[url]www.commondreams.org/views02/0509-07.htm[/url]

U.S. Arms Sales to Israel End Up In China, Iraq  
by Jonathan Reingold
 
Bill Clinton spoke at Hunter College in New York on Tuesday,
challenging President Bush to send American troops as part of an
international peacekeeping force to the Middle East. What many
Americans don't know is that U.S. forces might as well be there
already.

>From 1990 to 2000 U.S. military aid to Israel totaled over $18
billion. No other nation in the world has such a close relationship
with the U.S. military and arms industry.

The UN, Amnesty International and other groups have raised questions
about the extent the to which U.S. military aid is abetting human
rights abuses by Israeli forces operating in the West Bank. These
debates will no doubt continue for some time. In the mean time,
however, there is another aspect of the American-Israeli relationship
that may have an even greater impact on U.S. and Israeli security in
the long run: the ongoing transfer of American arms technology from
Israel to potential U.S. (and Israeli) adversaries around the globe.

>From the most sophisticated warplanes to tank engines, artillery
systems and armored vehicles, the United States is Israel's one-stop
shopping center. Last year alone the U.S. sold one hundred top-of-the-
line F-16s to Israel for a total of over $3 billion. That same year
Israel purchased 9 of the newest Apache helicopter version equipped
with the Longbow Radar system. The helicopter-buying spree didn't end
with the Apaches. Israel bought fifteen Cobra attack helicopters last
year along with twenty-four Black Hawk transport helicopters.

Besides selling aircraft, the United States is also Israel's
preferred vendor for missiles. Although Israel has designed its own
version of the U.S. air-to-air AIM9 sidewinder missile, the Python 3,
it still relies on the U.S. for its ground attack technology. Two
years ago Lockheed Martin sold Israel approximately 80 AGM-142D
Popeye air-to-surface missiles. Israel also buys the AGM65 Maverick
air-to-surface missile produced by Hughes and Raytheon.

In addition, the U.S. sells Israel the engines for its "indigenous"
Merkava main battle tank. In 1999 Israel purchased 400 power packs
for their Merkava fleet. The Merkava was developed by Israel so that
it wouldn't have to rely on "fickle" countries like Britain, France
or Russia when it was in the midst of a conflict.

(continued)

Transactions between the U.S. and Israel are not necessarily
worrisome by themselves; after all, as Israel has proved, there are a
host of countries willing to sell the weapons it needs. Currently,
Germany is Israel's source for submarines, and if Israel really
needed fighters, Russia is always looking to make a buck and always
seems to have a surfeit of aircraft and other excess defense
articles.

The real danger comes in Israel's habit of reverse engineering U.S.
technology and selling to nations hostile to U.S. interests. Israel's
client list includes Cambodia, Eritrea, Ethiopia, the South Lebanon
Army, India, China, Burma and Zambia. The U.S. has most recently
warmed up to India and is now in fact competing with Israel for arms
sales there, but the other Israeli customers remain dubious at best.

Perhaps the most troubling of all is the Israeli/Chinese arms
relationship. Israel is China's second largest supplier of arms.
Coincidentally, the newest addition to the Chinese air force, the F-
10 multi-role fighter, is an almost identical version of the Lavi
(Lion). The Lavi was a joint Israeli-American design based upon the F-
16 for manufacture in Israel, but financed mostly with American aid.
Plagued by cost overruns, it was canceled in 1987, but not before the
U.S. spent $1.5 billion on the project.

Last April, when the Navy EP-3E surveillance plane was forced to land
in China after a Chinese F-8 fighter flew into its propeller, photos
show Israeli built Python 3 missiles under the fighter's wings.

If Israeli weapons sales to China induce misgivings, including the
most recent U.S. blocked sale of Israel's Phalcon airborne radar, the
beneficiaries of Chinese arms transfers of Israeli-American
technology are even more disturbing. In 1996, as disclosed in the UN
Register of Conventional Arms, China sold over 100 missiles and
launchers to Iran, along with a handful of combat aircraft and
warships. [b]Even worse, in 1997 the New York Daily News reported that
Iraq had deployed Israeli-developed, Chinese PL-8 missiles in the no-
fly zones, endangering American pilots.[/b]

Americans deserve to know where their money is being spent, and how
money allocated for friends and technology shared with friends can
all too easily end up in the wrong hands, threatening all parties
involved. At a minimum, discussions on a new security framework for
the Middle East should include plans to monitor and restrict Israeli
transfers of U.S.-origin military equipment to potential adversaries.
Otherwise, this deadly technology could come back to haunt U.S. and
Israeli forces in future conflicts.

Jonathan Reingold is a research associate for the Arms Trade Resource
Center at the World Policy Institute and a military analyst for
Foreign Policy in Focus.

Amazing. No concern at all about our "friends" engaging in these activities?

Thanks for reminding me...I need to write out my check to Uncle Sugar cause he didn't steal enough of my money last year...

How could Jonathan Reingold write that! Must be a self-hating jew...

This is not new news, but it ticks me off none the less. I do not blame Israel for pulling this crap because nations have interests, not friends, and this is to be expected.

Have I mentioned the old Greek saying here before? In case not, here it is: "Never walk bare assed among the ass f*ckers."

In this case, it's our own fault for letting this happen. If we don't cover our own ass, then who is to blame when we take it in the ass?

As usual, out govt. let the people down.

I thought Sony made the best friend money could buy?

[img]http://ne.nikkeibp.co.jp/english/2000/11/1121sdr_d-ce.jpg[/img]

I do. If you've ever seen any Israeli politician speak you know that they make endless references to democracy, the threat of brutal regimes; their great connection to us [b]and our shared world view, values and interests[/b] (and other platitudes). Netanyahu has made a career out of it.

Well stand up and be our friend, damnit! Stop selling any military hardware to China. Hopefully with Clinton gone they will now.

My best friend [img]http://a1468.g.akamai.net/f/1468/580/1d/pics.drugstore.com/prodimg/26530/200.jpg[/img]

......... Hand[;)] or upadbum?

Is it just me, or does that Realdoll look like Peg Bundy?

Hand