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But his policy became riddled with exceptions: AW ACS were promised to Iran, F-15s were sold to Saudi Arabia, and F-5Es to Egypt. After the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in December 1979, the Carter Administration's policy of restraint was largely forgotten.
Under Reagan, the shift is explicit.
According to a directive written by National Security Adviser Richard Allen, "the U.S. views the transfer of conventional arms and other defense articles as an indispensable component of its foreign policy." Under Secretary of State for Security Assistance James Buckley admits that the Administration's arms policy "will include a larger number of sales to developing countries, which desperately need more effective means of defending themselves." Complains Democratic Senator Alan Cranston of California: "Reagan's policy on arms sales is to spew them everywhere."
The President has welcomed, or is favorably considering, a long list of new customers for the powerful F16. Among them: Pakistan, Egypt, Venezuela and South Korea. "Wherever we have trouble, they seem to think that, but for another F16, we would be lost," says Democratic Senator Paul Tsongas of Massachusetts. In addition, the Administration is considering the sale of weapons to China, which will upset both the Soviet Union and American conservatives who oppose arming Communist countries.
While Reagan's policy is freehanded enough, it may prove initially less generous in practice. Reason: congressional determination to trim the annual foreign aid bill, the means by which most government-to-government arms sales are financed. The President asked for $6.7 billion in economic and military assistance for fiscal 1982, up from $5 billion spent in 1981. At a time when the nation is trying to cope with the new austerity, Congress may well reject any increases.
There are, in addition, specific congressional bans on arms sales to countries, like Pakistan, that have not signed the nuclear nonproliferation agreement, and those, like Argentina and Chile, with a bad record on human rights. The Administration wants to remove most of these restraints.
Once the Saudi AW ACS sale is resolved, the Administration's next battle will be to convince Congress that Pakistan's nuclear program should not preclude a proposed package of $3.8 billion in arms and aid. As Buckley told a House committee recently, the invasion of Afghanistan has made it more important "to keep the Soviets from thinking they can coerce, subvert or intimidate Pakistan." But many Congressmen are concerned that Pakistan will use its arms not to deter the Soviets but to challenge its historic enemy, India. Says India's President, Neelam Sanjiva Reddy: "This could upset the existing balance and start an arms race."
Indeed, it already has: the Indians, who are also plentifully supplied by the Soviets, have reduced an order for British Jaguar jets and turned to the French for 150 of the more powerful Mirage 2000s.
In justifying his Administration's policy, the President can point to the dramatic rise in Soviet arms shipments. The U.S.S.R. last year signed $15 billion worth of sales agreements with the Third World, up from $3.3 billion in 1973. The