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Iraq: Missile Discovery Strengthens U.S. Hand in U.N.
Oct 03, 2003
Summary
Polish troops claim to have discovered French -manufactured anti-aircraft missile systems in Iraq, produced in 2003, giving the United States a stick with which to beat the French in the U.N. Security Council.
Analysis
Polish troops in Iraq have found four French-built anti-aircraft missiles that were built this year, Polish Defense Ministry spokesman Eugeniusz Mleczak told Reuters Oct. 3. The troops found the Roland-type missiles in an ammunition depot near the region of Al Hillah, approximately 55 miles south of Baghdad, on Sept. 29, Mleczak said. The Roland anti-anticraft system is a short-range air defense missile used against aircraft flying at low and medium altitudes.
The discovery of the missiles will send sparks flying in both Washington and Paris. Iraq‘s possession of new anti-aircraft missiles doesn‘t necessarily mean that France sold them to Baghdad. Paris may have sold the weapons, although it has denied any such arms transfers, or they might have come from a third party that acquired the missiles from France and re-exported them. Washington will now want to know which country that was, and it will be breathing down Paris‘ neck for answer.
The timing of Poland‘s announcement may conveniently provide the United States with leverage to gain French cooperation on a new U.N. Security Council resolution, in which Washington seeks approval for a multinational force deployment in Iraq. U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell said Oct. 3 that the U.S. draft resolution would be revised and ready within the next two days for presentation to the Security Council. French Foreign Minister Dominique de Villepin said recently that Paris would not approve the draft resolution unless a shorter timetable for a transfer of power to a sovereign Iraqi government was included.
The discovery of Roland missiles is not unusual. In the 1980s, Iraq imported large numbers of both the Roland-1 and Roland-2 short-range anti-aircraft missile systems. In the last several months, U.S and allied forces have found dozens of Roland missiles scattered throughout the country. The significance is that the Polish troops claim they found missiles manufactured in 2003 -- after it was blatantly clear the United States was going to war against Iraq. This means that one of the countries with access to the missiles knowingly helped the government in Baghdad prepare for war.
There are ten countries with Roland systems in service: Argentina, Brazil, France, Germany, Iraq, Nigeria, Qatar, Spain, Venezuela and the United States. A French Foreign Ministry spokeswoman strongly denied that France has authorized any shipment of military equipment to Iraq since 1990. "It is not credible to say that the Roland missiles found a few days ago were produced in 2003 and delivered just before the Anglo-American intervention," the spokeswoman said. "Let‘s be absolutely clear about this: no military exports to Iraq were licensed after July 1990."
The discovery will not cause a complete breach of French-U.S. relations unless, of course, it is discovered that Paris did in fact sell the weapons to Iraq in early 2003 -- which is not impossible, but unlikely. What it will do is help the United States outflank France in the Security Council and further erode French global influence.
