Iraq did not "get all of it's weapons from the US anyway&quot

[JerrySeinfeld]

Say - an interesting, yet somewhat dated, element of many anti-bush rants often includes the idea that it was the US that armed Iraq to begin with.

While I don't dispute he was once an ally of the US (but so was the USSR - times and circumstances do change after all), I came across this interesting piece from the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute which seems to imply that is not really the case at all:

Here is a link to the information.

It looks like France, China and certainly the USSR were the main providers to Saddam, not the USA whose position falls below Brazil's.

Just food for thought on one of those "conventional wisdoms" the left keeps serving up as truth.

[Higgly]

Yeah, you are right. The US armed Iran. LOL.

[JerrySeinfeld]

Yeah, you are right. The US armed Iran. LOL.

Evidence?

[B. Max]

Yeah, you are right. The US armed Iran. LOL.

http://www.defencejournal.com/2001/august/russians.htm

[Topaz]

Gee , which weapons are you talking about??? The chemicals that Bechtel, gave Hussein to try out. They went over there a built chemcial plant so they could use it against Iran and then when the war is over Hussein uses on the Turks? That weapon?? Who helped with this Rummy!! Who also got oil for food from Hussein ...the US oil companies!

[M.Dancer]

Yeah, you are right. The US armed Iran. LOL.

Evidence?

The US did at one time provide Iran with all types of weapons, but I thought this thread was about Iraq, who were primarily armed by the USSR.

[GostHacked]

The U.S. never did outright armed Iran. However, Iran had purchased a fleet of Grumman F-14 Tomcats from the U.S.

http://www.iiaf.net/aircraft/jetfighters/F14/f14.html

Other than that I am not sure of any other weapons that the U.S. sold to Iran. Recently the U.S. prohibited any more parts sales to Iran to keep the fleet flying. This could be seen as an attempt to cut Iran off from more planes, and to dwindle the numbers of the current fleet. Some were canabilized in order to keep the rest flying. I am guessing those numbers of f-14s are getting down there, with really nothing else to replace that aircraft for the role the Iranians had used them for. This gives the U.S. a great advantage for air superiority.

http://www.iranian.ws/iran_news/publish/article_22017.shtml

Originally a separate measure called the "Stop Arming Iran Act," the ban was added to a $646 billion bill to fund the military in the budget year that starts Oct. 1. The House approved the legislation Thursday. A Senate vote is still needed.

We can also look at something called the Iran-Contra affair.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iran-Contra_Affair

The Iran-Contra Affair was a political scandal in the United States in 1987.[1] Large volumes of documents relating to the scandal were destroyed or withheld from investigators by Reagan Administration officials.[2] The affair is still shrouded in secrecy and discovering the facts is very difficult. It involved several members of the Reagan Administration who in 1986 helped to illegally sell arms to Iran, an avowed enemy, and used the proceeds to fund, also illegally, the Contras, a right-wing insurgent organization in Nicaragua. [3]

Our old pal Oliver North of the US military had a big part in that nice scandal.

Cannot say other than that, off the top of my head, about the U.S. supplying arms to Iran.

[bush_cheney2004]

...Our old pal Oliver North of the US military had a big part in that nice scandal.

Cannot say other than that, off the top of my head, about the U.S. supplying arms to Iran.

You have only scratched the surface of US arms sales to Iran. The Shah went on a shopping spree right up to his demise. This included many aircraft types, Spruance "Ayatollah" class destroyers, and even old US diesel boats. But that all changed in 1979, when the contracts were canceled.

I trained with several Iranian naval officers in the mid 1970's....one was killed in a patrol boat during the Iran-Iraq War.

http://www.irvl.net/USMI.htm

[JerrySeinfeld]

...Our old pal Oliver North of the US military had a big part in that nice scandal.

Cannot say other than that, off the top of my head, about the U.S. supplying arms to Iran.

You have only scratched the surface of US arms sales to Iran. The Shah went on a shopping spree right up to his demise. This included many aircraft types, Spruance "Ayatollah" class destroyers, and even old US diesel boats. But that all changed in 1979, when the contracts were canceled.

I trained with several Iranian naval officers in the mid 1970's....one was killed in a patrol boat during the Iran-Iraq War.

http://www.irvl.net/USMI.htm

OKKKKKK so back to IRAQ!......

[bush_cheney2004]

OKKKKKK so back to IRAQ!......

Oh yea...Iraq...and Saddam...lots of Soviet era kit sprinkled with various procurements from around the world. Ended up mostly being target practice for the US Army and Air Force. The cheap Chinese stadimeter upgrades to T-72's were no match for the M1A1. The modified FROGS/SCUDS faired better, even as they tumbled off target because range extension changed the center-of gravity (CG).

It even got weird when Canadian Gerald Bull built Saddam a "Supergun" based on previous CanAm research.

[JerrySeinfeld]

OKKKKKK so back to IRAQ!......

Oh yea...Iraq...and Saddam...lots of Soviet era kit sprinkled with various procurements from around the world. Ended up mostly being target practice for the US Army and Air Force. The cheap Chinese stadimeter upgrades to T-72's were no match for the M1A1. The modified FROGS/SCUDS faired better, even as they tumbled off target because range extension changed the center-of gravity (CG).

It even got weird when Canadian Gerald Bull built Saddam a "Supergun" based on previous CanAm research.

BushCheney that's intense.