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U.S. pushing dozens of foreign weapons deals


acidhead

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WASHINGTON: The Bush administration is pushing through a broad array of foreign weapons deals as it seeks to re-arm Iraq and Afghanistan, contain North Korea and Iran, and solidify ties with onetime Russian allies.

From tanks, helicopters and fighter jets to missiles, remotely piloted aircraft and even warships, the Department of Defense has agreed so far this fiscal year to sell or transfer more than $32 billion in weapons and other military equipment to foreign governments, compared with $12 billion in 2005.

The trend, which started in 2006, is most pronounced in the Middle East, but it reaches into northern Africa, Asia, Latin America, Europe and even Canada, through dozens of deals that senior Bush administration officials say they are confident will both tighten military alliances and combat terrorism.

"This is not about being gunrunners," said Bruce Lemkin, the air force deputy under secretary who is helping coordinate many of the biggest sales. "This is about building a more secure world."

The growing tally of international weapon deals, which started its sharp increase in 2006, is now provoking questions among some advocates of arms control and some members of Congress.

"Sure, this is a quick and easy way to cement alliances," said William Hartung, an arms control specialist at the New America Foundation, a public policy institute. "But this is getting out of hand."

Congress is notified before major arms sales deals are completed between foreign governments and the Pentagon. While lawmakers have the power to formally object and block any individual sale, they rarely use it.

Representative Howard Berman, Democrat of California and chairman of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs, said he supported many of the individual weapons sales, like helping Iraq build the capacity to defend itself, but he worried that the sales blitz could have some negative effects. "This could turn into a spiraling arms race that in the end could decrease stability," he said.

The United States has long been the top arms supplier to the world. In the past several years, however, the list of nations that rely on the United States as a primary source of major weapons systems has greatly expanded. Among the recent additions are Argentina, Azerbaijan, Brazil, Georgia, India, Iraq, Morocco and Pakistan, according to sales data through the end of last month provided by the Department of Defense.

In the Gulf region, much of the re-armament is driven by fears of Iran. The United Arab Emirates, for example, are considering spending as much as $16 billion on U.S.-made missile defense systems, according to recent notifications sent to Congress by the Department of Defense.

The Emirates also have announced an intention to order offensive weapons, including up to 26 Black Hawk helicopters and 900 Longbow Hellfire II missiles, which can knock out enemy tanks.

Saudi Arabia, this fiscal year alone, has signed at least $6 billion worth of sales agreements to buy weapons from the U.S. government - the highest figure for that country since 1993, which was another peak year in U.S. weapons sales, after the Gulf War.

Israel, long a major buyer of U.S. military equipment, is also increasing its orders, including planned purchases of perhaps as many as four American-made coastal warships, worth $1.9 billion.

Over the past three years, the U.S. government, separately, has agreed to buy more than $10 billion in military equipment and weapons on behalf of Afghanistan, according to Defense Department records, including M-16 rifles and C-27 military transport aircraft.

rest of the pathetic article here: http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/09/14/america/arms.php

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... i can 't even begin to fathom the guilt i would live with if i was employed in one of the many factories that make all this killing equipment....

..i'd probably vomit everyday on my dog when he looked up at me with sad eyes... and say ," sorry boy Daddy's a sell out... I know I'm going straight to hell."

..sorry....no matter the excuse...there are alternatives to violence each nation encounters with one another... it's called transparency ... the only enemy you or I should fear

are the countries holding the most weaponry... and that is so very very sad.... because those countries have an opportunity to help every nation that is in poverty and starving

...i truely believe everything happens for a reason and can be solved through understanding... people don't naturally want to hurt one another....

....its natural to want over the course of your life everything that you can't have, thou, killing another human being is not one of them.. i truely believe this..

...yet, there are some sick minded people living among us who feel its perfectly fine to start wars for the greed of making a profit at the expense of others... to get what they can't have...

.. they value their wallet,just as they value their relationship to whomever or a car or a boat before your life.................

.............this is pointless.................... .;sfdgxgv

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... i can 't even begin to fathom the guilt i would live with if i was employed in one of the many factories that make all this killing equipment....

..i'd probably vomit everyday on my dog when he looked up at me with sad eyes... and say ," sorry boy Daddy's a sell out... I know I'm going straight to hell."

..sorry....no matter the excuse...there are alternatives to violence each nation encounters with one another... it's called transparency ... the only enemy you or I should fear

are the countries holding the most weaponry... and that is so very very sad.... because those countries have an opportunity to help every nation that is in poverty and starving

...i truely believe everything happens for a reason and can be solved through understanding... people don't naturally want to hurt one another....

....its natural to want over the course of your life everything that you can't have, thou, killing another human being is not one of them.. i truely believe this..

...yet, there are some sick minded people living among us who feel its perfectly fine to start wars for the greed of making a profit at the expense of others... to get what they can't have...

.. they value their wallet,just as they value their relationship to whomever or a car or a boat before your life.................

.............this is pointless.................... .;sfdgxgv

Hey, Drama Queen. The US has long been an arms supplier to the world. So has Russia. Get over it.

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well if the US didnt supply weapons to these countries then someone else would, the UK are trying to off load most of our Eurofighters to the Saudis, and the contract is worth 20 billion,

has Tom Jones would say, 'its not unusual'

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... i can 't even begin to fathom the guilt i would live with if i was employed in one of the many factories that make all this killing equipment....

Odd, last time I checked Canada was prepared for war and fighting a war. I wonder if all that killing equipment that is keeping you safe at night is really all that awful?

"If you want peace; prepare for war." Says quite a bit on the idea that if everybody has a stick they'll think twice about attacking each other.

..i'd probably vomit everyday on my dog when he looked up at me with sad eyes... and say ," sorry boy Daddy's a sell out... I know I'm going straight to hell."

Seriously? :mellow: I think your dog wants to go for a walk.

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Many American isolationists felt just like you, prior to WWII and that didn't stop Germany or Japan. Peace through strength is the only thing a bully understands.

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Actually if you watch the Nichalos Cage movie, Master of war. itll give you some intresting insights into the US arms deals

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Actually if you watch the Nichalos Cage movie, Master of war. itll give you some intresting insights into the US arms deals

...watched it 2 years ago(Lord of War 2005).. watched Iron man last night..................................... .

Lord of War 2005 facts:

According to Andrew Niccol, the filmmakers worked with actual gunrunners in the making of the film. The tanks lined up for sale were real and belonged to a Czech arms dealer who had to have them back to sell to another country. They used a real stockpile of over 3,000 AK-47s because it was cheaper than getting prop guns.

Yuri Orlov, Nick Cages character, is a composite of five real arms dealers.

Nicolas Cage's Yuri Orlov is largely based on the exploits of international arms dealer Viktor Bout, a former Soviet officer, who was finally arrested by Thai authorities in March 2008. Bout, known as the "Merchant of Death," was trying to ship arms to American agents in Colombia who were posing as Farc insurgents when he was apprehended. Currently languishing in a Bangkok prison where he awaits extradition by the US.

Edited by acidhead43
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...watched it 2 years ago(Lord of War 2005).. watched Iron man last night..................................... .

And.... your point is.

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Yeah nothing new, though do agree that money could be better spent than building weapons. But still the majority of the governments in the world don't give a damn about being nice, only about increasing their own power. As a result we need to keep an edge on our military technology in order to protect ourselves. Those who have turned their swords into plows will be conquered by those who haven't. Sucks but that's the way the world works. Also the sooner we can arm Iraq and Afghanistan the sooner their military will be able to protect their countries, and the sooner our troops can pull out.

Also in the future acidhead can you give sources for the articials you grab? That way we know if it's from CNN, or one of the Sun newspapers, or The-CIA-is-in-my-brain Weekly ;)

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I don't have a problem with this, and I thought it was a fantastically good article.

As people have mentioned, if we weren't supplying these, somebody else probably would - most likely the Russians, but also the Europeans, and even other nations like the Indians and Chinese. We might as well make sure that other countries are dependent on our weapons while making a good profit on the side.

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...watched it 2 years ago(Lord of War 2005).. watched Iron man last night..................................... .

Lord of War 2005 facts:

According to Andrew Niccol, the filmmakers worked with actual gunrunners in the making of the film. The tanks lined up for sale were real and belonged to a Czech arms dealer who had to have them back to sell to another country. They used a real stockpile of over 3,000 AK-47s because it was cheaper than getting prop guns.

Yuri Orlov, Nick Cages character, is a composite of five real arms dealers.

Nicolas Cage's Yuri Orlov is largely based on the exploits of international arms dealer Viktor Bout, a former Soviet officer, who was finally arrested by Thai authorities in March 2008. Bout, known as the "Merchant of Death," was trying to ship arms to American agents in Colombia who were posing as Farc insurgents when he was apprehended. Currently languishing in a Bangkok prison where he awaits extradition by the US.

That's my favorite movie (not my most-watched movie; you can only watch it once in a while). It's just fantastically done, and the amusing part about how they actually used weapons from real gunrunners is only icing on the cake (not to mention that it actually pushes the movie almost into "docufiction" territory).

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Russia's Back. Pure an simple, and the Cold War is back on. But I'll give ten to one, it goes hot with in Five years or less.

Where's Regean when you need him?:D

lol

this is like a childrens playground one has something or does something then another wants the same thing. If this turns into a full on war i wont be surprised I might be dead but not surprised

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