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U.S. Scrutinizes Israel's Misuse of U.S.-Made Arms
WASHINGTON, Aug 30 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) - An U.S. government watchdog is investigating the sale of U.S.-made arms to Israel amid growing concern over Israel's policy of assassinating Palestinian resistance activists and its use of heavy weaponry, news agencies reported.
In the past four years, America has provided Israel with about $5.2 billion worth of arms, financed largely by annual grants of military aid by Congress, reported the British daily,
The Independent, Thursday.
Such weapons include F-15 and F-16 fighter aircraft and attack helicopters.
According to the Arms Export Control Act such weapons can only be used for "legitimate self-defense", the paper said.
There is growing unease in Washington over what Israel calls "targeted killings" a euphemism for assassination - of more than 60 Palestinians suspected of involvement in resistance activities.
The General Accounting Office (GAO) the budgetary investigative arm of Congress is doing an audit of U.S. arms sale to countries in the Middle East over the past 10 years.
Included in the audit will be an examination of export controls attached to each sale.
While the GAO will not itself make a determination of whether such controls have been violated by recent events, the report will be used by President George W. Bush's administration, which itself is reviewing whether Israel's behavior goes beyond self defense.
"Obviously during peace time when weapons are just being used on exercises the monitoring is less hard to do," a U.S. State Department spokesman said Wednesday.
"During a time of conflict, when the weapons are deployed, there is more monitoring. I think that at some point a decision is going to have to be taken on [whether there has been a violation]."
Officials in the State Department and the American embassy in Israel monitor Israel's armed forces.
But this week, after Israel's assassination of senior Palestinian leader Abu Ali Mustafa, using American-made Apache helicopter gunships, Washington said such tactics could only "inflame" the situation, reported the
Independent.
The U.S. has reportedly warned Israel that a report on its non-defensive tactics may have to be sent to Congress as a precursor to some sort of freeze on sales.
State Department spokesman Richard Boucher refused to detail the U.S.'s complaint but said: "We have made clear our opposition to targeted killings. It's not a question of the weapons so much as it is a question of the event.
"Obviously, they are aware and we are aware of the restrictions on the use of American weaponry."
Speaking to ABCNEWS Wednesday, Boucher said, "We have not made any determination or decisions that the provisions of the law might have been violated."
In case of violations, the U.S. government is required to notify Congress, where a decision can be taken to impose sanctions, reported Agence France-Presse (AFP).
Boucher told ABCNEWS that the United States was not suggesting that Israel should stop using U.S.-made weapons, but rather that it should stop its attacks altogether.
"The focus of our discussions with the Israelis is on calming the situation and ending the violence. That remains the subject of discussion," he said.
But he added, "We do think that the use of heavy weaponry in populated areas runs a high risk of civilian casualties, and we have been opposed to it."
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