Posted on 04/08/2003 2:55:08 PM PDT by MadIvan
What data specifically does it represent?
Uh, it represents arms sales to Iraq from 1973-2002, broken down by country. You know, like it says in the very first line of text up there....
The units of measurement are not labelled.
The graph represents the percentage of total arms sales by country. What sort of units do percentages usually carry?
How are weapons defined?
Well, that's the sort of thing that's easily discovered by going to the source website referred to in the graph, isn't it? Specifically, it covers "major conventional weapons", such as tanks, planes, artillery, missiles, helicopters, et cetera. Anyway, go look for yourself - it's poor form to insist that someone else spoon-feed you when this sort of thing can be found on your own with extremely minimal effort.
Here's a link with some specifics. It describes how many Reagan officials, including Rumsfeld, continued to advance Iraq's weapons program after they used chemical weapons on their own people.
Specifics?! The Washington Post?!?
BWHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAA!!!!!
If I'm not mistaken, they still have us in a "quagmire" in Iraq, although that might have been yesterday.
On your side you have the Post and their "unnamed sources" and "administration officials".
On my side the is the Arms transfers to Iraq, 1973-2002 from the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute. I believe they are familiar with the English language.
Below are two files containing data on major conventional weapons transfered to Iraq for the period 1973-2002.
The first file provides SIPRI Trend Indicator Values for major conventional weapons transfered to Iraq expressed in US $m. at constant (1990) prices for the period 1973-2002. The data are presented according to major suppliers and are also expressed as percentages.
The following file contains a register that describes the weapons on order or under delivery, or for which the licence was bought and production was under way or completed during the period 1982 to 2001. This register also provides comments and some additional information on each deal.
Register of the transfers and licensed production of major conventional weapons to Iraq 1973-2002, (Acrobat file 17k)
When using SIPRI data for arms transfers made to Iraq after 1990, the following two points should be noted:
a] Although the SIPRI Arms Transfers Project has monitored reports of transfers of major conventional weapons to Iraq since 1990, none of these reports have been sufficiently well documented to confirm a transfer has taken place.
b] The SIPRI Arms Transfers Project only reports transfers of complete major conventional weapon systems. Thus, reports that indicate Iraq has obtained parts of a given weapon system, even if confirmed, would not be registered as a transfer.
c] See the Arms Transfers Project's chapter in the forthcoming SIPRI Yearbook 2003 for further details on suspected transfers to Iraq since 1990.
d] Information on suspected transfers of major conventional weapons and related equipment can be obtained from the Arms Transfers Project.
e] Details of arms embargoes in force against Iraq can be found at the Export Control Project.
I love the smell of napalm in the evening.
Anyone who chooses one of the alternate names for Satan as his forum moniker isn't likely to have any respect for a great and decent man like RR. If I remember correctly, somewhere in holy scripture Belial is called the "father of lies".
May they be in heaven. What they endured is hard to comprehend. Even if I'm not fond of someone, NEVER, EVER, even in a moment of passion would I do something like this to another human being for sport as was done here. These folks were defenseless. I have no doubt that death was a welcomed relief.
There is NO godly reason in the world to ignore this and do nothing. It's a shame we didn't complete the job back in 1991. Imagine how many lives we would have saved and how many people would have been able to live a normal life without the psychological scars that this regieme leaves behind. It's nothing more than Pol Pot, Hitler, Stalin etc. ALL OVER AGAIN.
And not necessarily in that order.
IIRC they stand to lose billions owed to them by Saddam.
They also made a calculated gamble to align themselves with France and against the UK, in a European power struggle. Bad move on their part.
There are undoubtedly other reasons too.
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