In Czech, NATO Means "Pay up"

Just months away from becoming an official member of NATO, the Czech Republic has bought or been licensed to buy a total of $499 million in arms from the U.S. under Bill Clinton. As the country converts its defense systems from antiquated Soviet-era weapons to the new (and improved!) technology of the NATO powers, several complex issues have arisen.

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

In 1987 and with the Cold War still cold, Czechoslovakia was the world's sixth-largest arms exporter, selling to countries such as Iraq, Iran, and Libya. Following the Cold War, Czech president Vaclav Havel announced in 1990 that his country would drastically reduce its arms sales. But less than a year later, according to an independent Czech biweekly, the country was still selling arms to Libya, Iran, Afghanistan, India, and others. And in May 1991, finding it tough to strengthen its economy while simultaneously weaning it from big weapons sales, the Czechs were still considering selling tanks to noted terrorist-backers like Syria and Iran, according to the New York Times.

Finally, in July 1993, the Czech government announced that it would officially reactivate its arms sales industry, calling Havel's 1990 pledge to end arms sales "naïve." By 1994, according to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), it was back to being the world's sixth-largest arms exporter -- this time with a ban on selling arms to countries such as Iran. Since then, the Czech Republic has continued to transfer Soviet-made military equipment to other countries.

These sales have continued to partly offset the economic depression brought on by the drastic downscaling of the Czech defense industry. But after it joins NATO, the Czech Republic (along with Poland and Hungary) must make its military compatible with the NATO countries. This means spending money to upgrade or replace its Soviet systems -- a potential bonanza for U.S. arms makers.

In hopes of raising money to buy such snappy new technology, the Czech Republic is exporting its outdated Soviet equipment. In addition, the U.S. is pressuring it to increase military spending so it can buy expensive fighter planes and assorted other arms necessary for keeping up with its new NATO buddies.

NATO leaders, in fact, have publicly accused the U.S. of pressuring the Czechs to buy primarily American-made arms. According to Indigo Publications' Intelligence Newsletter, in September 1997, the NATO Military Committee chairman, German general Klaus Neumann, was "highly critical about the pressure that Western contractors -- and chiefly American[s] -- were exerting on the [NATO] countries to win contracts." The publication said that other leading NATO figures -- such as secretary general Javier Solana -- have criticized the U.S. as well.

But the U.S. has been particularly irked by reports that defense companies in the Czech Republic were planning to sell military equipment to Iraq. In November 1997, the Washington Times reported that Bulgarian arms dealers and members of the Czech military were trying to sell five Czech-made anti-stealth sensor systems, worth $375 million, to Iraq. The radar would have enabled Iraq to detect a certain type of fighter plane -- one can only imagine the F-117 or similar U.S. stealth planes -- that the U.S. used in the Gulf War. While the Czech government assured the U.S. that the sale would not go through, the incident provided fodder for anti-NATO expansion groups.

Although the U.S. continues to pressure NATO rookies Poland, Hungary, and the Czech Republic to buy expensive arms, all three lack the funds to do so. At one point, all three countries announced plans to buy expensive aircraft from the U.S., such as Lockheed Martin F-16s and Boeing F/A-18s. The announced sales were a shrewd tactical move to get the U.S. defense industry to support NATO expansion, but after NATO agreed to let the rookies in, the proposed sales fell through for lack of cash. However, U.S. arms makers, perhaps dazzled by the potential for more customers and billions in sales, threw $51 million at Congress to aid its decision-making about NATO expansion. The New York Times reported that the lobbying expenditures of the defense industry were greater than those of any other U.S. industry.

The three NATO rookies primarily have been buying "friend or foe" items, equipment like radar, air navigation, and communications systems to enhance their interoperability with NATO's equipment. According to The Economist, the chief American companies that are vying to be the major suppliers of arms to the Czech Republic are Boeing and Lockheed Martin.

As originally reported in The Nation, Lockheed Martin's director of global development is also the president of the U.S. Committee on NATO (formerly the U.S. Committee to Expand NATO), which has lobbied Congress heavily for expansion. The World Policy Institute reports that Boeing is a corporate funder of the American Friends of the Czech Republic, which also supports expansion. The New York Times reported that Lockheed Martin's former CEO toured Poland, Hungary, and the Czech Republic to solicit business.

According to some estimates, NATO expansion may cost U.S. taxpayers tens of billions of dollars. According to the Boston Globe, Congress set aside $30 million in military aid and $242 million in loan guarantees to help the NATO freshmen buy U.S. arms in 1996-97.

-- Monica Mehta

Flags courtesy of World Flag Database