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.