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AFP. 2 October 2002. "Buy American" US warns Poland, as fighter plane decision looms. WARSAW -- A senior US official urged Poland on Wednesday to choose a US fighter plane over European rivals if the ex-communist country wants to be taken seriously by the NATO military alliance it joined three years ago. US Under Secretary of State for International Trade Administration Grant Aldonas said during a visit to Warsaw that the fighter planes offered by the European rivals of US aerospace company Lockheed Martin would "not even come close" to bringing Poland's Soviet-equipped army up NATO standards. "Frankly, no-one would seriously argue that by buying the alternative that that would be consistent with the idea of interoperability within NATO," he told a news conference on the second day of a visit to the Polish capital. US aerospace company Lockheed Martin with its F-16, British-Swedish consortium BAE Systems-SAAB with its its JAS-39 Gripen and France's Dassault Industrie with its Mirage 2000-5, are all hoping to be chosen for the contract, estimated at 3.5 billion euros (dollars). Poland has indicated that it intends to initially buy 48 modern, multi-purpose fighter planes to replace its its obsolete MiG-21 planes, which were made in Soviet times. The tender closes on November 12 and the Polish authorities must take a decision by December 28. Aldonas said that Poland should not be swayed by arguments from the European companies that it should buy European, as the country is hoping to join the European Union in 2004. "We should remember that we are members of a military alliance together, in that sense we are strategic partners," he said. Last month, in an interview with AFP, Polish Defence Minister Jerzy Szmajdzinski denied the tender had led to a conflict in its loyalties -- towards the United States, the world's only remaining superpower, which drives NATO, and towards the EU, which it wants to join in 2004. "Do you have to ask us if Poland loves its mother or its father more. Poland wants to make sure it has the love of both its parents," Szmajdzinski said at the time. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ProletarianNews http://www.utopia2000.org --------------------------- ANTI-NATO INFORMATION LIST ==^================================================================ This email was sent to: [email protected] EASY UNSUBSCRIBE click here: http://topica.com/u/?a84x2u.bacIlu Or send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] T O P I C A -- Register now to manage your mail! http://www.topica.com/partner/tag02/register ==^================================================================
