The gathering storm: Russia's expertise in arms dealing
By Rick Santorum
Last week I spoke at CPAC about Iran as the principal sponsor of terrorism around the world. As my recent op-ed in the Philadelphia Inquirer explains, once armed with atomic capabilities, the regime could turn the world order upside down. But Iran's not the only nation we should be keeping our eye on.
According to United Press International, Russia has displaced the United States as Latin America's dominant arms' supplier. Venezuela spent over $4 billion on Russian weaponry, $2.2 billion of which included a stipulation that allows Russian involvement in the development of Venezuelan oil fields and gas deposits. After crunching the numbers, the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute concluded last year that Russia's arm sales to Latin American countries have increased 900% in 2004-2008 from 2001-2004.
Russia's own foray into advanced weaponry has been aided by France's recent decision to sell an amphibious assault warship. The Wall Street Journal noted that this is the first sale of advanced military technology by a NATO member to Russia and comes despite vehement objection.
A Pentagon spokesman said this month that the U.S.'s "friends and allies" in Eastern Europe had "good reason" to be nervous about the deal. A huge vessel capable of carrying tanks and helicopters, the Mistral-class warship could potentially cement Moscow's domination of the South Caucasus region, if deployed to the Black Sea. Admiral Vladimir Vysotsky, commander of Russia's Navy, said last year that with such a ship Russia's Black Sea Fleet could have won the war against Georgia "in 40 minutes instead of 26 hours."
Russia has continued to crack down on groups exercising freedom of speech, religion, and association. In December, the Russian Supreme Court ruled that 34 pieces of religious literature published by Jehovah's Witnesses were "extremist" and illegal. Similar bans of religious literature and harassment of other religious organizations are becoming increasingly frequent according to the State Department's 2009 Report on International Religious Freedom.
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Richard John "Rick" Santorum (born May 10, 1958) is a former United States Senator from the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Santorum is a member of the Republican Party and was the chairman of the Senate Republican Conference
Ethics and Public Policy Center in Washington, DC
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