Ukraine and Yemen wars highlight US’s role as biggest arms dealer in the world
Mike Ludgwig, Truthout
Analysts say the defense industry has spent billions of dollars lobbying Congress while quietly making much more in profit by manufacturing weapons that fuel deadly conflicts in Ukraine, Yemen and across the world under federal arms sales agreements that have little effective congressional oversight.
There is a dangerous “feedback loop” between major weapons manufacturers in the United States that make billions in profits from arms sales, the countries that arm themselves with these weapons, and the U.S. government, which uses arms sales as “tools” to gain economic and diplomatic leverage, according to Dan Auble, a researcher at money-in-politics tracker OpenSecrets.

“Unfortunately, it’s ultimately the human beings on the ground who suffer as a result of the prolonged wars that are fed from these arms sales abroad,” Auble told reporters on Thursday.
The U.S. is the top arms dealer in the world, followed by Russia, France and the United Kingdom, with the U.S. responsible for 39 percent of arms exports globally, according to the Stockholm International Peace Institute.
Recent Posts
Starbucks Workers Build Steam
March 25, 2023
Take Action Now Since last fall, the union effort has increased its capacity to exert pressure on the corporate mega-giant—including in a March 22…
Banking Crisis 3.0: Time To Change The Rules Of The Game
March 24, 2023
Take Action Now What constituted a radical departure from capitalist principles in the last financial crisis was not “nationalization” but an…
Behind The #StopCopCity Domestic Terrorism Warrants
March 24, 2023
Take Action Now “Most of the criminal defense lawyers I have spoken with are indicating that there is no individualized suspicion in any of these…
Here’s How The US Could Phase Out Fossil Fuels Fast
March 24, 2023
Take Action Now A new report lists 10 policies to constrain polluting infrastructure and achieve key climate goals. By Joseph Winters, Grist On…