The World's Most Dangerous Man
With billions to spend and help from the U.S., the Soviet Union and Europe, Saddam Hussein is amassing a truly terrifying arsenal
Back in Baltimore, Customs agents acknowledge that tips and dumb luck play a large role in finding such smugglers. Iraq is reaching out to companies all over the globe. Yet in all of Maryland, with the bustling ports of Baltimore and Baltimore-Washington International Airport, Customs has just five export investigators. Against that kind of competition, the odds against stopping illegal shipments to outlaw states like Iraq are long indeed. Bass is struck by how Iraq's vast arms network is built around an international network of middlemen who will sell anything for a buck. "If someone asked for bicycle tires, or someone asked for mustard gas," says Bass, "I don't think it would have made a difference to Frans Van Anraat."
A sampling of the weapons delivered to Iraq in the 1980s
BRAZIL
500 EE-3 Jararaca and EE-9 Cascavel armored reconnaissance vehicles
CHINA
1,500 T-59 and T-69 main battle tanks
80 J-7 fighters
CZECHOSLOVAKIA
1,000 BMP-1 armored infantry fighting vehicles
EGYPT
100 Multiple rocket launchers
FRANCE
94 Mirage F1 fighters
300 AML-60 and AML-90 armored reconnaissance vehicles
60 Roland surface-to-air missiles
700 Exocet air-to-surface missiles
SOUTH AFRICA
200 155-mm howitzers
U.S.S.R.
500 T-72 main battle tanks
1,000 T-62 main battle tanks
350 Scud-B surface-to-surface missiles
25 MiG-29 Fulcrum fighters
33 MiG-25 Foxbat fighters
70 MiG-23BN Flogger fighters
70 MiG-21 Fishbed fighters
30 Su-25 Frogfoot ground attack fighters
50 Su-20 Fitter ground attack fighters
8 Tu-22 Blinder bombers
8 Tu-16 Badger bombers
500 122-mm towed howitzers
Other known export sales to Iraq
Britain........Computer-controlled machinery
Belgium........Mustard gas components
France.........Nuclear reactor, missile-navigation systems
Italy..........Uranium ore and nuclear technology
Sweden.........Assistance in missile projects
U.S............Computers, test equipment, helicopters
West Germany...Heavy-duty pumps
USN&WR—Basic data: International Institute of Strategic Studies; Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI); Wisconsin Project on Nuclear Arms Control
IRAQ'S MISSILES
| Missile | Range | Payload | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| al-Abid | 1,250 mi. | ? | Tested Dec. '89, as satellite launcher |
| Tammuz | 1,250 mi. | ? | Tested, Dec. '89 |
| Condor II | 600 mi. | 1,000 lb. | Development delayed |
| al-Abbas | 560 mi. | 250 lb. or more | Flight-tested |
| al-Husayn | 400 mi. | 300-860 lb. | Modified Scud, used against Iran |
| Fahd | 375 mi. | ? | Under development |
| SS-300 | 190 mi. | 2,200 lb. | Buying from Brazil, engines tested |
| Scud-B | 175 mi. | 2,000 lb. | Used in Iran-Iraq War |
| Frog-7 | 45 mi. | 1,000 lb. | Used in Iran-Iraq War |
USN&WR—Basic data: The Wisconsin Project on Nuclear Arms Control; congressional reports; Washington Institute for Near East Policy; Carnegie Endowment for International Peace; W. Seth Carus-Naval War College Foundation
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