Arab weapon sale raises security questions

The Clinton administration approved the sale of advanced F-16 Falcons
to the United Arab Emirates, fighter jets superior to those flown by the
U.S. Air Force, according to officials at mega-defense contractor
Lockheed Martin.

The United Arab Emirates contract is worth up to $6.4 billion and
includes 55 single-seat and 25 two-seat versions of the Block 60 F-16.
The F-16 fighters for the Arab state are designed to counter
Russian-made SA-10 and SA-12 surface-to-air missiles now being offered
to Middle East customers.

The Clinton administration approved the sale of F-16 Falcon jet fighters to the United Arab Emirates that are more advanced than any U.S. aircraft. F-16 photo courtesy of NASA.

TRENDING: CNN's Cuomo: Police reform won't come until white kids are killed

U.S. Air Force and Navy officials admit the Falcons sold to the
United Arab Emirates are more advanced than any aircraft currently
operated by American armed forces. Deliveries of the advanced strike
aircraft to the UAE are scheduled to begin in 2004.

However, the sale of advanced weapons to the Middle East has raised
more than the usual questions of national security. Clinton
administration officials are again under fire for alleged breaches of
U.S. national security, this time concerning American allies in the
Middle East.

According to documents discovered at the U.S. Commerce Department,
convicted Chingate figure John Huang possessed detailed information
about Chinese and American weapons sales to the Middle East. The
documents were obtained using the Freedom of Information Act.

Huang, a former Clinton appointee at the U.S. Commerce Department,
reportedly cited his right not to incriminate himself nearly 2,000 times
when asked if he was acting as an agent for the Chinese army.

According to the Commerce documents, in 1995 Kuwait allocated $1.3
billion to upgrade its field artillery. Included in this new program
was an intense contract competition between U.S.-based United Defense
and Chinese arms maker China North Industries, or Norinco.

"Heavy pressure from Chinese Government to select Norinco. The
Chinese offer is of particular concern in that its howitzer has been
recently modernized and configured to NATO standards for ammunition
interoperability," states the Commerce Department document.

The documents also contain detailed price and negotiation information
considered invaluable to the Chinese military.

"China also remains the only member of the U.N. Security Council that
has not been awarded a large military contract from Kuwait. It is
understood that the Chinese are pressing this issue with the Kuwait
Government," notes the Commerce document.

Kuwait purchased the U.S. Army M109A6 Paladin with its 155 mm howitzer. However, the Kuwait government has yet to allocate the money for the purchase. Photo courtesy of U.S. Army.

According to United Defense officials, Kuwait selected the
American-made M109A6 Paladin -- the latest in 155mm self-propelled
artillery, including advanced onboard electronics for navigation and
fire control. The tank-like mobile howitzer has both a Kevlar-lined
chassis and a pressurized crew compartment to guard against ballistic,
nuclear, biological and chemical threats.

The American firm that won the artillery contract also noted the
Kuwait government has not approved the money for the purchase.

"The project is still in limbo. The money just has not been
released," said a United Defense director for international marketing.

"We did not know that John Huang was involved," he stated.

U.S. Army animation of M109A6 Paladin firing its 155 mm howitzer.

The information that Chinese weapons were upgraded to NATO standards
raises further questions from the past. According to one intelligence
source, Dr. Gerald Vincent Bull assisted the Chinese in the NATO
artillery upgrade.

Bull, considered a rogue scientist, also worked with Iraq to develop
a super-gun capable of striking Israel. The Iraqi super-gun program was
discovered by British intelligence and shut down prior to the Persian
Gulf War. Bull was later found murdered outside his Belgian apartment.

"We still don't know the full extent of Dr. Bull's relationship with
China," said the American intelligence official. "Norinco and Bull
worked together on two projects. One was the upgraded 155 howitzer and
the other was a Chinese super-gun."

Bull developed a "space gun" for a joint U.S./Canadian research
program during the early 1960s. The projectiles fired from this gun
weighed 190 pounds and traveled over 70 miles up into the lower reaches
of space. The Norinco super-gun developed with Bull is described as
capable of striking Taiwan from the Chinese mainland.

Norinco, however, is a known law enforcement problem for the Clinton
administration. In 1996, both Norinco and the Chinese army-owned Poly
Technologies Corp. were accused of attempting to sell fully automatic
machine guns to U.S. gangsters.

Allegedly, Poly Tech's man in America, Robert Ma, conspired with
Norinco representative Richard Chen to import 2,000 fully automatic
AK-47s into the United States to Customs agents posing as Miami drug
smugglers. Lu Yi Lun, described in court documents as Norinco's No. 2
official, was also charged in the case.

U.S. investigators say arms broker Hammond Ku, a key figure in the
case, told undercover U.S. agents three times that China's government
knew what was happening. According to the 100-page federal indictment
from one of the key undercover agents, Chen and Ma had difficulty in
getting the "barrels" because they required "higher-level permission."

The Customs officials added that the Chinese apparently believed the
automatic rifles were going to U.S. street gangs. American
investigators also said company representatives tried to sell undercover
U.S. agents rocket launchers, anti-aircraft missiles, machine guns and
even tanks.