Higher Defense Costs If No-Exceptions Policy Is Abandoned

Over the weekend, a late-night press story launched an administration trial balloon suggesting that restrictions on certain Western high-technology would soon be lifted for Soviet bloc destinations. According to Frank J. Gaffney, Jr., director of the Center for Security Policy, "Abandoning the no-exceptions policy currently governing the transfer of technology to the Soviet bloc is tantamount to opening up the floodgates, ultimately draining the American taxpayer in higher defense costs."

"Over the past decade, the no-exceptions policy has given the American taxpayer a tremendous return on his money. By withholding key technologies from the Soviets which have both civil and military applications, the United States has been able to keep its defense costs in check through technological superiority rather than conventional force parity," said Gaffney. "At a time when U.S. defense resources are declining and commitments are stretched, it would be a very costly mistake to enhance Soviet military capabilities by abandoning the no-exceptions policy," Gaffney added.

The "no-exceptions policy" was instituted by the United States and its allied partners in the early 1980’s and stipulated that no exceptions would be made in denying the transfer of militarily-critical technologies to the Soviet bloc from the West. The policy is currently under active review by the Administration and a presidential decision is expected imminently.

"Some have mistakenly tied the adoption of the policy to the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan and have consequently pushed for a departure from the no-exceptions policy in light of Soviet troop withdrawals from that country. While Soviet actions undoubtedly provided a political catalyst for allied action, this policy was — and remains — fully justified on the basis of prudent technology security interests," argues Gaffney. "Before any presidential decision is taken, it is incumbent on the Administration to demonstrate to the American people that higher defense costs will not result from a relaxation in technology security policies."

"By moving to a case-by-case approach, the multilateral export control regime, also known as COCOM, further risks having national commercial interests override vital multilateral security interests. The potential for abuse is serious; one can easily envision a scenario where decisions will be made to advance national competitiveness objectives to obtain footholds in the Soviet market at the expense of legitimate technology security requirements," Gaffney added.

Gaffney concluded, "This is no abstract proposition. In the expectation that the no-exceptions policy will shortly be scrapped, Europe’s largest telecommunications giant, Alcatel N.V., is poised to enter into a Soviet joint venture with enormous applications in dedicated military command, control, and communications equipment as well as other areas of Soviet military production," notes Gaffney. In a paper just released entitled, Alcatel’s Soviet Joint Venture: A Sale the West Cannot Afford to Make, the Center for Security Policy outlines the military implications of the assault on COCOM’s sensible technology security policy and argues for more stringent discipline among the allied partners.