Lawmakers wary of Iraq buying arms from China

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Lawmakers wary of Iraq buying arms from China
By Rick Maze - Staff writer
Posted : Tuesday Oct 9, 2007 18:48:22 EDT

The possibility that Iraq’s government would purchase weapons from China has raised concerns among members of the House Armed Services Committee, and not just because they are worried about lost business for U.S. weapons makers.

In a Oct. 9 letter to Defense Secretary Robert Gates, Reps. Ike Skelton, D-Mo.; Duncan Hunter, R-Calif.; and Richard Neal, D-Mass., said one of their chief worries is about keeping track of the weapons to make certain they don’t end up being pointed at U.S. troops. The possible $100 million sale of military equipment from China to Iraq was reported in the Washington Post, the writers said.

Skelton is chairman and Hunter is the former chairman and now ranking Republican member of the House Armed Services Committee. Neal’s district includes Smith & Wesson, a major domestic gun maker that is concerned about losing business.

When news of the sale first surfaced last week, Neal, Hunter, Skelton and Rep. John Murtha, D-Pa., chairman of the House defense appropriations subcommittee, started talking about what steps could be taken to prevent the sale. The letter is one step of what could be a larger effort to prevent or reduce the sale of small arms, vehicles, communications equipment and helicopter upgrades, according to congressional aides.

In the letter, the three lawmakers cited reports earlier this year that the U.S. officials were unable to fully account for all of the U.S.-made weapons that had been provided to Iraqi police and military forces, and that some officials in the Iraqi interior ministry “were involved in attempts to purchase weapons and equipment on the black market.”

Iraq is a sovereign government with the right to spend its own money how it chooses, the letter concedes, but the lawmakers said that have “serious misgivings.”


Rest of article at: http://www.navytimes.com/news/2007/10/military_iraqchina_weapons_071009w/