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| International |
| The Israeli Arms Connection |
| 2003-03-28 |
| Edited for content: Early in the American invasion of Iraq, amid one of the air assaults, an unmanned aircraft meant to confuse enemy radar fell to the ground in Baghdad. In the wreckage, Iraqis discovered a fragment marked with the manufacturer's signature and origin — "Taas Jerusalem" — a taunting declaration, as if fired from the Jewish state itself. "We found a missile that had fallen in southern Baghdad," Iraqi Foreign Minister Naji Sabri announced. "The missile did not explode and God be praised, it exposed Zionism's part in the aggression." As one of the world's top arms exporters, the country has sold the United States an array of equipment that is either being used or could be employed in Iraq. It has supplied the American military with sophisticated decoys, such as the one found Saturday, as well as precision air-to-surface missiles on B-52 bombers, high-tech targeting systems, and onboard computers and armor for the Bradley fighting vehicles rolling across the Iraqi desert, according to military experts and analyses of Israeli arms sales. It also has designed and manufactured a host of other components that permeate the U.S. arsenal. Asaf Eisin, a spokesman for Israeli Military Industries, confirmed that the fragment found in Baghdad was produced by his company, whose name in Hebrew is Taasia Tzvait and abbreviated as Taas. He said such decoys are launched from fighter planes and have a radar signature akin to a small aircraft. |
| Posted by:Steve |
| #1 I heard someplace that 75 to 80 percent of military R&D dollars are spent by the United States, and 15 percent by Israel. I worked on the test program for the AMRAAM air to air missile carried by the F-14 Tomcats. My mom is pleased as punch to know a little bit of me is somehow out there with our forces sticking it to Saddam (her side of the family has a tradition of sticking it to dictators). I imagine our Israeli military supply partners are equally tickled. |
| Posted by: Ptah 2003-03-28 14:41:33 |