How do you decide which industries to go to bat for?
Which industry is more important: oil ... or arms? Minerals ... or arms? Construction ... or arms?
I'm only asking because I was wondering about sustainability. I hate it when the pipelines are sabotaged or tapped. I don't like it when the diamonds and bauxite are bloody - and expensive. I'm bothered when the buildings just built are knocked down.
. . .
" Washington accounted for close to one-half of all new arms transfer agreements concluded during the year, as well as actual arms deliveries." Altogether, arms sales from all sources to developing countries made up about two-thirds of arms sales worldwide during 2002, according to the report, which is based on the most comprehensive data compiled by the U.S. government.
" New arms agreements with developing nations totaled 17.7 billion dollars, a 10 percent increase over new deals in 2001. Of that total, U.S. sales came to 8.6 billion dollars, or almost 48 percent of all arms transfers to Third World countries, up from 41 percent the previous year. "
Despite the above, arms sales are down this year. Some good from the slow world economy.
The CRS Report to Congress on "Conventional Arms Transfers to Developing Nations, 1995 - 2002"