A Syrian firm, headed by a cousin of that country’s leader, Bashar al-Assad, signed contracts to supply millions of dollars in arms and equipment to Iraq before the United States invaded in March, The Los Angeles Times reported on Tuesday. In the first of a two-part series written from Damascus, The Times reported that “1,000 heavy machine guns and up to 20 million bullets for assault rifles,” supplied by SES International Corp., “helped Baghdad’s ill-equipped army grow stronger before the war began in March. Some supplies may now be aiding the insurgency against the U.S.-led occupation.” Full Story