Callahan Has It Backwards

JINSA has long been concerned about exports of military-related and dual use technology to China because of American responsibilities in Asia and because China is a major proliferator to countries with policies inimical to ours, Iran and Pakistan among others. The Clinton Administration, however, eviscerated export controls and sold China supercomputers that can do nuclear weapons modeling, hot section technology for building fighter jet engines and machine tools with military application, and more. Where was Congress?

JINSA has long been concerned about exports of military-related and dual use technology to China because of American responsibilities in Asia and because China is a major proliferator to countries with policies inimical to ours, Iran and Pakistan among others. The Clinton Administration, however, eviscerated export controls and sold China supercomputers that can do nuclear weapons modeling, hot section technology for building fighter jet engines and machine tools with military application, and more. Where was Congress? Despite the Cox Commission Report on Chinese spying in this country, and despite a demonstrable Chinese military buildup incorporating American technology, and despite overt threats by China to Taiwan and to American intentions to defend Taiwan, Congress has been largely silent.

Until now. Unfortunately, our legislators are not preparing to take the Administration to task for playing fast and loose with American security requirements and commitments to our Asian friends. Instead, Congress has joined the Administration in complaining mightily as Israel prepares to fulfill a three-year-old deal for radar planes known to the Pentagon from the beginning.

We don’t like the deal either. But Rep. Sonny Callahan’s announced determination to withhold $250 million from Israel’s military aid appropriation, precisely the amount of Israel’s arms sale to China, is a very bad idea.

The money the United States provides to Israel in the form of military aid is not a gift. It is predicated on the well-founded belief that a strong and secure Israel is an asset that American military planners can rely on, and a democratic force for stability in a region with precious little of it right now; Syria, Lebanon, the PA, Iran and Iraq are all dangerous. Egypt is little better. Saudi Arabia will soon have a new king. Russia has been asserting itself and finding a fairly warm welcome. China has been doing the same.

We have two thoughts for Mr. Callahan:

If he wants to put the squeeze on someone, withhold our annual bribe to the PLO/PA kleptocrats until they meet their commitments under Oslo. And withhold Egypt’s foreign aid in the amount of the purchase price of the Scuds it is buying from North Korea, and the amount of profit it makes from being Iraq’s largest trading partner. And withhold Russia’s money until it stops selling nuclear technology to Iran. And withhold the money (and military training) we give Lebanon until it deploys that army we paid for to the southern part of the country.

And if he is really worried about Chinese capabilities, Mr. Callahan can turn his attention to Congress’s complicity in Mr. Clinton’s sales of military hardware and technology to a regime whose long term interests appear problematic for the United States.

Because despite the current problem, Israel’s long term interests do, in fact, coincide with ours, and every effort should be made by all parties to work through it.