A Republican senator challenged the Pentagon on Monday over its contract with a Russian export firm that is “arming the Assad regime” in Syria, calling for an audit of the contract amid fresh warnings about a new wave of Syrian violence.
Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, expressed “grave concerns” about the contract in a letter Monday to Defense Secretary Leon Panetta. He was referring to an Army contract with Russian firm Rosoboronexport for Mi-17 helicopters to equip the Afghan military.
Cornyn wrote that the Defense Department awarded a no-bid contract to the company last June, though he was told months later by the Pentagon that the firm “continues to supply weapons and ammunition” to the regime of Bashar al-Assad.
“I remain deeply troubled that the (Defense Department) would knowingly do business with a firm that has enabled mass atrocities in Syria,” Cornyn wrote, suggesting sanctions against Rosoboronexport would be more appropriate than a contract.
A Pentagon spokeswoman, though, defended the contract.
Spokeswoman Tara Rigler said in an email to FoxNews.com that it is “the only legal method to purchase the military version of the Mi-17 and to provide an appropriate measure of flight safety and airworthiness.”
“As we have noted before, these aircraft remain crucial to the development of Afghanistan’s Air Force capability and therefore important to our mission of ensuring that Afghan forces can ultimately defend their own sovereignty,” Rigler said.
She said Panetta has received Cornyn’s letter and would respond to the senator “promptly” about his concerns.
On Monday, Russia’s Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin also defended his country’s arms sales to Syria.
“Under no circumstances can the arms supplied to Syria be used against the civilian population,” Rogozin was quoted as saying by the ITAR-Tass news agency.
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