Why is the US against the UN Arms Trade Treaty?
The United Nations voted to create an international treaty to control the arms trade. The United States was one of the few countries that voted against the measure. Why would we be against stopping the illegal sale of guns and other light weapons?
A news story came out a couple of days later that could explain the United States’ position. Thousands of weapons that we presumably provided to the Iraqi security forces are missing. The Defense Department didn’t even bother to record the serial number of most of them.
In other words, we have no way of determining if we sold the weapons used to kill our people in Iraq. Or if someone in Iraq is reselling the arms to Sudan or Pakistan. Or if Al-Qaida is buying them to use in their next attack. And we have no interest in finding out.
The military contractors make their money. The arms dealers make their money. They give lots of money to the politicians. Why mess with a great scam?
Labels: Congress, Corporationists, George W Bush, War
posted by Cheryl @ 12:09 AM
2 Comments:
Cheryl, it always grinds me when I see how well equipped the armies are from very poor countries. The money that should be spent on meeting the basic needs of their citizens is being diverted to U.S. arms dealers. The poor are then on the receiving end of all the violence that ensues.
Here's a Boston Globe article on this subject.
http://www.boston.com/news/world/articles/2006/11/13/us_is_top_purveyor_on_weapons_sales_list/?page=full
Here's some excerpts:
WASHINGTON -- "The United States last year provided nearly half of the weapons sold to militaries in the developing world, as major arms sales to the most unstable regions -- many already engaged in conflict -- grew to the highest level in eight years....Arms control specialists said the figures underscore how the largely unchecked arms trade to the developing world has become a major staple of the American weapons industry, even though introducing many of the weapons risks fueling conflicts rather than aiding long-term US interests...there is growing evidence that the sales are increasingly more about dollars and cents for the US military-industrial complex and other major military economies...Washington's desire to maintain the status quo was on display at a meeting at the United Nations on Oct. 26, when a UN panel voted to study whether a new treaty might be possible to regulate the sale of conventional arms. The United States was the only country out of 166 to vote no....a certain amount of it is simply keeping factories running in certain congressional districts."
You're right. Poor countries buying weapons is as obscene as us selling the weapons. Tyrants stay in power by amassing weapons, and we help keep them in power so that they can buy more from us.
Sorry I haven't posted in a while. Between trying to stay employed, and the brain fog of fatigue, I haven't been able to put a coherent paragraph together.
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