Ivan Eland

Senior Fellow and Director of the Center on Peace & Liberty, The Independent Institute

Turkey's Arms Purchase Should Jolt U.S. Alliance Policies

Posted: 10/23/20 | http://www.huffingtonpost.com/ivan-eland/turkeys-arms-purchase-sho_b_4138872.html?utm_source=Alert-blogger&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Email%2BNotifications

Sending a shock wave through the U.S. military-industrial complex, NATO ally Turkey passed up the usually dominant American defense industry in favor of an obscure Chinese defense company for a contract on a long-range missile defense system. Unlike the American Patriot system, the Chinese system, produced by China Precision, was not easily compatible with existing NATO air defense systems, and China Precision was even under U.S. sanctions for selling technologies that the U.S. government says could help Syria (Turkey's new nemesis), Iran, and North Korea develop unconventional weapons. One would think that Turkey would have made sure its primary security guarantor -- the United States -- was happy, given that a civil war is raging in neighboring Syria and occasionally spilling into its territory. Yet the U.S. quest to be "Big Man on Campus" and retain "influence" in Europe after the Cold War has allowed its NATO allies to get away with even more than they did back then.