Thursday, April 27, 2017

Bazaar Post

"US sold $40 billion in weapons in 2015, topping global market" by Thom Shanker New York Times   December 27, 2016

WASHINGTON — The United States again ranked first in global weapons sales last year, signing deals for about $40 billion, or half of all agreements in the worldwide arms bazaar, and far ahead of France, the No. 2 weapons dealer with $15 billion in sales, according to a congressional study.

From a country whose war-criminal leaders constantly profess their wish for peace.

Developing nations continued to be the largest buyers of arms in 2015, with Qatar signing deals for more than $17 billion in weapons, followed by Egypt, which agreed to buy almost $12 billion in arms, and Saudi Arabia, with over $8 billion in weapons purchases.

I didn't see any enemies in there at all. I just saw client state oppressors called allies.

Although global tensions and terrorist threats have shown few signs of diminishing, the total size of the global arms trade dropped. The United States and France increased their overseas weapons sales in 2015, as Russia, another dominant power in the global arms market, saw a modest decline in orders for its weapons. Latin American nations, in particular Venezuela, have become a focus of marketing for Russian arms, the study found. 

The chaos in Venezuela has certainly hurt their interests, cui bono?

China reached $6 billion in weapons sales, up from its 2014 total of more than $3 billion.

The largest buyers of weapons in the developing world in 2015 were Qatar, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, South Korea, Pakistan, Israel, the United Arab Emirates, and Iraq.

Where are U.S. enemies Iran and Syria?

As for Israel, they don't actually buy weapons. The U.S. Congre$$ gives them taxpayer money and then they spend it on U.S. war equipment -- except for instances like Israel's various missile shields, whereby the U.S. government simply picks up the tab.

After the United States, France, Russia, and China, the study found that the major global arms suppliers were Sweden, Italy, Germany, Turkey, Britain, and Israel....

Sweden?

As for the rest, it's interesting to note that the five permanent members of the U.N. Security Council -- you know, the body that is tasked with keeping the peace in the world -- are also included within the top ten arms suppliers.

How bizarre, huh?

--more--"