$66.3 billion in arm sale, 2011 record year

[BladeVenom]

The US sold $66.3 billion in arm sales last year with the majority going to the Middle East. US sales accounted for 78% of all global arms sales. http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/08/27/us-usa-arms-sales-idUSBRE87Q0V220120827

The US is selling more guns at home than ever before, and more weapons abroad than ever before.

Obama needs another Nobel Peace Prize.

 

[hal2kilo]

The US sold $66.3 billion in arm sales last year with the majority going to the Middle East. US sales accounted for 78% of all global arms sales. http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/08/27/us-usa-arms-sales-idUSBRE87Q0V220120827

The US is selling more guns at home than ever before, and more weapons abroad than ever before.

Obama needs another Nobel Peace Prize.

Like we would be selling less arms with a Republican president in office?

 

[chucky2]

I just want to see the Silent Eagle produced. That is all...

 

[BladeVenom]

Like we would be selling less arms with a Republican president in office?

If Obama was a Republican he'd be getting called a war monger, and war criminal by all the liberal sheep.

In the US, yes. People expected anti-gun laws from Obama, so guns sales have skyrocketed.

Selling to other countries, probably not.

 

[schneiderguy]

"There are over 550 million firearms in worldwide circulation. That's one firearm for every 12 people on the planet.

The only question is, how do we arm the other 11?"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VHn1zogeyO4 :awe:

We can't stop until everyone in the world has a gun. IIRC the good people of Kentucky bought over two million firearms in 2011. That's one gun for every two people in Kentucky in just one year. They should get a medal :thumbsup:

 

[gevorg]

$33 billion worth of arms to Totalitarian Arabia? I bet their women, non-Muslims and LGBT population loves all the "support" from America! :whiste:

 

[OCGuy]

It's great. We arm "friends" with dumbed-down tech. Soon those regional friends become enemies, which gives us an excuse to use those arms sales to help fund new weapons programs, and the cycle continues...

 

[cybrsage]

We are arming SA to defend against a possible Iranian war (Persians and Arabs have a long history of hate for each other). SA has not shown the desire to attack any of its neighbors for many hundreds of years, so it is a safe nation to sell arms to. Also, its stability is important to the global oil market, which is a vital resources for all industrialized nations. Keeping it stable is in our best interest.

 

[BladeVenom]

Of course you never know when a religious coup could take place, and Saudi Arabia then becomes an enemy. It happened with Iran after we sold them top of the line F-14s.

 

[dawheat]

Of course you never know when a religious coup could take place, and Saudi Arabia then becomes an enemy. It happened with Iran after we sold them top of the line F-14s.

So don't sell to one of your few stable allies and a possible counterweight to Iran's military?

Regardless in your hypothetical - they'd find out (like Iran), how hard it is to keep planes flying and armed in the ME without spare parts. After cannibalizing planes as a fallback, I don't think Iran has any flight worthy F14s left. They certainly haven't had them in sufficent flyable numbers to be a threat for decades.