More on the chump change issue:
This is a post from Bilow, on FADG:
Hi E; Re the $200,000,000.00 in military sales to Iraq by the US. They were a Soviet client, and had little use for expensive US military systems. So there was little reason for us to go to the legal trouble of figuring out how to sell to them. The USSR would underbid us.
On the other hand, Iraq did have use for US wheat, and we sent Saddam plenty of that, with no need for him to pay up front. We were providing food that saved Iraq money so that they could buy arms.
The amount of free food that we gave Iraq is indicated by the amount of debt that they still haven't paid back to us for it, and it is 20x as large as the $200,000,000.00 you guys are going on and on about:
U.S. grain industry seeks hold on Iraq market
Reuters, March 5, 2004
American grain sellers said on Friday they believe they are on the verge of returning to a lucrative Iraqi market they dominated in the 1980s.
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At stake for American agribusiness is a market that bought about $1 billion worth of farm goods annually in the 1980s. Those sales withered following Iraq's invasion of Kuwait in 1990 and were cut off altogether by Saddam in 1998.
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Washington wants to write off $4 billion in debt Iraq owes the United States related to Baghdad's food imports in the 1980s that were backed by U.S. Department of Agriculture credit guarantees. Once that happens, USDA, with Congress' backing, could establish a new credit program in 2005 for Iraq that would help it get bank loans to buy American farm goods.
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