Elonka wrote:
] ] U.S. soldiers confiscated the prisoners' weapons and
] ] military equipment. The guns were old, but the gas masks
] ] weren't.
] ]
] ] "It looks like a regular chemical protection mask," said
] ] Sgt. Jennifer Raichle. "It was made in 2002. Brand new."
] ]
] ] The gas masks were indeed brand new, as were the
] ] decontamination kits, and atropeine -- used to treat
] ] exposure to nerve agents.
] ]
] ] "I would guess they were planning on using chemical
] ] warfare. They may or may not use it, but they were ready
] ] for it," Raichle said.
]
] Newly-issued gas masks, to troops with old guns? And the next
] question in my mind is, where were these gasmasks
] manufactured? Iraqi-made? If so, where's the factory? And
] if not made in Iraq, then which country has been selling such
] recently-made gas masks to Iraq??

Russia.

There's been a lot of reports (google news) about how the former Soviet states have privatized their weapons manufacturing and been selling them to any comers, including the Chechyns. NPR had a great expose on it this week as well.

flynn23 wrote:
] Elonka wrote:
] ] ] U.S. soldiers confiscated the prisoners' weapons and
] ] ] military equipment. The guns were old, but the gas masks
] ] ] weren't.
] ] ]
] ] ] "It looks like a regular chemical protection mask," said
] ] ] Sgt. Jennifer Raichle. "It was made in 2002. Brand new."
] ] ]
] ] ] The gas masks were indeed brand new, as were the
] ] ] decontamination kits, and atropeine -- used to treat
] ] ] exposure to nerve agents.
] ] ]
] ] ] "I would guess they were planning on using chemical
] ] ] warfare. They may or may not use it, but they were ready
] ] ] for it," Raichle said.
] ]
] ] Newly-issued gas masks, to troops with old guns? And the next
] ] question in my mind is, where were these gasmasks
] ] manufactured? Iraqi-made? If so, where's the factory? And
] ] if not made in Iraq, then which country has been selling such
] ] recently-made gas masks to Iraq??
]
] Russia.
]
] There's been a lot of reports (google news) about how the
] former Soviet states have privatized their weapons
] manufacturing and been selling them to any comers, including
] the Chechyns. NPR had a great expose on it this week as well.

Do you have a link? I was researching it at Google News too, and found a lot of info on the Russians selling GPS jammers, but nothing about gas masks.

Elonka wrote:

] Do you have a link? I was researching it at Google News too,
] and found a lot of info on the Russians selling GPS jammers,
] but nothing about gas masks.

There are numerous links. I know the US news community has focused on GPS jammers, but obviously the Iraqi's are highly equipped and trained with Russian equipment, since they're using Russian rifles, rocket launchers, AAA batteries, and radar. There's also some intel that Russian tech's are on the ground with Iraqi's right now.

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,82018,00.html

The NPR expose focused on how it's not just Russian privateers selling the equipment, but also Russian military.

flynn23 wrote:
] Elonka wrote:
]
] ] Do you have a link? I was researching it at Google News too,
] ] and found a lot of info on the Russians selling GPS jammers,
] ] but nothing about gas masks.
]
] There are numerous links. I know the US news community has
] focused on GPS jammers, but obviously the Iraqi's are highly
] equipped and trained with Russian equipment, since they're
] using Russian rifles, rocket launchers, AAA batteries, and
] radar. There's also some intel that Russian tech's are on the
] ground with Iraqi's right now.
]
] http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,82018,00.html
]
] The NPR expose focused on how it's not just Russian privateers
] selling the equipment, but also Russian military.

Well, just because Russian companies are selling missiles and GPS jammers to Iraq (which is bad enough), doesn't mean they're also selling gas masks. It may well be the Russians, but I haven't seen any sources that confirm that yet, so I'd still very much like to see the "Made in _____" tag from the chemical protection gear, to find out where it's coming from!

Elonka wrote:

] Well, just because Russian companies are selling missiles and
] GPS jammers to Iraq (which is bad enough), doesn't mean
] they're also selling gas masks. It may well be the Russians,
] but I haven't seen any sources that confirm that yet, so I'd
] still very much like to see the "Made in _____" tag from the
] chemical protection gear, to find out where it's coming from!

I guess my response is: does it really matter? The fact that they are equipping their troops with newly made gas masks in and of itself means nothing other than someone was willing to sell them to the Iraqis. It doesn't mean they're going to use chemical weapons. In fact, I would venture to say that the Iraqi's were probably more concerned that the US would use them.

With that said, it's likely that most of their equipment comes from the Russians and the French. I know that some of their armor is from Saab, but I think the Republican Guard uses Russian tanks.

Why any of this surprises anyone, is beyond me. All's fair in love and war.

flynn23 wrote:
] Elonka wrote:
] ] ] U.S. soldiers confiscated the prisoners' weapons and
] ] ] military equipment. The guns were old, but the gas masks
] ] ] weren't.
] ] ]
] ] ] "It looks like a regular chemical protection mask," said
] ] ] Sgt. Jennifer Raichle. "It was made in 2002. Brand new."
] ] ]
] ] ] The gas masks were indeed brand new, as were the
] ] ] decontamination kits, and atropeine -- used to treat
] ] ] exposure to nerve agents.
] ] ]
] ] ] "I would guess they were planning on using chemical
] ] ] warfare. They may or may not use it, but they were ready
] ] ] for it," Raichle said.
] ]
] ] Newly-issued gas masks, to troops with old guns? And the
] next
] ] question in my mind is, where were these gasmasks
] ] manufactured? Iraqi-made? If so, where's the factory? And
]
] ] if not made in Iraq, then which country has been selling
] such
] ] recently-made gas masks to Iraq??
]
] Russia.
]
] There's been a lot of reports (google news) about how the
] former Soviet states have privatized their weapons
] manufacturing and been selling them to any comers, including
] the Chechyns. NPR had a great expose on it this week as well.

Russia is angry about getting fucked out of the $8 billion Iraq owes it. That's only 8 stealth fighters to the US... but its a substantial chunk of change to the ever-ailing Russian federal budget.

Jello wrote:

] Russia is angry about getting fucked out of the $8 billion
] Iraq owes it. That's only 8 stealth fighters to the US... but
] its a substantial chunk of change to the ever-ailing Russian
] federal budget.

and herein lies the reason for most of the 'strange' behavior of various countries. Why does France, Germany, and Russia oppose action against Iraq? Because of money. Why will people line up against action on North Korea? Because of money.

It's not WMD, or terrorism, or fundementalism that's killing this world. It's money.

Jello wrote:

] Russia is angry about getting fucked out of the $8 billion
] Iraq owes it. That's only 8 stealth fighters to the US... but
] its a substantial chunk of change to the ever-ailing Russian
] federal budget.

and herein lies the reason for most of the 'strange' behavior of various countries. Why does France, Germany, and Russia oppose action against Iraq? Because of money. Why will people line up against action on North Korea? Because of money.

It's not WMD, or terrorism, or fundementalism that's killing this world. It's money.