NP? Arms deals criticized as corporate US welfare

[pynchonoid]

LONDON - After Lockheed Martin clinched one of its
largest deals ever in Europe, Prime Minister Leszek
Miller of Poland was taken for a spin last week in the
same kind of F-16 fighter jet that his country is
purchasing. He watched from the cockpit while a second
F-16 performed rolls and tactical maneuvers for his
benefit. 

Consider this private air show a kind of customer
perk, which the Pentagon confirmed was paid for by the
US government at the end of a long marketing campaign
by Lockheed. The US government also provided a $3.8
billion loan to Poland, on very favorable terms, to
finance the purchase of 48 F-16s, which are
manufactured in President Bush's home state of Texas.

When they meet at the White House today, Miller and
Bush are sure to toast this huge deal. For Poland, the
purchase is a matter of national pride, reflecting the
country's recent military transformation as a new
member of NATO. The deal highlights Bush's personal
involvement in pushing for arms deals in which former
East Bloc countries switch to American weapons
systems.

But arms-industry watchdog groups say the cost of the
private air show is just one example of the kind of
corporate welfare that goes into these massive and
complex business deals. These critics contend the
prime minister's test flight raises the question of
who is taking whom for a ride in such a massive arms
deal.

''The Poland arms deal is corporate welfare at its
finest,'' said Ivan Eland, a military analyst at the
Cato Institute, a Washington-based, free-market policy
group. ''The companies are private enterprises, but
they are in effect wards of the state when the US
government supports and underwrites the deals. 

''There are all sorts of hidden subsidies that the US
government gives to arms manufacturers, and the Polish
prime minister's flight would be just one of them,''
he said.

Jose Ibarra, a Pentagon spokesman, confirmed that the
US government paid for the F-16s to be sent to Poland
for the prime minister's flight. ''If the US
government deems it in our national interest, we pay
for it,'' he said. [...] William Hartung, a senior
research fellow at the World Policy Institute who has
researched the costs of NATO expansion to taxpayers,
said, ''Arms manufacturers like Lockheed are looking
to Eastern Europe as the last frontier to squeeze out
big fighter jet deals, and they are looking to the US
government to pick up the tab.'' 

Industry watchdogs like Eland and Hartung said the
Polish arms deal shows how US taxpayers often end up
subsidizing these sales, while arms manufacturers walk
away with huge profits. [...] "


...read it all at:

<http://www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/014/nation/Arms_deals_criticized_as_corporate_US_welfare%2B.shtml>

Arms deals criticized as corporate US welfare
By Charles M. Sennott, Globe Staff, 1/14/2003


...enjoy!

-Doug




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