Volume 1 - Iraq Watch

OverviewDirecting and Budgeting Iraq’sIllicit ProcurementThroughout the 1990s and up to OIF (2003), Saddamcontinually directed his advisors to formulate andimplement policies, methods, and techniques to terminatethe UN’s sanctions and obtain prohibited conventionalmilitary and WMD-related goods.• Saddam directed and approved illicit procurementby his Regime.• The Diwan and Presidential Secretary facilitatedSaddam’s procurement directives by processingnonbudget funding for conventional military andWMD programs.• The Iraqi budget process was divided into twodifferent systems: a formal budget that served as acommon governmental budget and a supplementalor secret budget that was controlled by Saddamand the Economic Affairs Committee (EAC). Thissupplemental process, which emerged in its mostefficient form after 1995, used illicit hard currencyto finance prohibited procurement programs.President and Presidential Secretary’s Role inIllicit ProcurementThe highest levels of the government, includingthe President and the Presidential Secretary, usedtrade Protocols and other cooperative agreementsafter 1991 as vehicles to circumvent UN sanctionsand to facilitate the continued arming of Iraq. Iraqnegotiated bilateral trade agreements called “Protocols”with Syria, Jordan, Turkey, and Egypt and lessformal cooperative trade agreements with several EastEuropean countries such as Belarus, Poland, Ukraine,and Russia.• The Syria, Jordan, Turkey, and Egypt Protocolswere official bilateral cooperative agreementsapproved by officials of the countries involved (seeAnnex A: Translations of Iraq’s Bilateral TradeProtocols).• According to press reporting, Aziz traveled toMoscow on 25-26 January 2002. Recovered documentsalso indicate that Tariq Aziz delivered a letterto Moscow in person, and he met with senior Russianleaders.• Belarusian President Lukashenko and Saddamdeveloped a special relationship in which Lukashenkoagreed to support Saddam because of the IraqiPresident’s support of the 2001 Belarusian Presidentialelections.Saddam approved and directed the illicit procurementrelationships that Iraq had with other countriesin order to improve Iraq’s military capabilitiesagainst regional threats. The Presidential Secretary,Abid Hamid Mahmud al-Tikriti, was a member ofthe committee that was formed to task the IIS via IISDirector Tahir Jalil Habbush al-Tikriti to procuretechnology for the MIC. In accordance with Saddam’sinstructions to Huwaysh to improve Iraq’s missilecapabilities, the MIC-IIS joint effort was to emphasizethe support to Iraq’s missile programs.The oil vouchers that the Regime would give to thosewho supported his Regime goals further emphasizedSaddam’s influence over these trade agreements.The Presidential Secretary along with Vice PresidentTaha Yasin Ramadan al-Jizrawi facilitated the issuanceof these vouchers and approved other tradearrangements by handling the paperwork involvedand giving approval on behalf of Saddam for allocationof the oil shares.Reportedly, Russian, Ukrainian, and Belarusianindividuals, who in Baghdad’s view, had contributedin some special way to Iraq’s security, received oilshares at the request of Saddam (for the full list, seeAnnex B: Known Oil Voucher Recipients). Some ofthese persons have also been identified in Iraqi militaryprocurement efforts (see Table 1).Regime Financeand Procurement11