On May 15, 1:25 pm, Mike Roberts <M...@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote:
> March 20, 1992
> If Israel Sold Patriot Secrets . . .
>
> The United States rushed Patriot missiles to Israel during the Persian
> Gulf war to defend against incoming Iraqi Scuds. Now intelligence
> re****ts say Israel sold Patriot technology to China. If so, that would
> violate Israel's obligation not to transfer cutting-edge U.S. technology
> to others -- a dismaying act by a valued ally.
>
> The re****ts provide ammunition to Israel-bashers. And they disturb
> experts concerned with keeping control of advanced military
> technologies. Wa****ngton has long shown extraordinary tolerance toward
> Israeli transfers of American technology, raising doubts about U.S.
> commitment to stopping the spread of arms. If the latest re****ts prove
> true, Wa****ngton needs to impose stern sanctions on Israel and the
> companies involved.
>
> Israel, of course, has the know-how to produce advanced weapons on its
> own. It sells many of them to China and other nations to offset the
> costs of defending itself. But installing U.S. components in such
> ex****ts would violate its obligations. So would reverse engineering --
> taking a U.S. weapon apart to discover its design secrets and then
> making a copy for sale to others.
>
> Any such sale cheats American defense contractors who jealously guard
> their patents and markets. It also frustrates officials who are
> justifiably concerned about arms proliferation.
>
> Sometimes it's difficult to draw the line. Take the Israeli-built
> Python-3 air-to-air missile. To some U.S. officials it looks
> suspiciously like a knock-off of an American design, the heat-seeking
> AIM-9L Sidewinder. Others are persuaded that the Israelis designed it
> themselves.
>
> Israel sold the Python-3 to China. China in turn designed its own
> version, called the PL-8, and sold some to Iraq. The Israeli version
> uses American parts, which it buys with U.S. military aid. But Israel
> contends it replaced those parts in the version ex****ted to China -- a
> claim accepted by some U.S. officials. The same U.S. officials don't
> think that's the case with Patriot technology.
>
> Even when Israel has clearly violated U.S. ex****t controls, American
> officials have declined to crack down. In a notorious case last fall, an
> Israeli-owned company ex****ted American ballistic missile components to
> a South African company and used them in its own Jericho-2 missile.
>
> The Administration imposed trade sanctions on the South African company,
> but waived them for the Israelis. In exchange it wrested a pledge from
> Israel to accept international controls against further missile
> proliferation.
>
> But the bargain may have perpetuated the belief that Israel could
> transfer U.S. technology without retribution. Now comes the alleged sale
> of Patriot technology. That would be dangerous because knowledge of how
> the Patriot works could be used to design missiles that defeat it.
>
> Official Israeli responses suggest the Administration may have winked
> again. "We have ironclad commitments . . . not to transfer American
> weapons technology to any country, unless we have an agreement with the
> United States on that matter, " said Benjamin Netanyahu, an Israeli
> spokesman.
>
> Did the Israelis transfer Patriot missile technology to China? Did the
> U.S. acquiesce? If the transfer took place without Administration
> consent, stern sanctions would send an appropriate message: fair
> punishment for all proliferators.
As Bush would say: "THAT'S WHAT FRIEND ARE FOR"
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