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Former Soviet Bloc Nations Provided Saddam with Illicit Arms
(Los Angeles Times) Jeffrey Fleishman and Bob Drogin - Companies in several former Soviet bloc nations, which were saddled with ruined and corrupt economies, were among the main suppliers to the global illicit arms bazaar. Over the last decade, the Polish army has shrunk to 140,000 troops from 400,000, and masses of military hardware have been relegated to scrap heaps and auction blocks. In the summer of 2001, Iraq's arms brokers shipped up to 380 missile engines from Poland to Syria, which were then trucked toward Baghdad, part of Saddam Hussein's covert program to extend the range of his missiles beyond the limit of 150 kilometers imposed after the 1991 Persian Gulf War. According to Iraqi documents, "The embargo against Iraq is not considered an [obstacle] for the supplying Polish party," and "spare parts and parts for motors...are sent from Poland through many different channels that cannot be detected."