Arms Sales

President Reagan received regular briefings about the sale of U.S. weapons to Iran and frequently discussed the matter with Vice Adm. John M. Poindexter, who later resigned as national security adviser, a newspaper said it has learned from official sources. The New York Times in its editions today said the Tower Commission, investigating the Iran arms sales, has concluded that Reagan, "far from being remote from the Administration's Iran arms dealings," was briefed regularly.

Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates defended U.S. arms sales to Taiwan, saying Saturday that the weapons transfers are meant to enhance stability in Asia by countering mainland China's military buildup. Gates said in a speech at an annual security conference in Singapore that the arms sales are part of a longstanding U.S. practice. The aid is opposed by Beijing, which this week withheld an invitation sought by Gates for a visit to mainland China while he is traveling in the region.

The Chinese government Saturday announced a series of harsh retaliatory measures in protest of the Pentagon's $6-billion arms sale to Taiwan, including a suspension of security exchanges and threatened sanctions on U.S. companies selling to Taiwan. "The U.S. decision seriously endangers China's national security and harms China's core interests," the Defense Ministry said in a statement attributed to spokesman Huang Xueping. Denunciations from Beijing over arms sales to Taiwan have an element of ritual about them, but the threat of sanctions on U.S. arms contractors is a new one. It remains to be seen whether China will follow through, given its need for commercial aircraft and aviation systems.

The United States and other major powers, brushing aside Iran's latest offer to address international concerns about its nuclear program, introduced a detailed list of new U.N. sanctions Tuesday against the Islamic Republic. The new punitive measures, which would limit arms sales to Iran and authorize searches of ships for suspected weapons, came a day after Iranian leaders, flanked by Brazilian and Turkish officials, announced an agreement on a nuclear material swap that they said should relieve international concerns.

Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates leaned on India and Pakistan during his trip to South Asia this week to set aside a simmering rivalry and confront militant extremists. At the same time, Gates and other U.S. officials pushed arms sales that could fuel the antagonism between the two countries. Gates' trip was framed by that apparent contradiction in U.S. policy. On his arrival in Pakistan, a television news interviewer put the question bluntly: "Why re-arm both countries?" The Pentagon chief sidestepped the question.

The ironies of the "news" paper. On the one hand, we read about talks for treaties of peace between Arabs and Jews, and talks for treaties having to do with nuclear disarmament. Then we read that "the industrial powers flock to this small but wealthy nation in the post-Cold War push to sell weapons" ("Targeting Taiwan for Arms Deals," March 14). We arm small nations to the teeth and then expect peace. If it were impossible for nations to acquire arms, then they could only attack each other with rocks and sticks.

Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates defended U.S. arms sales to Taiwan, saying Saturday that the weapons transfers are meant to enhance stability in Asia by countering mainland China's military buildup. Gates said in a speech at an annual security conference in Singapore that the arms sales are part of a longstanding U.S. practice. The aid is opposed by Beijing, which this week withheld an invitation sought by Gates for a visit to mainland China while he is traveling in the region.

West Germany is considering the sale of armed patrol boats to the Sri Lankan government for use in its conflict with the island's minority Tamil population, government officials and industry sources said Monday.

I am appalled at President Bush's decision to authorize the sale of military equipment to Pakistan in violation of the law. The law clearly bans any military sales to Pakistan unless the President certifies that Pakistan is not developing an atomic bomb. The law does not distinguish between sales by the U.S. government and sales by private companies. By deliberately disobeying the law, President Bush is violating his oath of office. I call on President Bush to do one of two things: Either start obeying the law, or resign from office.

Re "Bush visits Saudis; U.S. offers 'smart' weapons technology," Jan. 15 President Bush, on his current peace mission to the Middle East, promised to sell $120 million worth of weapons technology to Saudi Arabia and an estimated $20 billion in weapons to six Persian Gulf nations. How can this be a peace mission? Are we to believe that these weapons will aid the feeling of security and guarantee peace, and that they will simply gather dust and never be used? There is also the sad possibility that these weapons could eventually be used against Americans who have no business being there in the first place.

Just a couple of months ago, Sino-American relations seemed to have hit bottom over a series of issues such as U.S. arms sales to Taiwan, President Obama's meeting with the Tibetan Dalai Lama and U.S. efforts to stem Iran's nuclear ambitions with U.N. sanctions. But a troubled winter has turned into a spring thaw, with the two powers now engaged in a choreographed reconciliation. This became apparent last week when Deputy Secretary of State James Steinberg reiterated the United States' commitment to the "one-China" policy dating to President Nixon, saying that despite the repeated arms sales and the embrace of the Dalai Lama by Republicans and Democrats alike, the U.S. does not support Taiwanese or Tibetan independence.

China announced Thursday that President Hu Jintao planned to attend a nuclear nonproliferation conference this month in Washington, an affirmative gesture after months of giving the cold shoulder to the Obama administration over a U.S. arms sale to Taiwan. Hu's attendance at the conference, a major initiative of President Obama, also could help the United States and China coordinate a united stance in pressuring Iran and North Korea to abandon their nuclear ambitions. Susan E. Rice, U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, had said Wednesday that China would join talks in New York with the United States, Britain, France, Russia and Germany about how to draft tighter economic sanctions against Iran, which has been subject to three rounds of sanctions since 2006.

The Chinese government Saturday announced a series of harsh retaliatory measures in protest of the Pentagon's $6-billion arms sale to Taiwan, including a suspension of security exchanges and threatened sanctions on U.S. companies selling to Taiwan. "The U.S. decision seriously endangers China's national security and harms China's core interests," the Defense Ministry said in a statement attributed to spokesman Huang Xueping. Denunciations from Beijing over arms sales to Taiwan have an element of ritual about them, but the threat of sanctions on U.S. arms contractors is a new one. It remains to be seen whether China will follow through, given its need for commercial aircraft and aviation systems.

Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates leaned on India and Pakistan during his trip to South Asia this week to set aside a simmering rivalry and confront militant extremists. At the same time, Gates and other U.S. officials pushed arms sales that could fuel the antagonism between the two countries. Gates' trip was framed by that apparent contradiction in U.S. policy. On his arrival in Pakistan, a television news interviewer put the question bluntly: "Why re-arm both countries?" The Pentagon chief sidestepped the question.

The recent seizure of a transport plane carrying North Korean-made weapons for sale was more than just an embarrassment for Pyongyang. It represents another significant loss the financially struggling regime can ill afford, analysts here say. An anemic North Korean economy has continued a perilous tailspin in recent months triggered by international sanctions imposed on the combative nuclear-armed state. The United Nations-imposed restrictions have led to several risky measures that experts suggest may be warning signs of worsening economic woes.

An Iranian arms trafficker was sentenced in Delaware on Monday to five years in prison after being snared in a global undercover investigation. Amir Hossein Ardebili, 36, pleaded guilty last year to violating U.S. arms control laws by trying to purchase components for Iranian fighter planes and missile guidance systems. His case offers a rare look into the faceoff between Washington and Tehran that is increasingly reminiscent of the Cold War. Ardebili does not fit the profile of high-rolling arms merchants who have been arrested in similar stings around the world.

Two columns of May 3 ("Give the Boot to the Army's Camp Despot" by Colman McCarthy, and "We're No. 1 in the Arms Bazaar" by Bruce Allen and Michael Closson) were chilling in their depiction of the hypocrisy of U.S. foreign policy. While we call ourselves the "peacekeepers" in places like Somalia, Bosnia, and Latin America, we are "keeping the peace" against those who are taught in "schools of brutality" at taxpayer expense at Ft. Benning, Ga., and armed by U.S.-exported weaponry. How convenient for those who have become wealthy from the export of brutality and arms, or, like Sam Nunn (D-Ga.

Whether it's called an "arms race" or a "coincidental modernization of existing stocks," a wave of weapons purchases by Latin American nations is causing neighbors to watch one another with growing mistrust and fear. Brazil says it must protect its newfound oil and gas riches. Venezuela says the U.S. military might attack it. Colombia is worried about Venezuela, Ecuador is watching Colombia, and Paraguay is keeping an eye on Bolivia. There's no question that weapons sales around the region are soaring.