> the Export Guarantee system (I think it got
> renamed a few years ago)

I don't know the new name; but to be pedantic, I think 'Export Credit Guarantees' was the old name. A stunning wheeze, too. We like Saddam and sell him military hardware, because he hates Iran just like we do. We give the sellers ECGs; Saddam defaults on the payments; taxpayers' money is poured in to fill the void; the west then destroys Saddam and the hardware; we sell stuff all over again to Iraq's new regime... It's mangificent in its pristine depravity...

M.