so much for the defense conversion business (says a DODer)

[David Farber <farber@central.cis.upenn.edu>]

         WASHINGTON (Reuter) - The lofty Western aim of converting
weapons to peaceful use in the post-Cold War era simply hasn't
worked, but there still may be hope for defense conversion in
Russia, a top Pentagon official said Friday.
         ``Defense conversion in the West is a bust,'' Ashton Carter,
assistant secretary of defense for nuclear security and
counterproliferation, told reporters at a breakfast.
         ``Defense plants don't convert. They close,'' Carter said.


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