Posted on 11/27/2001 2:56:43 PM PST by RCW2001
US cruise missile sale to Egypt worries Israel
| By Janine Zacharia | November, 28 2001 |
WASHINGTON (November 28) - Sale of an advanced American cruise missile to Egypt has Israel and its advocates in the US jittery, but to avoid a confrontation with Washington, Israeli officials are not loudly protesting the deal.
The Washington Post reported yesterday that the Bush administration plans to sell Egypt 53 Harpoon Block II missiles manufactured by Boeing, as well as four naval patrol craft on which the missiles would be mounted.
The sale comes as part of the annual military assistance the US provides Egypt, and a several-year effort already under way to help Egypt modernize its navy. The US provides Egypt with about $2 billion in military and economic assistance annually as part of the Camp David accords between Israel and Egypt.
Egypt already has earlier versions of the missile - in production for two decades - but the new version has greater capabilities. The commander in chief of the Israeli Navy reportedly aired concerns about the sale at an event marking Israeli Navy Day a few weeks ago. But with the war on terrorism and America's new bid to help fashion a cease-fire under way, Israel does not want to pick a fight with the US over the sale.
"There was a policy decision made in Israel that we don't want an all-out campaign, it's not the right time, it's not appropriate," an Israeli official said. "Having said that, we're concerned about the deal because it does edge into the qualitative edge Israel has. We said that to the administration very openly and if we are asked about it by members of Congress we air our concerns. But we have decided specifically not to launch a campaign."
The Washington Post story cited several prominent legislators skeptical of the deal. Among them is Senator Joseph Biden (D-Delaware), chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee who has written to Secretary of State Colin Powell and asked him "to provide a rationale for making the sale at this time." The story quoted an unnamed US official as saying the missiles would help Egypt protect the Suez Canal, an important transit route for American commercial and military ships. And the Egyptian ambassador to the US, Nabil Fahmy, was quoted as saying the missiles "will not be used against anybody who does not attack us." Still, one military analyst says the missiles could pose a threat to Israel.
"Unless there is a modification to the missile, it enables the Egyptians to hit pretty much the entire Israeli coast," the military analyst said.
It was not clear yesterday whether the US would downgrade the missile's capability in some fashion as the US does from time to time to ensure its own, and at times Israel's, qualitative edge.
The Harpoon Block II works off the US satellite Global Positioning System, incorporates technology similar to other American precision-guided missiles, and can hit both ships and land targets 100 miles away. It carries a 500-pound warhead.
The pro-Israel lobby in Washington, AIPAC, did not want to comment directly on the deal. But a spokeswoman for the organization, Rebecca Needler, said: "The size and quality of Egypt's arms imports relative to the potential threat [they incur], the removal of their ambassador to Israel last October, their record on human rights, and the constant stream of anti-Western and anti-Israel rhetoric in the government-sanctioned media have caused both journalists and members of Congress to raise some serious concerns about Egypt."
The Harpoon deal - along with Egypt's reported import from North Korea of Scud-like missiles capable of carrying unconventional weaponry - could come up in discussions this week between Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Maher and senior US officials, including President George W. Bush.
Sources here said Maher will deliver a letter to Bush from Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak. Bush wrote to Mubarak last week to ask for his help in coaxing Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat into cracking down on terrorists.
Don't hold your breath waiting. Of course, now that I brought it up.....
yup- just give israel an excuse to "buy" more weapons with american tax payer money.
The only good end I can see to all this is a nuclear exchange between israel/iraq which spreads to egypt/syria/jordan/saudi. no more israelis, no more palestinians, syrians, jordanians, saudis... and lots of lovely oil. (and no, given that it's underground, it won't be radioactive.
A pox on all their houses. I wish they would all just go away.
Let me guess....you're a good Christian, aren't you?
i think I might be an agnostic, but I just don't know...
What a great idea! As soon as the government is toppled by the fundamentalists, they'll be able to threaten Israel as well as all our NATO allies in the southern Mediterranian. Then, of course, we'll send our boys in the harm's way to retrieve these very missiles.
What? Why? Big mistake on Bush's part.
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