one full of Russians, heading for the Syrian border.
I'm sure we haven't heard the end of this!
Pass the lemon Stoli, caviar, creme fraiche and blini and make yourself comfortable!