In 2007, U.S. foreign military sales agreements totaled more than $32 billion — nearly triple the amount during President Bush’s first full year in office.
The Pentagon routinely justifies weapons sales as “promoting regional stability,” but many of these arms end up in the world’s war zones. In 2006 and 2007, the five biggest recipients of U.S. weapons were Pakistan ($3.5 billion), Iraq ($2.2 billion), Israel ($2.2 billion), Afghanistan ...
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Excellent look at Bush administration/Pentagon approval of US arms sales to unstable regions and unstable governments, while disregarding objections of the US State Department, among others.
The Obama administration could mark a new era in arms trade. On the campaign trail, Obama expressed openness to signing the global cluster munitions ban, but he has yet to speak about a global Arms Trade Treaty — which would establish more rigorous conditions for weapons exports — or about curbing weapons sales, in general. “The arms trade is never a panacea for instability,” Klare says. “It can only enflame regional tensions and heighten the risk of war.”
This may well be one of the most important "sleeper" issues facing the Obama administration. I believe it is essential for forensic accountants and the US GAO (Government Accounting Office) to track all contracts, expenditures, sales, "lost" weapons--and where the profits went. I will be shocked if there is not criminal negligence at best, and widespread profiteering through peddling carnage to the highest bidders.