On June 16, 1992 the U.S. Department of Commerce published its long-awaited list of missile projects in the Third World. The list was supposed to plant a red flag on…
Export Controls & Sanctions
The Wisconsin Project conducts research and advocacy to support robust controls on strategic goods and enforcement of autonomous and international sanctions. Export controls and sanctions are powerful means of inhibiting the spread of technologies used to make weapons of mass destruction. Listed below is a selection of the Wisconsin Project’s work in these areas, including analysis of export control enforcement cases, Iran sanctions violations, and commentary on U.S. export control policy.
Iraq’s Bomb, Chip by Chip
The New York Times April 24, 1992, p. A35. The U.S. Commerce Department licensed the following strategic American exports for Saddam Hussein’s atomic weapon programs between 1985 and 1990. Virtually…
Building Saddam Hussein’s Bomb
The New York Times Magazine March 8, 1992, p. 30 “About this big.” High in the United Nations building in New York, a U.N. official is holding his arms out…
The Soviet Nuclear Breakup – Promise or Perils?
International Affairs February 1992, p. 30 The West is now watching the Soviet central government grow weaker, and may soon see it disappear. With the resulting confusion comes the risk…
Exports and Terrorism: U.S. Export Licenses to Iran: September 1990 to September 1991
From September 1990 to September 1991, the U.S. Department of Commerce approved nearly $60 million dollars’ worth of sensitive exports to Iran. Most of these items were “dual use,” meaning…
Exports and Terrorism: U.S. Export Licenses to Iran and Syria: 1986-1990
From 1986 to 1990, the U-S. Commerce Department approved over $300 million worth of sensitive American exports to Iran and Syria. Most of these were “dual-use” items, capable of making…
Military Exports to Iraq Come Under Scrutiny
The New York Times June 25, 1991 p. A11 WASHINGTON, June 23 — The Commerce Department has started an internal investigation of charges that officials of the agency altered documents…
US-approved exports may have aided Iraqi army, says report
Financial Times June 20, 1991, p. 18 The US government approved exports to Iraq between 1987 and 1989 that may have helped Baghdad improve its weapons capabilities, according to a…
Study: Commerce Dept. aided Iraqi arms buildup
Chicago Tribune June 20, 1991 WASHINGTON—The Commerce Department helped Saddam Hussein build his war machine in the late 1980s by approving the sale of millions of dollars of sensitive U.S….
Licensing Mass Destruction: U.S. Exports to Iraq: 1985-1990
INTRODUCTION The U.S. Department of Commerce licensed more than $1.5 billion worth of sensitive U.S. exports to Iraq from 1985 to 1990.[1] Most were “dual-use” items, capable of making nuclear…