Did the U.S. Arm Saddam Hussein?
Apr. 11th, 2003 01:20 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
stevenehrbarOkay, this data isn't perfect -- it only covers conventional arms. But let's use it as a starting place, eh?
Now, Saddam Hussein became Iraqi president in 1979, so let's look at arms transfers to Iraq from the beginning of his tenure to the imposition of UN sanctions in 1990. (This isn't a trick to hide an earlier U.S. arms buildup -- U.S. arms transfers to Iraq prior to 1979 were zero.)
From 1979-1990, Soviet arms transfers to Iraq averaged $1527 m. a year.
From 1979-1990, French arms transfers to Iraq averaged $441 m. a year.
From 1979-1990, Chinese arms transfers to Iraq averaged $432 m. a year.
From 1979-1990, Brazilian arms transfers to Iraq averaged $60 m. a year.
From 1979-1990, U.S. arms transfers to Iraq averaged $17 m. a year.
So, U.S. arms transfers to Saddam Hussein's Iraq were 1/3 what he got from Brazil, 1/25th what he got from France or China, and 1/90th what he got from the USSR. Or, in another way, total U.S. arms transfers to Iraq over twelve years equaled the amount the USSR, France, and China transfered in an average month.
Okay, the U.S.'s hands aren't completely clean -- it did sell Iraq some weapons. But it wasn't much.
Did we finance Iraq's purchases from other countries? Well, we gave Iraq billions in USDA Commodity Credit Corporation credits, useful for buying commodity food produced by U.S. farmers. It did mean Iraq had to spend less money on food, and thus could spend more money on weapons. But, it was food aid. It may well have been extended improperly -- but it's not like we gave him a blank check. We gave Iraq the equivalent of food stamps.
Iraq got the money to buy its weapons from sales of oil, and from loans from Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, other gulf states, the USSR, and France.
Again, the U.S.'s hands aren't completely clean; our food subsidies cut Iraq's non-military expenses, allowing them to spend more on military hardware. But it was mostly Iraq's neighbors and the countries Iraq was buying weapons from that gave him the cash to fight the Iran-Iraq war.
