U.S. biggest Arms dealer in world - thoughts?
THC
Posts: 525
I was wondering what people think (esp. Americans) of the fact that the United States is the biggest arms dealer in the world. This thread comes from the recent news that the U.S. is going to be selling billions of dollars of arms to both Saudi Arabia and Isreal.
what do people think of this? is this responsible? does it matter? is the U.S. just hedging its bets?
what do people think of this? is this responsible? does it matter? is the U.S. just hedging its bets?
“Kept in a small bowl, the goldfish will remain small. With more space, the fish can grow double, triple, or quadruple its size.”
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-Big Fish
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what i don't like is how economics supercedes security. yes, some u.s. corp. will make millions and millions on these deals, and we may have a say now in what that country does, however, if the U.S. was the only one w/ all the expensive arms we produce and other nations didn't have that stuff....theoretically we would be much more secure. Hell...we used to sell Bin Ladin weapons to fight the Russians...and that came back to bite us in the ass. Also, i've heard when we got to Iraq...have the 'weapon's' they did have were old tanks and stuff made in the U.S.
-Big Fish
security is a misnomer ... the only threat to US "security" is in its ability to exploit other countries resources and labour ...
Regardless, the AK47 is probably the most popular and or ubiquitous weapon in the world and it's Russian and Chinese.
Generally, it's just a fun fact it dosen't really mean anything one way or the other except that the US produces a lot of weapons some of the only things we still manufacture in the US. Kind of a holdover from the Cold War but generally in a global economy (-tarriffs and price supports) the people who produce the best value product generally produce the most because that product is what the market demands.
Most armies/terrorist groups/freedom fighters/ police forces etc. of the world not in NATO are generally armed by old weapons from the USSR or from China.
I don't quite understand your point here. do you mean the U.S. tries to secure the country by exploiting other countries resources and labour?
I actually think the gov't believes that the country will be more secure if we have a say in who gets what...and when. In that respect...they think we will always have our hand in the pot so to speak.
and to the other post. yeah, i can def. see the economic part of it all...i just don't like the potential for war peliferation...it will inevitably lead to. Weapons eventually need to be used...otherwise buying them was pointless.
-Big Fish
it means there are no real threats to the US except in regards to available markets and resources ... it means that there are arms deals that are for "general defense" type situations and then there are arms deals that are done in the name of maintaining a favourable political climate ...
you spend more then anyone in the world on defence not because you are more threatened then anyone rather because the gov't is controlled by these interests ...
Actually... the AK-47 (and derivatives) are manufactured in places outside of Russia and China. Copies are made in Poland, Egypt, Bulgaria, Iran, Pakistan, India... all over the place... even in Iraq.
from what I understand, because of the monster tolerances in the design, they are reliable and durable and easy to manufacture and maintain... downside being they are not very accurate... especially at longer ranges.
The best ones are the actual Kalashnikovs made in Russia... ones that show up at Iraqi weddings and soccer celebrations are probably made local to the region... most likely, Egypt.
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wasn't that part screaming reality...
and reveling in it's loyalty. It's made by forming coalitions
over specific principles, goals, and policies.
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Supply vs. Demand! There is a demand so we supply. That's capitalism!
I have a gun or two I'd like to sell or trade right now
so, if canada or the uk or somewhere sold weapons to iran it would be ok, right?
i can't imagine it being any different now but when clinton was president the US supplied more than 1/2 of the weapons to the 3rd world...try selling your dream of capitalism to their families
he had a voice that was strong and loud and
i swallowed his facade cos i'm so
eager to identify with
someone above the crowd
someone who seemed to feel the same
someone prepared to lead the way
Not only is it stupid and hypocrite to sell weapons it clearly shows none of these democracies wish to end wars anytime soon - regardless of the feelings of the people of said countries.
Absolutely not! They are the competition! We should!
So? That's not relevant. I didn't expect much less from communists, they eat babies after all.
But occidental democracies, with their holier than thou attitudes should stop fuelling conflicts throughout the world, especially while leading a war on terror. That's the biggest problem (imo of course).
Hail, Hail!!!