WASHINGTON — Despite a ban on military sales to Pakistan by the U.S. government, the Bush Administration has quietly permitted the Pakistani armed forces to buy American-made arms from commercial firms for the last year and a half, according to classified documents and Administration officials.
Among the military items licensed for sale to Pakistan are spare parts for American-made F-16 fighter planes, which form the nucleus of Islamabad's air force, Administration officials confirmed. The volume of sales could not be determined. But officials said the equipment is intended to help Pakistan maintain its current arsenal.
The Administration permitted the sales despite a 1985 federal law, which says that "no military equipment or technology shall be sold or transferred to Pakistan" unless the President certifies to Congress that "Pakistan does not possess a nuclear explosive device."
The ban is part of an effort by Congress to curb the spread of nuclear weapons and to punish nations that actively support such development programs. Pakistan, which has admitted possessing the capability to build a nuclear bomb, is one of a handful of countries that has refused to sign the international Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.
In Senate testimony in January, CIA Director Robert M. Gates described Pakistan's nuclear weapons program and its arms race with India as serious threats to peace and security in the region. Gates acknowledged that intelligence reports have indicated Pakistan is trying to equip its American-supplied F-16 fighters to deliver nuclear weapons.
In October, 1990, the Administration was unable to certify Pakistan's compliance with the law, and the arms ban passed by Congress took effect, freezing $570 million in U.S. military aid. Although the Administration cut off direct country-to-country arms sales at the time, it decided to allow continued private, commercial arms sales to Pakistan, according to documents and interviews.
The sales illustrate how the Administration has used private-sector transactions, looser regulations governing "dual-use" equipment and other methods to get sensitive technology to nations supposedly on embargo lists. Before the Persian Gulf War fractured U.S.-Iraqi relations, Iraq obtained an assortment of valuable U.S. defense equipment through private transactions and export loopholes.
Key members of Congress said they did not learn of the commercial sales to Pakistan until last month. Some said that they believe the sales violate the law.
