NCJ Number
193761
Journal
Human Rights Watch Volume: 14 Issue: 1 Dated: February 2002 Pages: 1-15
Date Published
February 2002
Length
15 pages
Annotation
This document assesses the changes made in the weeks after the September 11 attacks regarding the United States’ military assistance program.
Abstract
These changes were made in order to forge a U.S. international coalition against terrorism. First, the legal regime to facilitate arms transfers to foreign nations was changed. Sanctions imposed on India and Pakistan after these nations performed nuclear tests in 1998 were lifted. The State Department removed arms sales restrictions imposed on Tajikistan in 1993. Both the executive and legislative branches of government have worked to expedite the military assistance process since September 11. Congress has taken the initiative to increase monitoring in at least one country--Uzbekistan, a major human rights abuser. Second, the United States has given military support to several of the countries involved in its campaign in Afghanistan. This military support can be divided into two types. The United States has used foreign military assistance to advance its military goals in Afghanistan by supplying forces opposed to the Taliban, and to reward countries that have offered political or military support for its campaign. Finally, the war on terrorism has affected military assistance to countries not directly involved with the Afghanistan campaign. The United States has increased military and counterterrorism assistance to nations deemed to face immediate threats of violence. It has cultivated military relations with governments willing to support the new international goals of the United States It has developed war-related tools it could use to expedite previously negotiated military sales to foreign states. The record of foreign military assistance since September 11 shows a trend toward lowering arms control standards and increasing military aid, especially for broadly defined counterterrorism efforts. However, in this time of international conflict, the United States should carefully monitor its military assistance programs and should not loosen controls without regard to human rights consequences.