Democrats see a late-election political ploy.
This week's congressional hearings on the subject were prompted by documents leaked to the press. In exchange, Moscow agreed not to sell any new weapons to the Mideast nation. Republican senators say these are dangerous weapons in a dangerous part of the world, and that Congress should have been informed. After closed Senate hearings this week, the Clinton administration has refused to provide a text of the agreements, senators say. The Gore campaign and the administration counter that these weapons do not imperil the US or its interests, and that the agreement helped prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons, which advances American interests.