|
[Previous entry: "Complacency"] [Main Index] [Next entry: "Crossing the line"] 29 July 2003: "The downside of neutrals"Via Jackie D, I came across this article in the Washington Times. Rep. Duncan Hunter, California Republican, also said Switzerland, a neutral nation, blocked delivery of grenades to British military forces during the conflict because it opposed the war.Allegedly, the Micro Crystal Division of Swatch Group AG, also Swiss, refused to ship components for JDAM tail kits for aerial bombs after the start of the war. Now, that this happened, I can believe. But the reason why, as given by Congressman Hunter, is open to question. Switzerland has an extremely strict policy of neutrality, and has legislation which stringently regulates the sale of weapons, or weapons components, to belligerents. To give you an idea: many American law enforcement agencies use SIG-Sauer pistols. "SIG" is short for Schweizerische Industriegesellschaft, "Swiss Industrial Corporation"; Sauer is a German small arms manufacturer. SIG is not permitted to sell its products abroad, so pistols designed by SIG (and made by SIG for sale within Switzerland) are made under license by Sauer in Germany, because Sauer is under no such restrictions. The short version is that the deliveries were not blocked because the Swiss government opposed the war, but because Swiss law—in order to safeguard Swiss neutrality—forbids the sale of weapons to foreign powers which are at war. In other words, if the Swiss had been allowed to sell military hardware to Iraq, they would have blocked delivery of such materials to Iraq at the same time. Swatch Group AG's actions may have been a simple case of legal ass-covering, delaying (which is not the same as cancelling) the shipment until they were certain they were not in violation of Swiss law. Congressman Hunter's argument that this "shows the need for 'buy American' laws" is nonsense; the only lesson that can be drawn from this is that one should exercise caution in buying military hardware from a country with a foreign policy of strict neutrality in armed conflicts, like Switzerland or Sweden. I notice that Congressman Hunter represents the 52nd District of California, which is in San Diego. From this article in Technology and Life Sciences Report: Today the local aerospace and defense industry is the second leading economic sector in the San Diego economy with defense expenditures in the region exceeding $10 billion and accounting for 10 percent of the region’s Gross Regional Product. Despite defense cutbacks, currently at least 30,000 San Diego area residents work in the aerospace and defense industry for hundreds of companies, from businesses with 10 or fewer employees to larger defense companies.I think there's a more obvious reason why the congressman wants the DoD to "buy American"; the colloquialism in these here parts is "pork." |
Navigation: home archives backgrounder Blogs:
au currant Miscellanea:
Care to contribute |
