[Previous entry: "Vanity Fair's Christopher Hitchens on What It's Really Like in Iraq"] [Main Index] [Next entry: "michael moore is a big fat idiot"]

07/27/2003 Archived Entry: "Swiss delay of military parts sparks 'buy American' push"

THAT'S WHAT YOU GET FOR TRUSTING THE SWISS: Screw jobs that the Swiss pulled on the British and Americans earlier this year is a good reason for "Buy American" laws, Rep. Duncan Hunter told Bill Gertz on Friday.

A Swiss company's refusal to provide critical parts for the Pentagon's flagship Joint Direct Attack Munition during the Iraq war shows the need for "buy American" laws, the chairman of the House Armed Services Committee said yesterday.

Rep. Duncan Hunter, California Republican, also said Switzerland, a neutral nation, blocked delivery of grenades to British military forces during the conflict because it opposed the war.

"The British went into battle in Iraq without a full grenade load," Mr. Hunter said in an interview.

Regarding the JDAM parts, Mr. Hunter said Swatch Group AG, and its Micro Crystal division in Gretchen, Switzerland, refused to send key components used in the bomb guidance equipment used on the JDAM after the Iraq war began.

I've always been distrustful of those "Buy American/Canadian/blah blah" campaigns but when it comes to military hardware I can understand it.

Read on.