Posted on 06/04/2002 2:39:18 PM PDT by flamefront
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The upsurge of violence in South Asia is expected to delay even further U.S. approval of Israeli plans to sell two advanced military systems to India, a senior U.S. official said Tuesday.
He said it was likely to require more than a reduction in India-Pakistan cross-border military tensions and maybe even a new political dialogue between the two nuclear rivals before Washington would give the green light for the sales.
The United States, as a major military ally and benefactor of Israel, has enormous influence over whether it goes ahead with the deals, involving the Phalcon airborne warning and control system and the Arrow anti-ballistic missile system.
"I don't think anybody is going to seriously consider either weapons decision until we are well past the current crisis," the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
Debate over the sales indicates how the India-Pakistan face-off, which has increasingly raised fears of a nuclear war, threatens to jeopardize improving ties between Washington and New Delhi and India's efforts to develop as a regional power.
U.S. officials first urged Israel to defer selling sophisticated arms to India in January when new storm clouds began to brew. Current tensions set off even more alarms.
The Bush administration generally agrees the Phalcon deal, estimated to be worth about $1 billion, should be allowed to go ahead but that "it's not timely yet," the official said.
"Although that deal will ultimately go through, it's not timely to make an announcement in the middle of a crisis that could escalate very quickly," he said.
MODERN BATTLEFIELD WEAPONS
The Phalcon Airborne Early Warning, Command and Control Systems (AWACS), manufactured by Israel Aircraft Industries, provides commanders with the information they need to secure air superiority over the combat area.
It can be mounted on a variety of airplanes and in peacetime enables surveillance of borders.
Unlike the Phalcon, the potential sale to India of Arrow, the world's only operational anti-ballistic missile system, has the U.S. administration deeply divided. The official said no decision has been taken.
In general, Israel supporters in the Pentagon led by Undersecretary of Defense Douglas Feith are said to favor the Arrow sale, while State Department officials, including Undersecretary of State John Bolton, are concerned about the implications for regional stability.
India's conventional capability already vastly exceeds that of Pakistan. This imbalance has lead analysts to worry Pakistan would quickly resort to nuclear weapons if it felt it were losing a conventional battle with India.
Israeli cannot sell the Arrow system without U.S. approval as it is a joint U.S.-Israel project for which Washington provided the bulk of the development funding. No value has yet been set on any projected sale to India.
However, the Phalcon was developed without U.S. help, and Washington has no explicit veto over that sale.
The official said there may be no U.S. go-ahead for either project until "there's a real political discussion going between India and Pakistan, which may be a while."
The official said while some Israeli officials want to proceed with the Arrow sale, there did not seem much pressure on Washington from Jerusalem to make that happen right now.
A military analyst with ties to the Israeli government underscored that point, saying while Israel does want to sell the Arrow systems for export. Its first priority is to deploy enough Arrows for its own protection.
Copyright 2002, Reuters News Service
And by the way why does the article state the Arrow is the only ABM missile out there? The russian Gallosh has been protecting Moscow for years as a city specific ABM missile, and the newest version is touted as a highly effective BM counter (the US tried to get one from Russia, and actually got it but the Russians had removed some of the vital guidance equipment from it, leaving it virtually useless for techonological reverse engineering). Whatever the case the Arrow is not the only ABM missile out there. I also hear South Africa is also working on one.
A shield in a world of swords.
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