Bado nataka kujifunza zaidi,
Napata ka mshituko kdg kuhusu hawa wachina, does it mean Israel's specialists are easy to catch up with other nations on terms of selling their technology? Inakuwaje wao wauze wanasayansi then wazidiwe defense system na wanaowauzia?
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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.
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.
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.
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.