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Politics : Foreign Affairs Discussion Group -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: E who wrote (126962)	3/22/2004 11:22:30 AM
From: Neocon	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 281500

It continues to elude me how it is a sickening irony, on the specific grounds mentioned. But okay, a Maalox should fix you up.......

To: E who wrote (126962)	3/22/2004 11:27:37 AM
From: Neocon	Respond to of 281500

I would call it a sickening irony to support Stalin through the Lend- Lease program, and ultimately confirm our alliance with him, given that his regime was at least as hideous as Hitler's, internally, and that the war might have been avoided if he had not made the infamous Pact with Hitler. I would also applaud FDR for making sure he got the goods........

To: E who wrote (126962)	3/22/2004 5:00:22 PM
From: Ilaine	Read Replies (3) \| Respond to of 281500

I am so glad I finally put this someplace where I could find it easily, but continue to be surprised that I am forced to use it to enlighten ostensibly well-informed people. FAQ: Who was the major supplier of arms to Iraq, 1973-2002? 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. Subject 53821 Source: projects.sipri.se

To: E who wrote (126962)	3/22/2004 5:14:17 PM
From: Ilaine	Respond to of 281500

The US imposed an embargo on so-called "dual use" chemicals being shipped to Iraq in 1984 within weeks of the reports that they had been used to make nerve gas. This included potassium fluoride, dimethyl methylphosphonate, methylphosphonyl difluoride, phosphorous oxychloride and thioglycol. "The United States imposed the export restrictions after the State Department confirmed news reports that quoted American intelligence officials who said they had evidence that Iraq had used nerve gas against Iran. Earlier the United States said it was convinced that Iraq had also used mustard gas. . . . . On Friday John Hughes, the State Department spokesman, said he did not believe United States companies had been the source of the compounds used in the manufacture of the Iraqi mustard and nerve gases. Another official said West Germany, Japan and other European countries had exported such compounds to Iraq and that it would be difficult to bar those sales if the United States did not first move against American companies. Mr. Kaufman would not identify the company shipping the chemicals, except to say it was American. ''At this point we're not mentioning anything about the company,'' he said. Matthew Meselson, a Harvard biochemist and an authority on chemical warfare, has said that potassium fluoride can be used in the manufacture of a nerve gas known as GB or as Sarin. Sarin is one of the most potent nerve gases and is stockpiled by the United States Army, according to a standard reference book on chemical warfare published by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute in 1973. In the past, officials have said, no particular attention has been paid to the export of the five chemicals because they are fairly common and have been used in the manufacture of pesticides and other nonmilitary products. A broad range of commercial pesticides come from the same family of chemicals, known as organophosphorous compounds, that the nerve gases belong to. Chemical warfare experts agree that a plant making organophosphorous pesticides can also make nerve gas." NYTimes April 1, 1984, Sunday, Late City Final Edition. >>U.S. SAYS IRAQIS USED POISON GAS AGAINST IRANIANS IN LATEST BATTLES<< NYTimes March 6, 1984, Tuesday, Late City Final Edition >>U.S. RESTRICTS SALE OF 5 CHEMICALS TO IRAQ AFTER POISON GAS REPORT<< NYTimes March 31, 1984, Saturday, Late City Final Edition 25 day turnaround seems rather quick for the US government to act on this. Not good enough, says E. As reported, after the US quit selling these chemicals, the Iraqis bought them from the Germans and the Japanese, among others. But of course, it's all the US's fault for the "blame America first" crowd.

To: E who wrote (126962)	3/22/2004 8:26:36 PM
From: KLP	Respond to of 281500

What truly is sickening is to see something like this ....Especially in view of the UN's oil for food program, with hundreds of thousands of children left to starve....the prisons and mass graves in Iraq that the entire world seemingly knew that Saddam was filling, and yet, did nothing about, Saddam's two criminal sons, who ran roughshod over the country side, raping, and killing anyone they didn't like....and all the other horrors we have heard about to date. Don't worry, I'm sure there will be more we haven't heard about as yet .... Did you forget about Salman Pak training ground in Iraq...You know, the one with the jet plane used for training terrorists... So we remain with the sickening irony that the mass graves we helped Saddam fill are being used as Bush's substitute-justification for the war, and its aftermaths.