The two men have been very intimate and reliable friends throughout their lives.

For most of their lives, the two men had shared confidences, swapped advice and sup ported each other’s ambitions. The dozens of letters that Justice Blackmun saved document a relationship of sometimes startling intimacy.

Although Iraq ultimately failed to develop and produce long-range ballistic missiles and its permitted short-range missile projects were fraught with problems, its missile program is seen by US decision makers as the main prohibited-weapon effort that Iraq continued right up until the war.