How a tiny kingdom strong-armed the US

[bemildred]

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Bullets and Blackhawks

A TomDispatch analysis of Defense Department documents indicates that, since the 1990s, the United States has transferred large quantities of military materiel, ranging from trucks and aircraft to machine-gun parts and millions of rounds of live ammunition, to Bahrain's security forces.

According to data from the Defense Security Cooperation Agency, the branch of the government that coordinates sales and transfers of military equipment to allies, the US has sent Bahrain dozens of "excess" American tanks, armored personnel carriers, and helicopter gunships.

The US has also given the Bahrain Defense Force thousands of .38 caliber pistols and millions of rounds of ammunition, from large-caliber cannon shells to bullets for handguns. To take one example, the US supplied Bahrain with enough .50 caliber rounds - used in sniper rifles and machine guns - to kill every Bahraini in the kingdom four times over. The Defense Security Cooperation Agency did not respond to repeated requests for information and clarification.

In addition to all these gifts of weaponry, ammunition, and fighting vehicles, the Pentagon in coordination with the State Department oversaw Bahrain's purchase of more than $386 million in defense items and services from 2007 to 2009, the last three years on record.

http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/MC17Ak02.html

[elleng]

1. Remember this???

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p7L7WLFBYR4

[bemildred]

2. Why yes, I do.

Let's not forget "What's New Pussycat" either.

[formercia]

3. Selling guns to crazy people

that's what we do.