Where Any War is a Cold War

The U.S. views its $1.6 billion worth of arms sales and licenses to Canada in the last five years as a good fit with its foreign policy and national security objectives. To that end, the U.S. has long cooperated with its northern neighbor in sharing and standardizing its weapons systems and technology, so that the two are interoperable. For instance, the U.S. and Canada share an "air-defense emergency" procedure when any Canadian or U.S. territory is attacked.

U.S. arms sales in the Clinton years Direct government sales Government-approved Sales (scale in millions of dollars)

In April 1998 the Pentagon proposed selling Canada 12 McDonnell Douglas Aerospace Harpoon missiles for an estimated $20 million. In 1996 the U.S. sold two C-130H-30 Hercules transport aircraft for a cool $79 million. In September 1995, the Pentagon agreed to sell $6 million worth of Harpoon missile modifications to Canada through McDonnell Douglas. The Pentagon also sold 27 AN/AAR-47 missile warning sets worth $1,636,000 in that month.

-- Monica Mehta

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