<FAQ: Who was the major supplier of arms to Iraq?
Table here - #1 Soviet Union, %57 of share; #2 France, %13 of share; # 3 China, %12 of share; # 4 Czech Republic, %7 of share; #6 Brazil, %4 of share; # 7 Egypt, %2 of share; # 8 Romania, %1 of share; # 9 Denmark, %1 of share; # 10 Libya, %1 of share; # 11 USA, %1 of share.>
Oh dear! No wonder Saddam was doomed. He should have been buying American.
Since he also was competing with American and British oil producers, it became a metaphysical certitude that he would be deposed. The sanctions did keep Iraq's oil off the market for a decade, which kept crude oil prices high, which created huge profits for BP, Exxon, Shell and co [who have higher cost production than Iraq].
As Hawk says, with Saudi Arabia in the firing line, having Iraqi oil back on stream is a good idea in case Saudi oil production is disrupted in any mayhem.
The lesson is obviously Buy American. Of course, the USA was not disposed to sell Saddam armaments since the Kuwait war, so he didn't have much choice.
Putin and France whining about debts seems silly. Saddam was the state and with the state gone, the debts are gone too. Iraq owes nobody anything. It's a clean slate. If Putin wanted to be paid, he should have demanded cash on the barrelhead.
The Iraqi people are free. That includes free of state debts.
Mqurice |
