Iraq: February 18, 2000

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  While much attention is paid to Iraqi oil smuggling via Iranian coastal waters, about half the illegal oil gets out by truck through Jordan, Syria and Turkey. Jordan has an exemption to get oil from Iraq, and turns a blind eye to the additional supplies coming in for export sale. Turkey does not condone the smuggling, but considers it another form of peacekeeping in the violence prone border area. Syria just takes it cut and tells the US to buzz off.