Republican Blocks Bush Arms Export Plan

[Khephra]

By KEN GUGGENHEIM
Associated Press Writer

December 1, 2003, 2:32 AM EST


WASHINGTON -- A Bush administration plan to make it easier for U.S. companies to sell weapons to Britain and Australia is being blocked by a top Republican congressman concerned about American arms falling into wrong hands.

U.S. officials have been unable to persuade Rep. Henry Hyde, R-Ill., chairman of the House International Relations Committee, that the changes will not only strengthen two close allies of the United States, but actually improve the monitoring of weapons exports.

While the issue has received little public attention, it was a high enough priority to prompt Secretary of State Colin Powell to go to Capitol Hill on Nov. 14 to meet with Hyde and the committee's top Democrat, California Rep. Tom Lantos just hours after Powell returned from a trip to Britain with President Bush. Lantos also opposes granting the exemptions.

more............

http://www.newsday.com/news/politics/wire/sns-ap-arms-exports,0,3615289.story?coll=sns-ap-politics-headlines

[UpInArms]

1. I have very little respect for Hyde

but this is refreshing to read

Hyde did not respond to requests for an interview. But he spelled out his concerns in a May 5 letter to Powell. Hyde wrote that a trend toward relaxing arms export controls "seems unwise and particularly incongruous with the increased threats to U.S. security and foreign policy interests since the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001."

"Lowering our country's standards for munitions and other arms-related transfers in part because it is advantageous to U.S. companies can only make more complicated the already difficult job you have" in persuading other nations to tighten export controls, Hyde wrote.

"This is a moment in our nation's history when it behooves us to strengthen, not relax, international standards for nonproliferation and military export controls."

Do you think Hyde might be getting a clue as to the fact that we created SH through our corporate exports of weapons in the 80s - all for corporate profits and forgetting that our government then became culpable in the exportation of death?

Nah - he'll cave and get even more power and kudos from this mal-administration.

Powell is such a disgusting whore.

[salinen]

2. He'll cave in

without question. We need to sell arms, it's our main business to sell human death to keep our economy growing. Alas, in the next war we create, the enemy will be using the weapons we created against us. And that's why reasearce and development of new more powerful human death devices must be created! Give us "STAR WARS"