Don’t Loosen Supercomputer Export Regulations – Again

Let’s see if we understand this.

Step One: Israel came under enormous American pressure not to sell AWACS-type radar planes to China because of American concerns that the radar could be used by China for battle management under the circumstance of an American military operation to defend Taiwan from Chinese attack. So Israel (rightly) canceled the sale in deference to American security concerns. Then the Administration told Israel that the U.S. wanted a “say so” on Israeli military sales to countries including China, India and Russia.

Let’s see if we understand this.

Step One: Israel came under enormous American pressure not to sell AWACS-type radar planes to China because of American concerns that the radar could be used by China for battle management under the circumstance of an American military operation to defend Taiwan from Chinese attack. So Israel (rightly) canceled the sale in deference to American security concerns. Then the Administration told Israel that the U.S. wanted a “say so” on Israeli military sales to countries including China, India and Russia.

Step Two: The Clinton Administration announces that China, Russia, Pakistan and a variety of nuclear club members will be permitted to buy – without a U.S. government license or multi-agency security review – computers with processing speeds as fast as 28,000 million theoretical operations per second (MTOPS), made by American manufacturers. A joint Commerce-DOD study found nuclear blasts could be simulated with computers between 10,457 and 21,125 MTOPS. The average desktop computer might measure around 1,000 MTOPS. The Administration says lessening government controls on high-performance computers to so-called Tier III countries will “promote national security” while they “ease unnecessary regulatory burdens on both government and industry.”

So far, we don’t understand.

What we do understand is that American computer companies – the world’s most sophisticated – want to be able to sell whatever they make. But what they make can help China and others more quickly develop miniaturized nuclear warheads that will fit on cruise missiles or can be grouped on larger missiles. And what they make could help countries more quickly develop techniques for foiling a future anti-ballistic missile system.

We still don’t understand. Why would the Administration want to do that?

The Administration says decontrol is safe because the technology involved is becoming widely available anyhow. But GAO Associate Director Harold Johnson told a congressional hearing that the projections of availability were based on expected sales of the very U.S. computer technology that would remain controlled if the export regulations remain unchanged. And, said Johnson, U.S. companies and their subsidiaries are the main sources of supply for the most advanced high-performance computer technology around the world. “It sounds to me like a self-fulfilling prophecy,” said Sen. Fred Thompson, Chairman of the Senate Government Affairs Committee.

That much we understand. And we agree with Sen. Thompson that Congress should step in to ensure that our national security interests are placed above computer sales to Tier III “countries of concern.”