Conventional wisdom--and the cheerleaders in Seattle media--tell us that The Boeing Co. is one of America's leading corporations because of its manufacture of world-class civilian and military aircraft. True enough. But in the business world, Boeing has another much-admired reputation for leadership: in being able to change laws to its benefit, and skirt the laws not to its liking.

This admirable skill was on display again last week as Boeing agreed to pay a $10 million fine to settle charges that it violated foreign export-control laws in its work with Russian and Ukrainian firms on the Sea Launch satellite project.

The fine is a pittance compared with the money to be made; even less than a pittance, in that $2.5 million of the fine was suspended, with Boeing instead agreeing to spend that amount to train employees to respect the law in the future. They didn't this time--the State Department suspended Boeing's license on the deal July 27 amid allegations of over 200 separate legal violations involving the transfer of sensitive technology to potentially adversarial countries.

The Sea Launch concept is relatively simple and extremely lucrative: using old oil platforms as staging grounds for launching satellites at sea. This allows the satellites to be launched at the equator--most desirable from a physics standpoint but made more difficult by the shortage of friendly, politically stable equatorial countries. Hence, the need to use oil platforms and international waters. In its expected first year in 1999, Boeing has already taken launch orders worth perhaps $900 million. Compared to such numbers, the actual cost of the satellite launches is relatively tiny.

So is the fine Boeing has now paid for pushing the envelope on this project--$7.5 million, plus a training program to teach employees how better to skirt regulations. It may have been illegal, but it moved up the timetable and increased profits; as such, the fine is simply another, rather minimal cost of doing business.

Boeing's been here before. In 1996, Boeing's army of D.C. lobbyists helped convince the State Department not to penalize China for selling nuclear components to Pakistan. That freed the Export-Import (Ex-Im) Bank to help Boeing cinch a few more deals. The Ex-Im Bank is an enormous corporate welfare program that uses taxpayer money to guarantee foreign deals; it's literally nicknamed "The Bank of Boeing" due to the preponderance of deals it cuts on behalf of the planemaker.

As in 1996, last week's $10 million slap on the wrist evokes an image business leaders admire--and that should horrify liberals and conservatives alike. We learn from these incidents that Boeing is willing to bend and/or break the law and compromise national security if it will help close a deal. We learn that Boeing's bottom line comes quite willingly at the expense of people victimized by the repressive regimes with which it does business.

Boeing and its McDonnell Douglas wing have sold military jets and weapons systems in recent years to many of the world's least savory regimes: Turkey, Kuwait, Singapore, Indonesia, Chile, Malaysia, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Israel, Egypt, and dozens more. In short, anyone with the cash. Some of that cash then gets recycled into lobbying efforts for fewer restrictions (e.g., waiving of recoupment fees for research and development for foreign sales--another Clinton Administration gift to Boeing), and more direct subsidies like the Ex-Im Bank.

And, occasionally, the cash goes into paying off fines--when that's more cost-effective than obeying the law or respecting human life. Such is the business of the world's largest arms dealer, based right here in Seattle.