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THE PROGRESSIVE REVIEW - August 5, 2010
Obama Seeks to Expand Arms Exports by Trimming Approval
Process
by: Maggie Bridgeman
McClatchy Newspapers
Washington - The United States is currently the world
biggest weapons supplier ? holding 30 per cent of the
market ? but the Obama administration has begun modifying
export control regulations in hopes of enlarging the U.S.
market share, according to U.S. officials.
President Barack Obama already has taken the first steps
by tucking new language into the Iran sanctions bill
signed in early July. His aides are now compiling the
"munitions list," which regulates the sale of military
items.
The administration's stated reason for the changes is to
simplify the sale of weapons to U.S. allies, but potential
spinoffs include generating business for the U.S. defense
industry, creating jobs and contributing to Obama's drive
to double U.S. exports by 2015.
Critics say the reforms are being rushed and warn that the
expedited procedures could allow weapons technology to
fall into the wrong hands.
India, which currently is seeking 126 fighter-jets worth
over $10 billion, 10 large transport aircraft worth $6
billion, and other multi-billion dollar defense sales,
could be among the possible beneficiaries. Allies seeking
advanced U.S. weaponry and equipment, who now often buy
elsewhere due to the cumbersome U.S. approval process,
would draw immediate benefit from the reforms, U.S.
officials said.
Obama first called for the reforms in August 2009, then
referred to them in his Jan. 27 State of the Union address
as an element toward doubling exports by 2015.
In the House of Representatives, Foreign Affairs Committee
Chairman Howard Berman, (D-Calif.), is drafting a bill
that parallels the president's plan.
However, it isn't clear that the Senate will go along,
as it is still reviewing the president's proposals.
"It is probably going to be some time yet before there is
movement in the relevant committees on formal hearings or
writing or legislation," said Andy Fisher, spokesperson
for the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations.
Obama's plan, according to top officials, is to ask
Congress to streamline the bureaucratic process for
approving arms sales by setting up a single new agency to
oversee one list of exportable weapons, "tiered" according
to the sensitivity of the technology. Currently the State
and Commerce Departments maintain separate lists, and the
State Department list contains many restrictions.
"Our aim is to make the system more transparent, efficient,
and effective," said Ben Chang, a White House spokesman.
"This means we are improving our ability to administer
our controls, which improves our ability to enforce them,
and equally important, improves the ability of companies
to comply."
Critics say decontrolling weapons systems could fuel
regional arms races, allow technology to fall into the
wrong hands and, because arms purchasers often want to
set up their own industries, end up exporting jobs abroad.
"The concern that we have is that the net result of this
process would be to open the floodgates for military sales
to states that do not meet the standards established in
years previous," said Daryl Kimball, executive director
of the Arms Control Association.
"We're No. 1 in weapons in the world, so I don't understand
what the problem is we need to fix," said a Republican
staffer for the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, who
asked to remain anonymous due to the sensitivity of the
topic.
Defense Secretary Robert Gates, the most outspoken
administration advocate for the new system, said it will
"build high walls around a smaller yard" by narrowing in
on the nation's "crown jewels."
However, critics point out that what those crown jewels
are depends on decisions yet to be made.
"There's nothing in their top tier currently," the Senate
GOP staffer said. "They can't figure out what should be
in their top tier."
Senior officials have said possible "top tier" items
include certain night vision technology and advanced
stealth technology, which makes aircraft invisible to
radar, infrared, and sonar.
The new system would allow older technology such as
Lockheed Martin's F-16 fighter to fall to a lower tier as
newer, more advanced technology emerges. The staffer said
that some versions of the plan currently circulating don't
include the F-16 in the top tier of the secured list.
The F-16 may no longer be top technology for the U.S., but
as is the case with much of the aging technology that will
be decontrolled, the Senate GOP staffer said, "It's often
a question of what China, a terrorist, or even a rogue
state would do with these things."
Members of the Obama administration say that changes will
enhance national security.
"In fact, our system itself poses a potential national
security risk based on the fact that its structure is
overly complicated, contains too many redundancies,
and tries to protect too much," United States National
Security Advisor General James Jones said in a speech
introducing the plans.
The administration hopes that by streamlining the process,
allies will be able to receive more weapons and technology
faster, making their equipment more compatible with that
of the United States, and making it easier to complete
joint operations.
"It spells the difference between U.S. forces going it
alone or having allies who are able to operate in the
lethal battle space with U.S. military forces," said
former Bush administration arms regulator Amb. Lincoln
Bloomfield Jr.
Rep. Donald Manzullo, R-Ill., represents a district with
aerospace and other manufacturers, and said reform is
needed for the survival of U.S. manufacturing.
"We can begin to manufacture our way out of this recession
by reforming our export controls," Manzullo said in a
speech at the American Enterprises Institute, a
conservative think tank.
Manzullo has worked for export control reform throughout
his career and says that the job creation benefits make
the initiative worthwhile, but he retains doubts about
the current review.
"I have a problem with giving all that power to one
agency," Manzullo said.
Manzullo explained that having one agency to govern export
controls could be dangerous if the wrong person were put
in charge.
Similarly, Christopher Wall, former assistant secretary
of commerce, said he supports reform but thought initially
that the changes were being rushed. In recent weeks, he
said, the administration appears to have a better under-
standing of the immensity of the task.
"Whether it has to do with the possible departure of
Secretary Gates or the election timetable coming up,
neither of these should drive the reform process," Wall
said.
The Senate GOP staffer said that if the United States
decontrols as the number one seller in the market, then
others with less scrupulous records will follow suit.
The Obama administration isn't the first executive to
see the benefits of export control reform; both former
President Bill Clinton and George W. Bush undertook
similar reviews, which according to Gregory Suchan, a
former deputy assistant secretary of state, "crashed
and burned essentially because of opposition from
Congress."
"Anybody who thinks that they can come to a conclusion
as to whether this is a good thing or a bad thing,"
Suchan said, "such a judgment is premature."
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