16 July 2001 Using its oil as both weapon and bribe, Iraq — thanks to Russia and some of its Arab neighbors — has thwarted US attempts to revamp the 11-year-old UN sanctions regime, and end Baghdad’s control over oil smuggling. For Washington, which launched the initiative in February as a cornerstone of its Mideast foreign policy, it’s back to the drawing board. A Russian “nyet” to the Anglo-American ideas…