MILITARY -- U.S. WEAPONS SALES TO PAKISTAN AND INDIA

www.progressreport.org

3/15/2005

MILITARY -- U.S. WEAPONS SALES TO PAKISTAN AND INDIA: The
administration is poised to cave to pressure from Lockheed Martin to supply F-16
fighter jets to Pakistan and India. The upcoming announcement -- which
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is expected to make during her trip to
the region next week -- represents a reversal of longstanding policy.
The United States has previously refused to sell the jets to Pakistan
and India to avoid " destabilizing the fragile political and military
balance in the region
(http://online.wsj.com/article/0,,SB111084960056079456,00.html?mod=todays_us_page_one)
." The move could also "draw charges of a double standard from European
countries since the U.S. has been criticizing the European Union's plan
to lift its arms embargo on China."