Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Politics : Foreign Affairs Discussion Group -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: michael97123 who wrote (159763)	3/29/2005 12:29:55 PM
From: Sam Citron	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 281500

Hi Michael, Hmmm. Hadn't considered China angle. in recognition of MQ fear of chinese expansionism What's MQ? Sam

To: michael97123 who wrote (159763)	3/29/2005 1:27:48 PM
From: Sam Citron	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 281500

This article also makes your point: Warplanes for South Asia [WSJ Review/Outlook] March 29, 2005; Page A14 The Bush Administration's decision to sell F-16s to Pakistan is being criticized in some circles, though notably in the U.S., rather than in India as you might expect. New Delhi has raised some objections but its more substantive response has been that it may consider purchasing a more sophisticated U.S. jet fighter, the F-18, and is ready for an expanded strategic relationship. Chief among the U.S. alarmists has been Larry Pressler, who is calling the F-16 decision nothing less than an "atrocity." The former GOP Senator from South Dakota says the "military-industrial complex, which I believe dominates our foreign policy, favors Pakistan not only because we can sell it arms, but also because the Pentagon would often rather deal with dictatorships than democracies." They must be smiling about that one at the Bush Pentagon, which is usually assailed these days for trying to topple dictatorships. The F-16 is renowned for its ability to deliver air strikes with pinpoint accuracy, and is thus a valuable asset in Islamabad's war on terrorists hiding in the rugged terrain near Afghanistan. The U.S. has used it to great effect there and in Iraq. The argument that Pakistan wants the F-16 to deliver nuclear weapons to India, a fellow nuclear power, ignores the fact it can already do that in other ways -- if it wishes to commit suicide. In fact, relations between the two states haven't been this good for years and don't look to be derailed by the plane sales. Pakistan's President Pervez Musharraf is due in New Delhi in a month to watch the grand finale of the India-Pakistan cricket series. Indo-U.S. relations have also reached a new maturity. President Bush -- who is due to visit India this year or next -- personally informed Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh of the decision to sell the planes to Islamabad. Mr. Singh expressed "great disappointment," an obligatory response given Indian domestic politics. But more significant is what his Defense Minister, Pranab Mukherjee, told the Press Trust of India not 24 hours later: "If the military aircraft and other weapons needed for our national interest are available from the United States, we will certainly consider them." A Foreign Ministry statement said the U.S. would let India buy F-16s and F-18s, which may even be co-produced in India, to Indian specifications. Indian Doordarshan TV reported Saturday that, "Pakistan did get its F-16s from the U.S., but India has got more." The real story here is that the U.S. is steadily building a broad strategic relationship with New Delhi. Said Mr. Mukherjee, "cooperation in economic and other areas between the United States and India has increased manifold, but so far there has been no defense agreement between the two states." One obvious strategic calculation for both countries is countering the military rise of China. At a State Department briefing last Friday, a spokesman explained that the U.S. "goal is to help India become a major world power in the 21st century. We understand fully the implications, including military implications, of that statement." Beyond the issue of the jets, the briefer explained, "the U.S. is willing to discuss even more fundamental issues of defense transformation with India, including transformative systems in areas such as command and control, early warning and missile defense." This is a remarkable and underappreciated change in U.S. global strategy, and rest assured it is being noticed in the rest of Asia, and especially in Beijing. As for Pakistan, the F-16 sale may also pay political dividends. It will be more difficult for Mr. Musharraf's domestic enemies to portray the U.S. as a false friend and tar him as a U.S. lackey. A more confident Pakistani President will feel better about the 2007 elections he has promised, and toward which the U.S. has been gently coaxing him. No doubt the U.S. also hopes the gesture will lead Islamabad to allow U.S. agents to question Pakistani nuclear scientist A.Q. Khan, who is under house arrest since revealing last year that he ran a nuclear proliferation ring. Mr. Musharraf last week hinted that Islamabad may hand over nuclear-centrifuge parts to the International Atomic Energy Agency. Both would be helpful in investigating the nuclear weapons programs of Iran and North Korea. All in all, the news here is how well the triangular relationship among the U.S. and these two key South Asian allies is going. online.wsj.com