Here are the figures Dianavan for the period 1973 to 1990:

Soviet Unionand Warsaw Pact - 68.9%
France - 12.7%
China (PRC) - 11.8%
United States - 0.5%
Egypt - 1.3%
Others - 4.8%
Source: Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI)

Little Hawk - 21 Mar 07 - 01:06 AM

1) "The Americans arm the Saudis to the teeth in exchange for oil."

Eh, Little Hawk, I think that you find that the Saudi's go to the open market for Defence Procurement and they pay cash - They can afford to. So your statement above is incorrect.

2) "Why shouldn't the Russians have chosen to arm Iraq to the teeth in exchange for oil?"

Why indeed, all I was saying in response to petr was that they would not have done the same (i.e. supplied Saddam with 68.9% with all his weapons over the course of 17 years) in exchange for dates.

The significant invasions:

Israel invades Lebanon - Provocation supplied by ???? - Self-defence.

Iraq invades Iran - Absolutely no provocation at all, in fact at the time Iraq and Iran were engaged in talks to resolve their differences over the Shat-al-Arab. Classic example of naked opportunistic aggression.

Iraq invades Kuwait - Absolutely no provocation at all, another classic example of naked opportunistic aggression.

USA coalition partially invades Iraq during Gulf War (in response to Kuwait invasion) - Incorrect there was NO US Coalition it was a United Nations Coalition - TRUE?

USA-led coalition invades Afghanistan after 911 and occupies whole country (ostensibly to catch Osama Bin Laden...) - Incorrect, there was NEVER a US invasion of Afghanistan, US and other NATO forces were invited into Afghanistan at the request of the Interim Afghan Government and the UN. They remain there to date under exactly the same conditions, i.e. at the request of the duly elected and recognised government of Afghanistan and under UN Mandate.

USA-led coalition invades Iraq in 2003 and occupies whole country.
- Justification for their actions being failure on the part of Iraq to honour the ceasefire conditions that they had agreed to at Safwan in 1991 and being in material breach (at least on seven counts) of UNSC Resolution 1441 - Iraq's last chance. Their continued presence in the country is at the specific request of the duly elected Iraqi Government and under UN Mandate.

Israel invades Lebanon - Provoked by Hezbollah rocket attacks on civilian targets within the internationally recognised sovereign State of Israel. This Little Hawk is what is called self-defence which is every country's inalienable right.