Posted on 04/21/2006 2:28:32 PM PDT by american-interrupted
A former U.S. Army corporal who served in Iraq shortly after the fall of Baghdad in 2003 until the Summer of 2004 has published a book called "American Interrupted". A new video on his website depicts a "Made in France" stamp can be clearly seen inside an Iraqi heavy tank. The video can be seen for free at http://www.american-interrupted.com/media/video/FrenchTankParts.wmv
I'm shocked, shocked, to learn that profiteering is going on in here!
A bigger and better reverse gear?
The T-72 is Russian tank, right? Why would a French part for a Russian tank say "made in France" in English. I would think the logical language would be be French, Russian or Arabic.
I couldn't even tell what the part was. It just appeared to be a metal plate. Can anyone shed any light on what that was suppose to be? To my untrained eye it looked pretty innocuous.
We found Exocet missles in Iraq that had English placards on them from the manufacturer. English is the language of the arms trade in general. The speed dials in the driver's compartment were not Arabic numerals and the instruments were labeled in English as well. Strange, but true.
>>We found Exocet missles in Iraq that had English placards on them from the manufacturer. English is the language of the arms trade in general. The speed dials in the driver's compartment were not Arabic numerals and the instruments were labeled in English as well. Strange, but true.<<
Amazing but there is a sense of logic to it.
Bull merde; why would an item in Iraq made in France, be written in English?
What where they? Roman numerals? Here are Arabic numerals: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 0
I think he means the "Arabic" Arabic numerals.
The kind that are not found on my key board.
Why would shirts sold in the US have size marked "TG"? for extra large?
Stuff is sold to distributors, and they sell to the highest bidder. Military stuff is supposed to have an end user certificate, that flows back to the manufacturer, and assures that all is on the up an up. Of course if that is forged, or if a part legal on one application is cannibalized onto another, the regulatory system breaks down.
In theory, a serial number can be traced from the manufacturer to the distributor, and thence to the end user. Then you can find who cheated, and they can be fined or jailed.
If it is traced to a company that doesn't exist any more, then you have no recourse.
I have a demilled and non-functional AKM that I use as a training aid. It was never intended for sale in the US, yet it's marked in Cyrillic and English.
I also have a Saiga shotgun, which was intended for sale outside Russia. One rollmark says "Made in Russia" in Cyrillic, and again in English - all as part of the same marking.
English is the universal commerce language. Even the MAS series of rifles is stamped in English as well as French.
Marks on products are put there to meet regulatory requirements, and to make them more likely to sell.
I have items marked in various languages, some marked in English, some in Spanish, and some in French. Others in Russian (using Cyrillic letters).
Different companies mark things in various ways based on their markets or even tradition. Lots of AKMs were build for export, and if marked in English, someone could get an explaination. In particular, Africa has many English speakers, a legacy of the colonial days.
Military material is often designed for many end uses. I have no doubt that many T-72s in russia have french parts. Some M-1s in the US have parts from foreign countries, particularly the early versions made before all suppliers had their US operations up and running.
If these found to be true than the Coalition Forces should find themselves very lucky not to become the victim of advance French armor technology.
The French armor technology has long been feared by their excellent hunter-killer capability which the system can track some targets and engage a few simutaniously, much like a fighter plane. And if Iraqi has use this system I bet they can cause some serious damage even they’re using monkey models and incorrect tactic.
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