The US had a record year for sales of weapons to foreign governments – so far totaling over $47 billion and going strong through the remainder of the year. The sales are 30% over last year and double that of 2013! Great – right?
But our own military just released a sobering report stating that we are running out of weapons and our military defense is spiraling… How will we fight ISIS if we don’t have any weapons left?
From gifting F-16 fighter jets to Egypt, to Apache helicopters and warships, to patriot missiles and Gatling guns, arms deals with Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Kuwait, have contributed to a burgeoning arms industry still going strong. The Saudis have used these weapons to parade before Iran and to reduce Yemen to rubble. The US and media claim that Iran poses a significant threat to Saudi Arabia is well – rubbish.
But giving Iran nuclear power while arming Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Kuwait – is not rubbish. It is instigating an all out massive Middle East implosion.
And while the $47 billion price tag sounds like mega $$$$$ profits, our friendly US government subsidizes those sales from our coffers that are apparently empty of dollars to provide weapons for our own military! Of the $47 billion, we taxpayers footed about $11 billion or roughly 25% of the cost. Why? Because the Saudis don’t have enough money to pay the full tab and deserve a discount??
Just this month the Department of Defense authorized the sale of $70 million arms to Turkey. Why? Because Turkey blackmailed Germany, the EU and the US over the refugee crisis. And Turkey won $3 billion euro – to start – $70 subsidized arms, and EU membership status despite its deplorable human rights, its ongoing decimation of Kurds, and its downing of a Russian fighter jet using US made weapons. Add to that the recent reports of ISIS utilizing US made weapons and it would appear everyone has US weapons but – the US!
According to General Welsh with the US Air Force, the US is “expending munitions faster than we can replenish them.” But how is that possible if we sell $47 billion with $11 billion US government subsidies? Obviously someone is making weapons because we keep selling them! Obviously someone is making money. Obviously the US military is on the short end of the stick in terms of priority. Even more odd is the fact that this General stated that replenishing stock could take up to four years…but we anticipate continuing sales to the Middle East to go on without a hitch!
I have a plan, let’s stop selling to the Middle East. Maybe then it would only take a few months or a year to ramp up our supplies. Or maybe we should just let the Middle East deal with the Middle East. There’s a novel idea.
The news of depletion comes at the point of depletion. Under normal circumstances wouldn’t the statement be made as we ‘approached’ depletion? Because now we may be phoning Russia with our buy order of their cache –
How much is this little war costing the US?
Between August 2014 and June 2015, the US spent roughly $2.7 billion fighting in Syria, which amounts to $9 million per day. But that does not include what we have been spending on Iraq since 2003 – $187 million per day. That would amount to $71,540,000,000 per year. And what do we have to show for that? Containment in Syria…nothing in Iraq, we’re still too busy helping Turkey kill the Kurds that we support.
So when we hear about the $500,000 gas station that should have cost $50,000, the $1 billion training program that trained no one in Syria, a Syrian ‘refugee’ plan that will cost the US $55 billion, $4.5 billion to help rebuild everything we destroyed in Syria, and lets not leave out – DYN Corp., a private military company that receives 96% of its funding from the feds amounting to over $3 billion, despite the fact that it has been indicted for fraud, corruption, tax evasion and sexual abuse of children (with no one being punished), I would venture to say that – spending needs a bullwhip!
Of course, all this spending comes as veterans get jacked by VA hospitals, their pay is cut, and their service is life. Who is running this show? Because it is most definitely not the people – as in We the People.