State Department claims Russia provided Iraq with war aid

By Paul Richter and Kim Murphy
Los Angeles Times

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A senior State Department official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said yesterday that Russian companies exported night-vision goggles and radar-jamming equipment to Iraq. The evidence includes the equipment itself and proof that it was used during the war, according to the official. The official declined to elaborate on what the proof is.

Such exports would violate the terms of United Nations sanctions against Iraq.

While insisting that the matter is "now in the past," the official acknowledged the issue "is still a sensitive one."

The issue burst into public view March 24, four days after the invasion began, when President Bush called Russian President Vladimir Putin to voice his concern about the use of goggles, jamming equipment and advanced anti-tank missiles. The White House said at the time that it had "credible evidence" that the equipment came from Russian companies.

The goggles and jammers were of special concern to the United States because U.S. forces, seeking to wage war over great distances with low casualties, rely on night-vision devices and high-tech missile and aircraft guidance systems.

The goggles use heat sensors to enable infantrymen to continue operations even in the dead of night; the jammers block signals from satellites that guide cruise missiles and "smart" bombs.

Putin staunchly denied the charges. But the allegation added friction to a relationship that was already under strain at the time because of Russia's vocal opposition to the U.S.-led invasion.

Yevgeny Khorishko, press secretary for the Russian Embassy in Washington, said yesterday that though the allegations were first raised before the war, "we have never received real proof from the American side that Russian firms were involved in the delivery of this equipment."

In raising the issue last year, U.S. officials contended that although the hardware was allegedly sold by private companies, the Russian government could have taken steps to oversee and interdict the traffic. They maintained at the time that the gear had been sold relatively recently, and with an understanding that it could be used in such a war.

During the war, U.S. military sources gave differing accounts on how much the Russian-made equipment affected U.S. forces. Some military officials were quoted as blaming jamming gear for sending missiles off course and into Iran and Saudi Arabia, and claiming that Russian-made Kornet anti-tank missiles destroyed at least two American M1-A1 tanks, the first time such tanks had been destroyed in battle.

But other officials contended they had little effect during the rapid sweep to Baghdad.

Some Russian arms-industry executives and military analysts asserted that the charges about the jamming equipment were made only to explain away the inaccuracy of the U.S.-made "smart bombs."

Some argued, too, that the U.S. allegations were pointless, because the hardware could have been legitimately sold to other countries and then exported to Iraq without the knowledge of Russian authorities.

"It's always unclear as to what extent governments know about what companies are doing in their turf," a U.S. intelligence official said yesterday.

High-tech military equipment is a top export for Russia. Though the country's military budget has shrunk dramatically, its military industry exports about $5 billion annually in tanks, planes, small arms and other equipment, which end up — directly or through transshipment — in dozens of countries.

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