WASHINGTON, Reuter: The U.S. Senate today rejected an amendment which opponents said would cripple Washington’s ability to provide stinger antiaircraft missiles to anticommunist guerrilla groups around the world.
The vote was 63 to 37 against the 1987 defense bill amendment which would have prohibited the sale or transfer of the missiles except under tough specific conditions.
The conditions included a fulltime guard for the weapons, a monthly inventory, and random onsite inspections by US. Personnel and stipulations on secure storage, including steel vault doors with two key padlocks and a two meter (Six foot) chain link fence.
Democrat Dennis Deconcini of Arizona, who proposed the amendment, argued that the United States had to take precautions to keep the missiles from falling into the hands of terrorists or others who would misuse them.
The stinger is a sophisticated, highly mobile shoulder fired missile which has become popular with U.S. backed countries and rebel forces around the world.
Washington has given them to of discussed the possibility of giving them to anticommunist groups in Angola, Nicaragua and Afghanistan, as well as Jordan and Saudi Arabia.
Article extracted from this publication >> August 15, 1986
