Iraq has already signed a contract with the US to buy weapons worth $13 billion until 2013 and will spend a similar amount for the purchase of weapons later, a Baghdad-based newspaper quoted the Iraqi defense ministry spokesman as saying.
In September 2010, the US signed a deal with Iraq to sell weapons, which included 18 F-16 fighter aircraft, Sidewinder air-to-air missiles, laser-guided bombs and reconnaissance equipment, a Press TV correspondent reported on Sunday from Arbil, the capital of Iraqi Kurdistan.
Kardo Muhammad told Press TV that there are also concerns about the misuse of such weaponry in the future and the financial burden it imposes on the country.
Iraq's external debt is between $103 billion and $129 billion, according to Exotix, a London-based frontier market debt trading firm. With the purchase of more weapons, the burden will keep on rising.
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