date=3/1/95
type=closeup
number=4-08151
title=U-S/East Europe/Weapons
byline=Maxim Kniazkov
telephone=619-3615
dateline=Washington
editor=Phil Haynes
content= // actualities available in s-o-d //
Intro: United States arms sales policy took a significant turn
last month when the Clinton administration decided to
authorize some of the former communist bloc countries to
purchase certain advanced U-S weapons. Though no
specific deals are reported to be in the works,
announcement of the policy chage was largely interpreted
as a stage setter for closer military cooperation
between the United States and the new Central and
Eastern European democracies. V-o-A's Maxim Kniazkov
has more on what the new policy may hold for the future
of America's interests the region and the European
security as a whole.
Text: The Clinton administration signaled its readiness to
probe new markets for U-S arms less than six months
after the last Russian soldier withdrew from Central
Europe. And in the words of Pentagon spokesman major
Tom Larock, the decision to lift the ban on lethal arms
sales to the region is meant to address new realities in
Europe in the wake of the democratic revolutions that
consigned the Warsaw Pact to history.
Tape cut#1 Larock
"It [the decision] parallels the change in our bilateral
relationships, obviously is tied to the participation by
these countries in the partnership for peace. It goes
along with their strong interest in joining established
European Security and political institutions. It
parallels the progress that the countries have made in
implementing democratic and market reforms and,
basically, parallels legitimate defense requirements of
the Central European armed forces."
Text: The new policy gives the green light to U-S arms
manufacturers to offer some of their most sophisticated
weaponry to Poland, Hungary, the Czech Republic,
Slovakia, Romania, Bulgaria, Albania, Latvia, Lithuania
and Estonia. Major Larock says these countries'
shopping lists can now include a broad range of
American-made armaments -- from modern warplanes to
missile systems. But he emphasizes each sale will have
to be approved by the government on the case-by-case
basis.
Tape: cut#2 Larock
"It certainly is not a signal of a United States desire
to sell indiscriminately highly sophisticated armaments
in the region. Again, we will apply to this region the
same stringent policy guidelines that govern decisions
on all other U-S arms sales."
Text: Moreover, most analysts view the U-S policy shift as a
declaration of intent rather than a prelude to specific
arms exports to the west's former foes. Although during
a recent visit to Washington a high-level Polish defense
delegation discussed the possibility of acquiring f-16
fighter-bombers, and Hungary was reported to be eyeing a
U-S air defense system, experts say these and other
Central European countries currently lack the financial
resources to make such expensive purchases.
However, even with no concrete sales in sight, the
policy change, analysts say, signals Washington's desire
to market U-S weapons in what was once viewed as
Moscow's exclusive preserve, and at the same time help
the emerging democracies in their efforts to move closer
to the west.
A former director of the U-S National Security Agency,
retired general William Odom, suggests the new policy is
obviously linked to NATO's stated desire to expand
eastward to include some of the former Warsaw Pact
states. But he states emphatically these plans pose no
threat to Russia.
Tape: cut#3 Odom
"If we are going to expand NATO to include three or four
Central European countries, it [the new arms export
policy] might be connected with that. But the expansion
of NATO to three or four countries there has little or
nothing to do with defending against Russia. It has a
great deal to do with trying to stabilize and prevent
the failure of the economic and democratic transitions
in those countries."
Text: Analysts say the U-S desire to pick up where the Soviets
left off is also in line with the Clinton
administration's policy of aggressively promoting arms
sales all over the world. While always a big-league
player on the world's arms market, the United States has
now emerged as the uncontested leader in the trade,
commanding a whopping 70 percent of the world's weapons
sales.
Since the collapse of the Berlin Wall in 1989,
signalling the collapse of communism in Eastern and
Central Europe, U-S overseas arms exports have totaled
82-point-four billion dollars. That far exceeds the
combined international sales of other arms
manufacturers over the same period. In 1993, the
Pentagon sanctioned arms deals with 146 of the world's
190 nations.
Having included the 10 Central and Eastern European
countries among the list of potential clients, the
United States, experts point out, is clearly positioning
itself to further expand its lead in the international
arms trade. But possible political and diplomatic
implications of this thrust into what was -- and to some
extent still is -- Russia's traditional market worry
retired admiral Eugene Carroll, deputy director of the
Center for Defense Information, a Washington public
research organization.
Tape: cut#4 Carroll
"The movement of modern weaponry eastward to the Russian
border is provocative in the extreme. I'm not certain
they [the Russians] will view it so much as a nuclear
threat because, of course, they know that Poland, [the]
Czech [Republic], Hungary don't have nuclear weapons.
But they certainly will see NATO attempting to move
forward with conventional forces capable of actually
attacking Russia."
Text: This reasoning is one general William Odom has
difficulty agreeing with.
Tape: cut#5 Odom
"I don't think there is any substance to that kind of an
argument. The idea that the west, and the United States
in particular, could plan some kind of attack right
there and begin set up these kind of schemes is
preposterous. Now, that they will try to sell weapons
and make money is not preposterous. And I think if you
want to see what the real motives are, they are probably
very much connected to the industrial interests of the
[weapons] producers."
Text: Remarkably, while vehemently protesting against any NATO
expansion up to the borders of the former Soviet Union,
Moscow has thus far kept quiet about the U-S arms offer
to its former satellites states. When queried by V-o-A,
a Russian embassy spokesman in Washington had no comment
on the matter.
Neb/mk/pch
01-Mar-95 4:19 pm est (2119 utc)
nnnn
source: Voice of America
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A tovabbterjesztest a New York-i szekhelyu Magyar Emberi Jogok
Alapitvany tamogatja.
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Reposting is supported by Hungarian Human Rights Foundation News
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