EVEN AS PRESIDENT Clinton duels with the National Rifle Association over the issue of tougher domestic gun controls, his administration is the No. 1 gunrunner around the world.
U.S. companies control 50 percent of the international arms market, and 160 of the world's 190 nations receive arms or military training from the United States. While U.S. officials claim our arms exports promote democracy, stability and peace around the world, the reality is quite the opposite: The majority of U.S. arms exports to the developing world go to dictators or human-rights abusers.
Two pending U.S. arms packages -- one for Colombia and the other for Turkey -- underscore the dangers of the Clinton administration's policy. Both Colombia and Turkey are major recipients of U.S. weapons and military aid. Both are embroiled in civil wars, which have cost more than 30,000 lives (mostly civilian) in each country. And, in both cases, between 1 million and 2 million people have been internally displaced.
Colombia and Turkey also have horrific human-rights records. Some of these abuses have been carried out with U.S.-supplied weapons, and others have been committed by officers trained by U.S. forces.
Reading the State Department's "Country Report on Human Rights," released just weeks ago, one could almost mix up the two entries. In Colombia, the "government's human rights record remained poor." In Turkey, "serious human rights abuses continued." Both Turkish and Colombian armed forces carried out extrajudicial killings. Excessive use of force and the use of torture were commonplace in both countries. And security forces were rarely convicted or reprimanded in either country.
In Colombia, a nation that has been plagued with violence for more than 40 years, the United States has played a pivotal role in supplying weapons for the Colombian armed forces to carry out a counterinsurgency war under the guise of fighting drug traffickers.
Turkey has been engaged in its own counterinsurgency war for more than 15 years, with the United States continually overlooking the government's disastrous human-rights record and lack of basic freedoms because of Turkey's strategic location and its status as a NATO ally.
About 80 percent of Colombia and Turkey's sizable war chest comes from the United States. And more is on the way.
Turkey hopes to acquire 145 attack helicopters, 90 utility and heavy lift helicopters and 1,000 main battle tanks from the United States, to name just a few of the priority projects.
For Colombia, Congress will be debating President Clinton's $1.7 billion emergency supplemental aid package during the next few weeks to decide how many Sikorsky Blackhawk and Bell Huey helicopters to include.
U.S. armament companies have their lobbyists patrolling the halls of Congress. As one lobbyist said, "It's business for us. ... I'm just trying to sell helicopters."
Special interests aside, the timing of these deals couldn't be worse.
Peace talks between Colombian President Andres Pastrana and Colombia's largest guerrilla group -- the Colombian Revolutionary Armed Force -- have been taking place for more than a year. Further military involvement by the United States could be disastrous for the peace process, as the FARC has warned against more U.S. military involvement in Colombia.
In Turkey, the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) has been fighting for autonomy since 1984. But it announced a unilateral cease-fire last summer with the hopes of finding a peaceful resolution to the conflict. PKK members have even turned themselves in to Turkish authorities to show their sincerity. Yet, the Turkish military has resisted these peace overtures, preferring an all-out military victory.
More U.S. weapons are the last things Colombia and Turkey need.
If arms transfers provide influence with these countries, as the United States says they do, then the Clinton administration should be using that leverage to press for an end to the killing of innocent civilians. The opportunity exists for the United States to help put an end to the violence that has beleaguered these nations for far too long.
Instead of fanning the flames of conflict, the United States should be supporting peace initiatives
Ciarrocca is a research associate at the World Policy Institute in New York City. She can be reached at pmproj@ progressive.org or by writing to Progressive Media Project, 409 East Main St., Madison, Wis. 53703.
Copyright 2000 Contra Costa Times
###
