Would this help bypass the congressional approval for future sales.?

Bush signs bill to help Pakistan meet threats

By Anwar Iqbal

WASHINGTON, Dec 17: President George W. Bush on Friday signed into law a bill that, among other things, binds the US administration to help Pakistan overcome the internal and external threats it faces.

The Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004, which Mr Bush signed at Washington’s Andrew W. Mellon auditorium, advises the administration to maintain the current level of US assistance to Pakistan.

Last month, the US Congress approved an annual assistance of $701 million in military and economic assistance to Pakistan and under the new act, the administration will be required to maintain this level of annual assistance to Islamabad.

“We’ll take the fight to the terrorists abroad so we do not have to face them here at home,” said Mr Bush in a seven-minute speech he delivered before signing the bill which seeks to overhaul America’s intelligence gathering methods and agencies.

“Our government is adopting to confront and defeat these threats. We’re staying on the offensive against the enemy,” he said. Inside the ornate auditorium were about 300 spectators.

Onstage with Mr. Bush were Secretary of State-designate Condoleezza Rice, Director of CIA Porter Goss, FBI Director Robert Mueller and several lawmakers involved in passing the bill, including Bill Frist, Joe Lieberman and Susan Collins.

Mr Bush thanked all those involved in the process, including the 9/11 commission which drafted the recommendations that led to the overhauling of America’s intelligence gathering system. He noted the families of the victims of the 2001 terrorist attack present in the auditorium and thanked them too.

He cited some of the provisions included in the bill, notably creation of a new director of national intelligence, and said that in fighting terrorism, “instead of mass armies, we face stateless networks”.

Sitting briefly at a desk adorned with a placard reading “Protecting America,” Mr Bush signed the bill, and stood for applause. He greeted the congressional leaders on stage with handshakes and arm-grabs.

“The bill I sign today continues the essential reorganization of our government,” he said. “Those charged with protecting America must have the best possible intelligence information and that information must be closely integrated to form the clearest possible picture of the threats to our country.”

The proposed director of national intelligence will serve as the principle adviser to the US president on intelligence matters and unify the intelligence gathering system. The director will also have the authority to order the collection of new intelligence, ensure the sharing of information among agencies and to establish common standards for the intelligence community’s personnel.

It will be the director’s responsibility to determine the annual budgets for all national intelligence agencies and offices and to direct how these funds are spent. “These authorities vested in a single official who reports directly to me will make all our intelligence efforts better coordinated, more efficient, and more effective,” Mr Bush said.

PROPOSALS: The bill includes concrete proposals for ensuring a long-term US engagement with Pakistan. Section 4082 of the act urges the US administration to ensure a promising, stable and secure future for Pakistan and help it resolve its disputes with neighbours, combat “extremists,” and become a “participatory democracy”.

Section 4083 gives Pakistan a glimpse of US commitment by waiving democracy-related and other sanctions for two years. Section 5108 opens the door to Pakistan receiving more US funding for education reform, with an emphasis on, but not limited to madrassahs.

Section 1003 tries to allay Pakistani apprehensions that it is merely “an ally of convenience” by extending US assistance “at current levels” beyond 2009. Mr Bush signed the bill only a day after the US Congress endorsed a $1.2 billion arms package for Pakistan.

The 2004 intelligence reform act officially binds Washington to engage into a long-term economic and political partnership with its key Muslim allies. The act also suggests various proposals for improving America’s image in the Islamic world and for helping its Muslim allies combat internal extremism.

It calls on Mr Bush to submit a report within 90 days with a strategy for addressing and eliminating ‘terrorist sanctuaries’. Although the act calls for promoting US interests in the entire Muslim world – from the Far East to North Africa – the emphasis is on the US interaction with three key allies, Afghanistan, Pakistan and Saudi Arabia.

The intelligence reform act devotes a large section to the US efforts to build democracy while fighting terrorists and opium cultivation in Afghanistan. The legislation requires Mr Bush to present in not later than six months a five-year strategy addressing a range of goals from security and economic development to the rule of law in Afghanistan.

The new law includes a framework for US-Saudi cooperation in the war on terrorism with specific reference to the financing of terrorists and an examination of steps to “reverse the trend toward extremism in Saudi Arabia and other Muslim countries in the Middle East.”

I guess this settles the avionics suit for JF-17?

By ELAINE GANLEY
.c The Associated Press

PARIS (AP) – Pakistani president Gen. Pervez Musharraf wrapped up a four-continent tour Wednesday, insisting that the most important factor in fighting terrorism is resolving the Palestinian conflict – not capturing Osama bin Laden.

“The Palestinian dispute has a root everywhere,” Musharraf said. “Resolving the Palestinian dispute … will strike at the core of terrorism.”

Musharraf made the remark to a small gathering of journalists and scholars ahead of a meeting and lunch with French President Jacques Chirac. Musharraf’s trip to Paris closed a two-week tour that has taken him to Morocco, Latin America, Washington and London.

The two presidents covered an array of issues, including counterterrorism, the crisis in Kashmir and a special EU trade deal with Pakistan that would be done away with under proposed union reforms.

Also on the agenda was a request by Pakistan for electronic warfare equipment, Musharraf said after meeting with Chirac.

“We are looking for avionics and electronic warfare equipment and other collaboration in the defense field,” he said, noting that Pakistan is developing a jet fighter with China. He did not elaborate, and Chirac did not address reporters.

Pakistan reportedly is also seeking a billion dollars (euros) in military equipment from the United States, including F-16 jet fighters.

Addressing the fight against terrorism, Musharraf said Pakistani authorities do not know bin Laden’s whereabouts.

When asked if the capture of the elusive bin Laden was essential to a victory over terrorism, Musharraf said: “I think the importance is to fight terrorism … not overblow (the importance of) one man.”

“Our army is not running around in the mountains after one man,” he said.

He said later than bin Laden is alive, and that “we don’t know where he is since many months.”

But “if he falls in the way (of Pakistan’s terror offensive) he is going to be eliminated,” Musharraf said.

Throughout his tour, Musharraf has stressed his commitment to battling terrorism. He said Monday in London that Pakistan has “broken the back” of the al-Qaida terror network blamed for the Sept. 11 attacks.

The army has eliminated the network from five key valleys, he said in Paris, adding: “I’m very sure they cease to exist as a homogenous body with a proper command and control.”

Musharraf has stressed that causes of terrorism – poverty, illiteracy and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict – must be addressed.

“The root to fighting extremism, I feel, is job creation and poverty alleviation and we are looking for French support,” he said.

Settling the Palestinian dispute is “no doubt” the key, Musharraf said.

“The resolution of the Palestinian dispute will create effects everywhere,” he said, adding he believes that both the Palestinian conflict and the dispute over Kashmir are “ripe” for a solution.

Pakistan and India have recently moved to solve the conflict in Kashmir. A 14-year-old insurgency in the Himalayan region has claimed more than 66,000 lives and dangerously strained ties with India.

Musharraf said that if Pakistan and India fail in their efforts to resolve the crisis, he would like a multilateral effort to follow up. “This is the last chance we’re giving to a bilateral” effort, he said.

Musharraf also said Chirac offered support in Pakistan’s effort to lobby the European Union for special export privileges that Pakistan risks losing under an EU reform.

Pakistan’s special EU trade status – accorded as a compensation for its fight against drugs – has allowed 70 percent of the products exported by the country to the union to enter the bloc duty free since 2002. That would be done away with in a reform that could be in place next year, and Pakistan is pushing for the special ranking on the basis of its fight against terrorism.

Under the old system, one million people benefited and 200,000 jobs were created, Pakistani Commerce Minister Humayun Akhtar said.

In 2003, bilateral trade between France and Pakistan was worth US$500 million, according to Pakistan.

Meanwhile, Musharraf, who seized power in a bloodless coup in 1999, clearly confirmed that he would maintain his double role as chief of state and army chief until 2007, despite past pledges to stand down as army chief by Dec. 31.

He suggested in London that he would keep wearing both hats, and in Paris, asked if this would be so, he replied, “Yes.”

Both are completely different platforms, do not compare the two, they fulfill different roles. Erieye is not meant for naval usage as far as i know

here is the full news.

U.S. Offers Pakistan Radar Planes
Advanced U.S. System Could Elbow Out Swedish Erieye Bid

By BARBARA OPALL-ROME, TEL AVIV

The U.S. Navy has proposed selling eight airborne early warning and control (AEW&C) aircraft to Pakistan, reversing restrictions on selling advanced radar planes to Islamabad.

One proposal would send eight new Northrop Grumman E-2 Hawkeye 2000s plus support equipment for an estimated $1.6 billion; a second option costing about half as much would include used aircraft upgraded to the advanced configuration, Northrop officials said.

The U.S. Navy proposal — supported at the policy level by the U.S. State Department, Pentagon and other relevant government agencies — is yet another manifestation of Washington’s intensifying courtship of Pakistan, which is viewed by the Bush administration as a key ally in its global fight against terror.

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On Nov. 16, the Pentagon’s Defense Security Cooperation Agency notified the U.S. Congress of a possible $970 million sale to Pakistan of eight P-3C Orion maritime patrol aircraft. According to the notification, the proposed sale — not yet concluded with Pakistani authorities — “will contribute to the foreign policy and national security of the United States by helping to improve the security of a friendly country that has been and continues to be an important force for economic progress in South Asia and the global war on terrorism.”

Also proposed for sale to Pakistan, according to separate Nov. 16 congressional notifications, are 2,000 Tube-launched, Optically tracked, Wire-guided (TOW) 2A anti-armor guided missiles, valued at $82 million; and an estimated $155 million package of Phalanx close-in weapon systems.

If Pakistan agrees to these and other potential arms sales, the deals likely would be funded in part through a $3 billion, five-year military and economic aid package that the White House is trying to push through Congress as part of the 2005 Foreign Operations Appropriations Bill.

Northrop executives said they hoped the most recent proposal for the E-2 Hawkeye 2000 — an advanced system they say will eventually allow Pakistan to link up to U.S. Navy network-centric operations — is compelling enough to persuade Islamabad to forsake advanced negotiations for a Swedish AEW&C system based on the Saab 2000 aircraft and the Erieye radar and sensor suite.

They said Pakistan requested the Hawkeyes in early 2003 to satisfy an urgent AEW&C requirement, but that U.S. government policy at the time had barred their export to Pakistan. So Pakistan launched discussions with Sweden; European industry sources said negotiations had moved into advanced stages.

“We’re keeping our fingers crossed that we did not end up coming into this program too late, since we believe the Hawkeye aircraft and the network-centric operational capability is something nobody else can offer,” said David Murray, Northrop Grumman’s director of international programs for AEW.

Working with the U.S. Navy, Northrop presented detailed proposals with price and programmatic data to Pakistani military officials in Islamabad last month, Murray said. The package is being presented as two different programs — each containing four aircraft — for the Pakistan Air Force and the Pakistan Navy, with the Air Force taking the lead in negotiations.

“We just responded to a [price and availability] request for a program involving both the Navy and the Air Force. We had our team in there last month doing a tactical brief for the Pakistan Air Force and now they have in front of them an offer from the U.S. government,” Murray said. “We think the reason they went down the Erieye path was because they were concerned about not being able to get the Hawkeye from the U.S. government. But now we’re hopeful that Hawkeye still represents the preferred path for the Pakistani services.”

Defense officials at the Pakistani Embassy in Washington declined to discuss the proposed deal or other potential arms packages. A public affairs official at the Pentagon’s Defense Security Cooperation Agency declined to comment on the proposed Hawkeye bid.

“We do not engage in discussions or speculation of potential sales of major defense items or services to friendly countries before formal Congressional notification,” the official said.

Restoring U.S.-Pakistani Trade

The Hawkeye offer, plus last month’s congressional notifications of up to $1.2 billion in proposed U.S. arms deals, puts meat on the bones of a process for restoring U.S.-Pakistani defense trade ties that started just 11 days after the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks on the United States.

With Presidential Determination No. 2001-28, the White House waived three separate sanctions on the books imposed on Pakistan as a result of its development and testing, in 1998, of nuclear weapons. Key among the sanctions waived by Bush, the son, was the 1985 Pressler Amendment that former President George Bush, the father, triggered in 1990 when he could not assure Congress that Pakistan was not developing nuclear weapons.

Those sanctions blocked delivery of 28 F-16 fighters that were already built and paid for by Pakistan, part of a 71-aircraft package that Islamabad concluded with the Pentagon in 1988 and 1989.

In October 2001, the White House waived the remaining prohibitions on military sales and economic assistance to Pakistan, which were imposed in 1999 after Gen. Pervez Musharraf, Pakistan’s top Army officer, grabbed the powers of the presidency.

Since then, the Bush administration has approved several arms agreements with Pakistan, including helicopters, cargo aircraft, night-vision equipment, radios and radar systems, according to Wade Boese, research director for the Washington-based Arms Control Association.

Boese noted that since June, when Pakistan was declared a major non-NATO ally, Islamabad has received even greater opportunities to acquire excess U.S. military equipment, including used U.S. Navy E-2Cs. And while the U.S. government has not yet approved Pakistan’s renewed requests for F-16s, Boese said he is concerned those planes could join the growing list of U.S. weaponry destined for Islamabad.

“Proliferators and others seeking to defy U.S. and international non-proliferation norms are sure to be encouraged by the U.S. embrace of Pakistan and Washington’s willingness to enter into advanced arms sales just a few short years after they’ve come out of the nuclear closet,” Boese said. “The message here is that the punishment for proliferators is short-lived, and that U.S. nonproliferation policies lack credibility.”

Boese urged the U.S. government to move slowly and cautiously in its defense-related dealings with Pakistan and India, to prevent a U.S.-fueled arms race on the precarious Asian subcontinent.

“Washington is trying to endear itself to both India and Pakistan, and we’re likely to arrive very quickly to a situation where the United States is trying to market weapons to both sides of a dangerous conflict,” he said.

Boese said he doubts that the Hawkeyes and the P-3s, built to fight the Soviet Navy, are ideally suited to tracking terrorists.

“And one must remember that the P-3s, the E-2Cs, the F-16s and other armaments likely to be proposed in the future will probably outlast the war on terror, just like our weapons to the mujahadeen outlasted the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan,” he said.
“So in the long term, you have to ask yourself what these weapons will be used for down the road, and who may inherit control of these weapon systems.” •

http://www.defensenews.com/

Steve

they never flew and anyone who has visited Faisal base, can see them stripped off in the back with wings taken off along with engines. They were not meant to be flown, rather for spares.

Mr. Shais Ali

I have heard quite the opposite

Taiwan also uses maverick or tow on its cobra IIs for anti ship operations. I wonder thats why mavericks are for anti-ship role on orions.