Save the Anglosphere
Do you know about ITAR? The acronym means "International Traffic in Arms Regulations" and refers, essentially, to an area of US export control law intended to keep the United States from exporting critical military technologies without proper scrutiny.
Unfortunately, as currently applied, it is needlessly pushing away our closest allies in the world: the UK and Australia. In fact, it has gotten so bad that the UK may withdraw from the Joint Strike Fighter program(me).
Both Presidents Clinton and Bush have pushed for basically a blanket waiver to allow the UK and Australia to participate with the US in weapons development and other areas of military cooperation. Unfortunately, Republican Congressmen Henry Hyde [IL] and Duncan Hunter [CA] oppose what should be a no-brainer. Read the linked articles above, educate yourself, and send a letter to your congresscritter encouraging him or her to support waiving the ITAR restrictions on the UK and Australia.
(Via Instapundit).
While I agree with you, there are legitimate concerns on the other side. Britain's integration into the European defence industry means that there is a real fear that American military technology could be leaked to, say, the French. And when it comes to military secrets, telling the French is like telling the Chinese, Russians, and pretty much everyone in the world we don't like.
Posted by: buckethead at December 17, 2005 10:06 AM