LOBBYIST-IN-CHIEF

...Explicit government support for arms exports has certainly made military contractors more brazen about marketing their wares overseas...

...But the President's prestigious lobbying alone didn't win the contract...

...Losing no time, Brown met with military delegations from France and Malaysia to tout the virtues of specific U.S...

...An urgent draft letter written by Gore did not mince words: "I would like to reiterate my strongest support on behalf of United Defense L.P., a U.S...

...Shortly after taking office, the President refused to allow direct Pentagon participation at the Paris air show, the world's premier weapons-marketing exhibition, where elaborate displays of U.S...

...taxpayers, not by foreign buyers...

...economy because of the widespread use of "offsets...

...Joel Johnson, the head of the Aerospace Industries Association—the largest industry lobbying group—is even more blunt...

...arms deals often yield more jobs overseas than they do in the United States...

...But whatever distance once separated Washington from the merchants of death has now disappeared, as important foreign-policy and security considerations have fallen captive to the arms industry's narrow economic interests...

...government displays at weapons shows are routine...

...soldiers in fatigues manned a red-white-and-blue Defense Department booth while Gilbert F. Decker, Army assistant secretary for research, development, and acquisition, roamed the American pavilion in a show of support for Textron, General Dynamics, and other major U.S...

...The government now spends an estimated $7.6 billion annually on promotional activities for private arms companies.With international sales likely to hold steady at $12 to $16 billion a year, more than half of all U.S...

...Brown was the first Cabinet-level official ever to represent a U.S...

...President at a weapons exhibition...

...The notion of buying a relationship with the United States is tremendously attractive to these countries," he told Bill Messier of The Nation...

...The loan program is specifically to be used for "acquisition of NATO-compatible equipment...

...When military spending dropped after the Cold War, Clinton softened the blow for the weapons merchants by issuing a directive in February 1995 which, for the first time, ordered U.S...

...In the past, we didn't get help...

...We've seen a significant turnaround, a realization that to keep the production alive they are going to have to actively help the industry in seeking out export markets...

...In February 1995, Clinton held a White House meeting with Prime Minister Kok of the Netherlands...

...Romania, for instance, one of the poorest countries in Eastern Europe, was heavily lobbied by U.S...

...This wasn't the first time Perry went to bat for the arms industry...

...Clinton wasn't contacting Nahayan about some urgent national-security crisis in the Middle East...

...We will work with you to help you find buyers for your products in the world marketplace, and then we will work to help you close the deal...

...Air Force personnel had become standard...

...policy toward Latin America...

...arms exports through the end of this decade may be paid for by U.S...

...He was calling on behalf of Lockheed Martin, the largest U.S...

...arms industry goes to the top BY JENNIFER WASHBURN Since December 1995, President Clinton has placed at least two personal telephone calls to Sheik Zayed bin Sultan Nahayan, the president of the United Arab Emirates...

...Secretary Perry did little to hide his support for lifting the ban, saying at the air show that he hoped the Administration's new policy "will be more liberal...

...Today, for instance, there are nearly twice as many workers building F-16s in Ankara, Turkey, as there are at Lockheed Martin's principal F-16 plant in Fort Worth, Texas...

...shipbuilder, Newport News, would win a contract, Vice Admiral Scott Redd replied, "We are not in the purchasing business...

...agencies that review military sales to assess "the impact on U.S...

...The first use of these funds went to Romania to purchase drones worth $23 million...

...Bell Textron was acquiring licenses from Commerce to export civilian 'Not to be outdone by the President, Vice President Gore delivered a buy-American pitch to Kuwait.' versions of its helicopters, which are easily converted to military use...

...John Lancaster, a reporter at The Washington Post who broke the story about Clinton and Sheik Zayed, attended a recent air show in Abu Dhabi...

...Air Force personnel performed dramatic F-16 dives for all the Latin American military brass to see...

...But the children who need Head Start do not enjoy the same access to power that Lockheed Martin and Bell Textron do.B...

...Today, the Administration even grades embassy staff members on the quality of the marketing assistance they provide...

...Two U.S...

...The interests of U.S...

...arms companies to deliver a blunt message: "Buy American—or your chances of joining NATO are slim...

...agencies have been counseling fiscal restraint in Eastern Europe, other U.S...

...This year, the government reversed a two-decades-long policy of denying the sale of sophisticated combat planes to Latin American countries, which are only just democratizing after years of military rule...

...I feel bullied," Jassim Khorafi, a pro-government member of parliament told The Washington Post...

...In March 1995, he held a press conference aboard a U.S...

...To keep pushing for arms is too much...

...We do appreciate the role [the U.S.] played [in defending us during the Gulf War], but from a financial situation, we are unable to buy as much as we would wish to buy...

...policy toward NATO also reflects the interests of the weapons companies, threatening to turn Eastern Europe into the latest arms bazaar...

...The Administration has also budgeted $189 million in direct military aid to "prospective NATO members" through 1998...

...In fact, Clinton and Gore are actively engaged in arms-export promotion themselves—and not just with the United Arab Emirates...

...Meanwhile, Romania was turned down for admittance into NATO...

...To help out the weapons makers, the Clinton Administration has established a Central European Loan Fund, which will receive a $40 million appropriation this year to support loan commitments of up to $647 million...

...Several months later, Clinton announced his decision to lift the ban...

...Not to be outdone by the President, Vice President Gore last April delivered a "buy American" pitch to Kuwait...

...special loans, grants, and tax breaks—all to entice foreign arms buyers...

...weapons maker, urging the sheik to buy eighty F-16 jet fighters...

...In July, Clinton visited Romania and praised the helicopter deal...

...His figure, which includes numerous unreported Pentagon costs, is twenty-six times official estimates...

...But the Clinton Administration isn't listening to the arms-control community...

...This will create problems for us...

...While some U.S...

...Military alliances should be debated publicly and ratified as official treaties," he says, "not slipped between the lines of multibillion-dollar arms deals...

...defense contractors," Lancaster wrote...

...Since Newport News has built almost all the nuclear-powered ships and other vessels deployed here, it will facilitate easier working of the forces...

...companies overseas...

...Not long ago, arms merchants went about their business in the shadows of U.S...

...The International Monetary Fund warned Romania not to squander its resources on costly weapons, and threatened to withhold a pending $430 million loan unless it canceled its deal with Bell Textron...

...But less than two months later, everything fell through...

...Top Cabinet officials regularly tour the world to hawk American arms...

...taxpayers spend $26.5 million annually on such exhibitions...

...technology...

...As part of the $1.4 billion deal, Bell Textron agreed to build an assembly plant in Romania, which would generate $250 million in exports...

...It creates problems for the United States, as well...

...And it's just in time...

...officials at State, Commerce, and the Pentagon have joined with U.S...

...But I hope the contract will come through...

...The government always says it needs security partnerships and interoperability of weapons systems," Hartung explains, "but now we're selling weapons to over 140 different countries...

...A separate division, the department of strategic industries, devotes itself to promoting military-related exports with a staff of thirty-three full-time employees and a budget of $2.3 million...

...William Hartung, my colleague at the World Policy Institute, estimates that U.S...

...In addition, a staff of 6,400 government employees, spread throughout the Commerce, Defense, and State Department (as well as U.S...

...The Commerce Department has become such an aggressive advocate of U.S...

...Though the policy sounds logical enough, it is easily manipulated...

...Navy arranged for one of its destroyers, the U.S.S...

...The Office of Management and Budget estimates that for every 100 jobs created by arms exports, forty-one disappear in other sectors of the U.S...

...Many believed the President was taking a firm stand for arms-sales restraint...

...But, he warned, if the United Arab Emirates expects to be defended from Iran—which had recently deployed chemical weapons on nearby islands in the Persian Gulf—its equipment should be "interoperable" with U.S...

...When American arms companies learned that Kuwait was considering a purchase of seventy-two self-propelled howitzers from China, "alarm bells went off in Washington," wrote John Lancaster of The Washington Post...

...military and embassy personnel before it agreed to purchase ninety-six Cobra helicopters from Bell Textron...

...Asked if the U.S...

...At Commerce, workers at computer terminals in the Advocacy Center, more commonly referred to as the "War Room," coordinate the efforts of eighteen government agencies seeking to land business contracts for U.S...

...I am convinced that it is necessary to have the right equipment for the Romanian Army so that it is interoperable with NATO," he told The New York Times in September...

...Such assistance calls into question the industry's claim—repeated like a mantra on Capitol Hill—that dollars from overseas weapons sales save American jobs...

...And the Administration has created a $15 billion loan-guarantee fund, at the urging of Lockheed Martin and other arms companies...

...Do they really expect to defend two-thirds of the world's countries, or has 'interoperability' simply become a convenient buzz word for pushing weapons...

...It was rumored Clinton would be pushing the sale of McDonnell Douglas-made Apache helicopters...

...You can't deny Pakistan the ability to buy civilian helicopters...

...foreign policy: Though the government condoned weapons trafficking, it tended to avoid direct involvement...

...forces in the region...

...The Administration argues that future NATO and other strategic allies should have equipment that is compatible and "interoperable" with that of U.S...

...forces so that in times of need, the United States can more readily come to its allies' defense...

...Asked whether Commerce was aware of such abuses of its "dual-use" licensing program, Sally Bath, the agency's head of international trade, replied: "Yes, we are aware of that," but "if the export license [for civilian helicopters] is granted, it's legal...

...weapons systems...

...Lucrative "offsets" like these have grown common in today's international arms market, where weapons sellers far outnumber buyers...

...I expect to review our arms-sales policy...

...Sergiu Verona, a Romanian consultant to Lockheed Martin, said in a company press release that "Romania and all Eastern European countries would like to become NATO countries, and, in buying these radars, it is a chance to show that they are interested in approaching NATO...

...The jobs argument is questionable at best, since major U.S...

...This Administration has been far superior in supporting the aircraft industry at every level," said James Black-well, the president and chief operating officer of Lockheed Martin's aeronautics sector, in an interview with Defense Daily last April...

...For Romanian Prime Minister Victor Ciorbea, NATO admittance was a major incentive to approve the sale...

...frigate docked offshore from a weapons trade show in the United Arab Emirates...

...weapons exports and "dual-use" equipment (weapons with both civilian and military applications) that its activities often conflict with important foreign-policy and arms-control considerations...

...industry and the defense industrial base...

...Eager to gain access to the Middle East arms market, China had suggested it would withhold support at the United Nations for extending trade sanctions against Iraq unless Kuwait agreed to the $300 million purchase of Chinese weapons...

...Today President Clinton, more than any of his predecessors, is helping private companies sell their weapons overseas...

...When a reporter asked if this was the case, the President quickly remarked, "I reaffirmed my conviction about two things: One, the high quality of American helicopters, and second, the importance of having very good and interoperable equipment for NATO allies generally...

...company which has proposed to provide the 155 mm M109A6 Paladin self-propelled howitzer...

...Back in 1992, it looked like Clinton might resist the post-Cold War export drive...

...Although arms-control advocates have long condemned using commercial imperatives to guide security decisions, the practice has grown in recent years...

...But the Kuwaitis found themselves in a difficult situation...

...Hamilton, to make a port call while the arms buyers were in town...

...In 1995, Boston Globe reporter Charles Sennott discovered that Bell Textron was evading a 1990 Congressional amendment banning arms sales to Pakistan (because of that country's development of nuclear weapons...

...Defense Secretary William S. Cohen, who was making his first visit to Kuwait as the Pentagon's new chief executive, quickly reinforced Gore's message...

...Then, at a March 1996 weapons exhibition in Santiago, Chile, the Pentagon and Commerce Department orchestrated a dramatic display of U.S...

...In November 1995, for example, when Romania's prospects of joining NATO were still very much alive, Lockheed Martin equated Romania's purchase of $82 million worth of radar equipment with an improved chance of NATO success...

...When push comes to shove and their backs are against the wall, it isn't going to be the Europeans bailing them out...

...The $7.6 billion now spent on arms-export subsidies could support construction of 100,000 units of low-income housing, provide Head Start services to 130,000 children, and still leave $2.5 billion per year to be applied to deficit reduction...

...arms merchants have also distorted U.S...

...That's why the contract was signed...

...In typical Clinton fashion, however, the President sent his Commerce secretary, Ron Brown, to the same Paris air show to deliver a pro-export message to industry itself...

...I would say it's a dramatic turn in the industry...

...The U.S...

...taxpayers...

...There was a demonstration flight of the B-2 stealth bomber, and U.S...

...The real thanks, however, should go to U.S...

...Under this arrangement, McDonnell Douglas agreed to steer $1.5 billion worth of business to the Dutch economy—business that would more than offset the entire cost of the weapons purchase...

...And less than a year after this exhibition, Clinton lifted even the limited restrictions he had imposed on Pentagon air-show participation...

...Today, lavish U.S...

...to reduce the proliferation of weapons of destruction in the hands of people who may use them in very destructive ways," Clinton promised during his first Presidential campaign...

...Praise for Clinton's aggressive lobbying is heard again and again from top industry executives...

...A 150 percent "offset" commitment attached to the sale really clinched the $1 billion helicopter deal...

...Prime Minister Kok approved the Apache sale shortly after his White House meeting...

...He also dramatically boosted the level of government assistance to arms exporters...

...Such assistance includes government-orchestrated weapons exhibitions, Jennifer Washburn is a freelance journalist and a research associate at the World Policy Institute at the New School for Social Research in New York City...

...We've all been pretty pleasantly surprised by Clinton," John Mikels, vice president of Hughes's missile division, told The Boston Globe last year...

...With both China and the United States insisting that weapons sales be used to affirm key strategic relationships, what could Kuwait do...

...The catch is, Eastern European countries will have to divert precious resources from their own economic development in order to purchase expensive U.S...

...Then-Defense Secretary William Perry provided critical assistance in opening up this lucrative market...

...According to Douglas Waller of Time magazine, the Pentagon discreetly arranged for Puerto Rican Air National Guard pilots to fly Brazil's top generals in F-16s—presumably so they'd get hooked...

...I am not here as an arms salesman," Perry emphasized...

...Commerce has worked very hard to expand these markets...

...Hartung wonders whether weapons sales are really the most secure way to solidify alliances with countries overseas...

...Now Chile and Brazil are racing to buy sophisticated combat aircraft, which neither country needs for self-defense...

...military equipment and demonstration flights by U.S...

...Standing beside an F-16 fighter plane, Brown assured the assembled industry representatives that, despite not allowing direct Pentagon participation, the Clinton Administration would "work to eliminate that arms-length relationship that has too long existed between public and private sectors...

...Weapons exhibitions are only one aspect of the government-backed arms bazaar...

...embassies overseas), is now responsible for closing foreign-arms deals...