Since the end of the gulf war, a series of confrontational United Nations inspections have kept the world's attention focused on Iraq's nuclear and chemical weapons programs. But in the same period, with little notice, Saddam Hussein has been rebuilding his conventional forces.
It has not been easy. An international ban on arms sales to Iraq and the loss of up to $15 billion a year in income because of an oil embargo have prevented Hussein from obtaining large military equipment or even much in the way of spare parts. So his reconstructed Army is equipped with armored vehicles that escaped destruction or could be repaired after the gulf war. But despite the handicaps, Hussein has built a leaner and in some ways meaner military -- one that is rated a match for the armies of Syria, Egypt or old foe Iran.
What he's got. At the start of the gulf war, Hussein's Army claimed 60- plus divisions, although many were undermanned. When the war ended, he disbanded 25 of those divisions as well as his 800,000-man Popular Army, a reserve force that Iraqis had come to call the "Unpopular Army."
Iraq's current 350,000-man active-duty Army consists of eight Republican Guard divisions (5-1/2 of which survived the war), 19 other armor and infantry divisions and 10 special-forces brigades. It has an estimated 2,200 tanks, 1,500 armored reconnaissance vehicles, 2,000 armored personnel carriers and 1,500 to 2,000 artillery pieces, according to the International Institute for Strategic Studies in London. A "Special Republican Guard," a loyal, five-brigade division, remains in Baghdad to protect Hussein and keep an eye on the rest of the Republican Guard.
An estimated 500 helicopters survived the gulf war, along with an Air Force of about 300 planes, mostly MiGs and Mirages that hunkered in their bunkers during Operation Desert Storm. Hussein was estimated to have 22 Scud missile launchers before the war; there are no postwar photos confirming that any Scud launchers were destroyed. And while United Nations teams have destroyed the 100,000 chemical shells and bombs they found in Iraq, some analysts fear that Hussein managed to hide others, as well as up to 100 Scud missiles.
Moreover, Iraq's lack of cash has not moved Hussein to roll up his worldwide procurement network, which manages to smuggle in small amounts of electronic gear and military and industrial material. Only last month, a Richmond, Va., man was convicted of violating embargo laws against Iraq. Customs officials say he shipped electronic equipment, pumps and chemicals to Iraq's military industries through his father in Jordan. Officials are investigating a dozen other cases of embargo busting in the United States and in Europe. But, they admit, some supplies still slip through the net.
