Absolutely appalling.

But unfortunately, not surprising.

Still, I have to wonder about the use of the term "destroyed." If so, the survival of the crews is remarkable.

Russian arms companies are desperate for business. They'll sell to anyone, at anytime. They do it thru 3rd party nations who take a cut for "brokering". There are countless nations willing to do this.

Like, for instance, Syria!

A: "Officers here believe the missile may be a new Russian variant, known as a Cornet, purchased despite United Nations sanctions on arms sales to Iraq." http://www.nytimes.com/2003/03/26/international/worldspecial/26CND-INFA.html

B: "Syrian President Bashar Assad was quoted in the Lebanese newspaper As-Safir Thursday as hinting that Syria expects to be the next target of coalition forces.
"We will not wait until we become the next target," Assad was quoted as saying, adding that the attack on Iraq is aimed at other countries as well. " http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/277670.html

C: "Moscow selling arms to Syria - A Russian newspaper reported that a Russian armaments factory had begun supplying 1,000 Cornet anti-tank missile systems, the London Times reported on June 12 (1998 - Steve). The Soviet Union had supplied Syria with large quantities of weapons on credit up through 1989. President Gorbachev froze sales until Syria paid back an $11 billion debt. This is the first weapons sale to Syria since 1991." http://www.clw.org/atop/atn/atn0698.html

Color me surprised. I'm just waiting for the warheads with "made in Paris" to turn up.

Did anyone else ever confirm those sketchy CBN reports of Russian chemical warheads found? Not that I would be surprised if it were true, but this will surely be used later to discredit any real finds of chemical weapons.

NOTHING of substance of been confirmed yet. neither chemical, biological, nuclear or other except for the those missles with ranges just outside that proscribed. even the GPS jammers, ridiclued for their effectiveness yet having to be destroyed, are not clear violations. let's get some CREDIBLE evidence before making silly claims.

Just a question - not in defense of the Russians, French, or anyone else: Can someone explain why a country who sold weapons to Iraq (or did other business with Iraq) in violation of the sanctions would be particularly more nervous about the war that is taking place rather than inspections that they presumably preferred?

[quote]Can someone explain why a country who sold weapons to Iraq (or did other business with Iraq) in violation of the sanctions would be particularly more nervous about the war that is taking place rather than inspections that they presumably preferred?[/quote]

Because the inspections are a farce? Because the inspection process has been infiltrated by Iraqi agents who preallerted sites to iminent inspections?

The inspectors weren't looking for violations of the sanctions. They were 'looking' for WMD.

the origin of SA-2 engines sold for the Al Samoud 2 rockets that were declared proscribed was never declared by UNMOVIC - i tried to discover the source and it appears to be either NPO Ergomesh (Russian) or a Chinese company. that would surely be a violation but for some (probably diplomatic) reason it has not been made public.

So far this week I have seen reports that Iran, Pakistan, Syria, North Korea and even CHINA are each warning that it may be the next target. Pakistan's Musharraf denied it, to be fair. But the Russians must be worried about something: why would they choose this week to "test" an ICBM, as reported today?

War should be over soon if Coalition take my advice seriously.
You don't need to nuke Saddam's army. Just drop a few pigs on them and results will be pretty much the same.

Good luck everyone

God bless America