WHITE HOUSE AGAIN PROPOSES BREAKING IN ARMENIA-AZERBAIJAN MILITARY ASSISTANCE

PanARMENIAN.Net
06.02.2007 13:56 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ The Bush Administration, in its FY2008 federal
budget, has proposed a 49% cut in aid to Armenia, and is – once again –
seeking to break the agreement it struck with Congress more than five
years ago to maintain parity in military aid levels to Armenia and
Azerbaijan. The President’s budget recommends cutting U.S. economic aid
to Armenia from the FY2006 actual level of $69 million to a proposed
FY2008 level of $35 million.ANCA (Armenian National Committee of
America) reports, that moreover, the budget proposal does not include
any specific assistance figures for Nagorno Karabakh. The proposed
military aid cuts come in two broad categories, Foreign Military
Financing (FMF) and International Military Education and Training
(IMET). The proposed FY2008 FMF figure for Armenia is $3 million, a
cut of $960,000, fully 30% less than the proposed FY2008 figure for
Azerbaijan of $4.3 million. The President is seeking only $300,000
in IMET for Armenia, down $538,000 from FY2006, a dramatic cut of
64%. In sharp contrast, the White House is proposing that Azerbaijan
receive $1 million in IMET, a considerable increase over their FY2006
level of $823,000 and more than three times the IMET levels being
proposed for Armenia. Overall, the President’s budget proposes 38%
less in U.S. military aid for Armenia than for Azerbaijan.

"We are troubled, once again, both by the President’s breach of his
agreement with Congress to maintain military aid parity to Armenia
and Azerbaijan, as well as by the drastic cut that he is proposing
in economic development assistance to Armenia. We look to our friends
in Congress to help restore military aid parity and to substantially
increase aid levels to Armenia and Nagorno Karabakh that reflect
Armenia’s growing partnership with the United States, as well as
the shared values and enduring friendship between the American and
Armenian peoples," said ANCA Executive Director Aram Hamparian

The Foreign Operations Subcommittees of the Senate and House
Appropriation Committees will now review the budget and each draft
their own versions of the FY 2008 foreign assistance bill. The
agreement to maintain parity in U.S. military aid to Armenia and
Azerbaijan was struck between the White House and Congress in 2001, in
the wake of Congressional action granting the President the authority
to waive the Section 907 restrictions on aid to Azerbaijan. The ANCA
has vigorously defended this principle, stressing that a tilt in
military spending toward Azerbaijan would destabilize the region,
emboldening the Azerbaijani leadership to continue their threats to
impose a military solution to the Nagorno Karabakh conflict.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress