This is the reason why UN sanctions are a, less than satisfactory means, in bringing a rogue state into line with international law. The Swedes and the Russians did the dirty with Saddam Hussein’s regime in a ‘truck laundering’ scheme, in which the Iraqi’s received the vehicles they wanted, and the Swedish truck manufacturer racking up huge sales.
Please remember that, though another UNSC resolution was never needed in the first place, UNSC 1441 already contained enough language to resume war against Iraq if it was proven to have been in breach, it was the Russians, along with the French, that were against any further resolution against Iraq.
The fix was in, and without approval from on high, (read= Vladimir Putin) the Swedes would never have been able to circumvent UN sanctions in such a brazen way.
The Local: Swedish government agencies allowed truck maker Scania to ignore United Nations sanctions in order to sell buses and trucks in Iraq in the early 2000s, Sveriges Radio reports.
Scania carried out the sales using a Russian company as a front because, according to an internal memo, the Iraqis had started demanding illegal commissions from everyone who wanted to sell to them.
“It is one way to go around the sanction provisions decided upon by the UN,” said prosecutor Nils-Eric Schultz, who is investigating the company for possible sanctions violations.Initially the company saw the illegal commissions as a reason to stop selling to Iraq, but after nothing was done and its competitors continued to do business in Iraq, Scania decided to look for other solutions.
H/T: Tundra Tabloids reader