The Progressive: U.S. Should Stop Pushing Weapons Sales

[marmar]

U.S. Should Stop Pushing Weapons Sales
By Amitabh Pal, December 31, 2011


The United States is happy to hawk its weapons to any willing customer.

The U.S. government has approved a $11 billion weapons deal to Iraq, in spite of the regime’s growing authoritarian and sectarian tendencies.

“The Obama administration is moving ahead with the sale of nearly $11 billion worth of arms and training for the Iraqi military despite concerns that Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki is seeking to consolidate authority, create a one-party Shiite-dominated state and abandon the American-backed power-sharing government,” the New York Times reports.

The U.S. Embassy in Baghdad is unabashedly acting as a middleman between the Iraqi government and arms merchants like Lockheed Martin and Raytheon. On the shopping list are knickknacks like F-16 planes and M1A1 Abrams tanks. ............(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.progressive.org/u_s_should_stop_pushing_weapons_sales.html

[xchrom]

1. du rec. nt

[dkf]

2. Then we would have to admit our efforts in Iraq are a failure.

I wonder if we are capable of doing that.

[SixthSense]

3. that will kill our exports

Weapons are one of the few exportable items still made in the USA. That's how we ended up with the security forces of Arab dictators firing "Made in the USA" tear gas cannisters at their people.

(pretty damn stupid to label a tear gas cannister like that IMO)

[bahrbearian]

5. (pretty damn stupid to label a tear gas cannister like that IMO)

Then maybe we shouldn't sell them.

[bahrbearian]

4. Ya Think?

[Mosaic]

6. Stop making weapons

I don't care if it offends the offenders. Stop making weapons.