The U.S.
sold more weapons than any other country in 2015 despite a drop in
the global arms trade, according to a new congressional report.
At $40
billion, the U.S. signed more than half of all arms agreements last
year, and more than double the next-highest seller, which was France
at $15 billion. American weapons sales included bombs, missiles,
armored tanks, Apache attack helicopters, F-15 fighter jets, and
other items.
The report
was published by the Congressional Research Service, which conducts
national policy analysis for Congress. It looked at conventional arms
transfers to developing nations from 2008 to 2015.
Russia sold
$11.1 billion, a slight drop from its 2014 count at $11.2 billion.
China sold $6 billion, doubling its output from last year.
The leading
buyers, meanwhile, were Qatar, which signed deals to purchase more
than $17 billion; Egypt, which signed on for $12 billion; and Saudi
Arabia, which purchased more than $8 billion.
Many of
those weapons have gone to aid the Saudi-led, U.S.-supported
coalition fighting rebels in Yemen at a high civilian price. As
anti-war activist and Common Dreams contributor Medea Benjamin wrote
in August, “American weapons are drenched in Yemeni blood.”
2015 also
marks the eighth year in a row that the U.S. has led the world in
global arms deliveries, even as many other countries cut back on
their arms spending over “domestic budget” concerns, as study
author Catherine A. Theohary put it.
The Guardian
noted on Tuesday that the findings comport with another recent study
that found the Obama administration had approved more than $278
billion in eight years, more than double that of the Bush
administration, which sold $128.6 billion.
Source
and links:
Comments
Post a Comment