America: Arms Dealer Inc.
By Daphne On January 17th, 2013In light of the intense discussion and bipartisan hysteria over impending gun regulation in the wake of America’s latest mass shooting there has been no mention of America as the world’s largest purveyor of arms.
Between them, the White House and the Pentagon — with a helping hand from the State Department – ensure that the U.S. remains by far the leading purveyor of the “right to bear arms” globally. Year in, year out, in countries around the world, they do their best to pave the way (as the NRA does domestically) for the almost unfettered sales of ever more lethal weapons. In fact, the U.S. now has something remarkably close to a monopoly on what’s politely called the “transfer” of weaponry on a global scale. In 1990, as the Cold War was ending, the U.S. had cornered an impressive 37% of the global weapons trade. By 2011, the last year for which we have figures, that percentagehad reached a near-monopolistic 78% ($66.3 billion in weapons sales), with the Russians coming in a distant second at 5.6% ($4.8 billion).
Mark the irony of this administration’s current rhetoric on American gun control versus the reality of how they deal with the rest of the globe.
Here’s the strange thing in the present gun control context: no one — not pundits, politicians, or reporters — seems to see the slightest contradiction in an administration that calls for legal limits on advanced weaponry in the U.S. and yet (as rare press reports indicate) is working assiduously to remove barriers to the sale of advanced weaponry overseas. There are, of course, still limits on arms sales abroad, some imposed by Congress, some for obvious reasons. The Pentagon does not broker weapons sales to Iran, North Korea, or Cuba, and it has, for example, been prohibited by Congress from selling them to the military regime in Myanmar. But generally the Obama administration has put effort into further easing the way for major arms sales abroad, while working to rewrite global export rules to make them ever more permeable.
In other words, the Pentagon is the largest federally licensed weapons dealer on the planet and its goal — one that the NRA might envy — is to create a world in which the rights of those deemed our allies to bear our (most advanced) armaments “shall not be infringed.” The Pentagon, it seems, is intent on pursuing its own global version of the Second Amendment, not for citizens of the world but for governments, including grim, autocratic states like Saudi Arabia which are perfectly capable of using such weaponry to create Newtowns on an unimaginable scale.
This is one of many serious discussions the American people aren’t having amidst the current sound and fury in the aftermath of Sandyhook. Maybe it’s time to broaden our perspective regarding who we are as a people and the arms policies we sanction through our government.
Excerpts taken from The Pentagon as a Global NRA
For Washington, There Is No Arms Control Abroad by Tom Engelhardt.
Good topic & story.
//seems to see the slightest contradiction in an administration that calls for legal limits on advanced weaponry in the U.S. and yet (as rare press reports indicate) is working assiduously to remove barriers to the sale of advanced weaponry overseas//
On the face of it, there’s no contradiction, as most of the arms exports go to government agencies, armies and police forces etc. There would be a contradiction only if the US Govt were seeking to disarm the USAF and all US police.
But in effect, there is a big contradiction, in that many of the foreign governments and their agencies are at war or preparding to go to war, use the weapons to oppress people at home or in other countries and have more or less the morals of an average street criminal, if not perpetrator of a school massacre.
The biggest recipient of military aid is of course Israel, which receives about 3 billion USD every year in military aid alone. It has to spend 75 pc of this cash on weapons purchases in the US, so in effect the US is giving Israel about 2.4 billion Dollars worth of arms free.
Arms manufacturing is Americas last bit of manufacturing. We make the best weapons in the world, be grateful. They allow us to sleep safely at night and their manufacture keeps millions of people employed.
There is 2 simple points at work. 1) The world or mankind has been in a perpetual state of war since we crawled out of the ooze. You can not find a period in time where war was not being waged somewhere on the planet. So do want to profit from it or try and stop it both choices involve controlling the weapons industry or at least leading in it.
As for sales Henry DuPont had it right “Sell to everyone”
Henry was an interesting character
//“Sell to everyone” //
I wonder are there many US soldiers who were killed by the weapons their country exported to some tyrant who would agree with that.
There probably are.
Noel do you know how many americans were killed by weapons and bombs made from scrap steel we sold to the Japanese prior to WWII ? Try eliminating trade of every product used in weaponry, good luck.
What you are really trying to insinuate is that if America didn’t sell the weapons there wouldn’t be any. That is a ridiculous view.
//you are really trying to insinuate is that if America didn’t sell the weapons there wouldn’t be any. That is a ridiculous view.//
It would be if someone were arguing it. I’m not.
What I’m saying is 1) that guns are being sold to tyrants and are being used to oppress people.
2) once you’ve sold something you can’t control what’s done with it.
Even if you care only about Americans, many of the weapons that the US exported were used to kill Americans.
And of course kill American’s allies too.
The US Armalite was the perfect weapon for operating in urban areas, like Belfast.
No wonder it was SO POPULAR
There are many people who will thank you for that “sell to everyone” attitude.
your welcome
actually Noel the most commonly used rifle world wide is the AK47. Not an American weapon.
Daphne -
Yep, a grim irony and fair points made.
The Chinese and Russians will serve every customer that the US walks away from.
We at least have some semblance of morality or pretend to.
Those guys don’t even pretend.
It is a tad unsettling. I woukd hate to have to earn my living in this industry.