|
Congress Furious as EU Ponders Lifting China Arms Embargo
Severely EFLCongressional anger with the European Union over strategic security issues is boiling over again after talk in Brussels that the EU might lift its arms embargo on China. Lawmakers say this would put U.S. security interests directly at odds with those of the Europeans. Sen. Jon Kyl, chairman of the Republican Policy Committee, circulated a paper last week saying that if "the EU ignores U.S. security concerns, the United States will once again be forced to reduce its reliance on collective institutions such as the EU" and the United Nations. Should the EU lift the ban on the Beijing dictatorship, the Arizona senator added, it would force the United States "to redouble its efforts to build ad-hoc coalitions of the willing on key tests and issues in the U.S. national interest." Kyl's use of the term "coalitions of the willing" was a reference to the Iraq war, which has pitted many European governments against the United States. The 10-page paper came after a House resolution passed 411-3 earlier in the week deploring a possible lifting of the arms embargo, which could happen as early as June.The resolution stated, "Such a development ⊠is inherently inconsistent" with U.S. policy and "would necessitate limitations and constraints" on U.S.-European relations. Posted by: trailing wife 2005-02-08 |
| http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=55939 |