Russian engineers helped Iraq's long-range missile program: daily

[Barrett808]

Russian engineers secretly helped Iraq's long-range missile program in the years leading up to last year's Iraq War, in violation of a UN ban, The New York Times said Friday quoting US officials.

The Iraq Survey Group, the US team looking for weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, also found that Iraq had received assistance from sources in Belarus, Serbia and Ukraine, the US officials said.

Some of the Russian engineers helping Iraq are former employees of one of Russia's aerospace design centers closely associated with the Russian government, raising questions about Moscow's awareness of their involvement in banned activities, people familiar with US intelligence told the daily.

Although the United States discovered the Russian engineers' activities after it invaded Iraq a year ago, it chose to keep it secret for fear of harming relations with Russian President Vladimir Putin, the sources said.

"They are hyper-cautious about confronting Putin on this," the daily said one intelligence source complained.

(more)

http://www.spacewar.com/2004/040305065049.px9qj5ev.html

Of course, Bush/Baker sold Iraq the makings of ballistic missiles...

[SlavesandBulldozers]

1. oh?

"They are hyper-cautious about confronting Putin on this,"

Oh, so everything's not so black and white after all is it? It's not really 'youre either with us or against us', eh? HAHAha, what a jackass.