The United States limits arms sales to its allies, but U.S.-made weapons often end up in enemy hands anyway, according to a report that's critical of America's leading role in global weapons sales.
Last year, the United States subsidized $7.6 billion in arms exports to foreign governments through loans, an increase of 8.6 percent over $7 billion in 1994, said the World Policy Institute report released Wednesday.Future subsidies could double since Congress last year approved a new $15 billion taxpayer-backed arms-export loan-guarantee fund.
But those sales, which boost U.S. defense contractors' profits and create jobs in the post-Cold War era, mean more weapons available for every country worldwide, friend or foe, through resales, confiscation and even theft, the report said.
In fact, the past five times the United States has sent troops into harm's way - Panama, Iraq, Somalia, Haiti and Bosnia - they have faced forces who had gained access to U.S. weaponry or military technology, the report said.
"We're batting a thousand in terms of putting arms in the hands of our adversaries," William Hartung, a member of the liberal think tank and author of the report, said in an interview. "The U.S. is the unchallenged leader in selling weapons to the world and seems intent on remaining so."
Members of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee have noted, however, that the United States has the strictest standards on selling weapons to foreign countries.
"We only sell weapons to our friends," said Marc Thiessen, a spokesman for the committee. "This is a key component of our foreign policy strategy; if our allies can't defend themselves, then guess who will be forced to - us. It's in our interest to make sure our allies are well armed."
In 1993, after the Persian Gulf War, the United States hit a high of $33 billion in global weapons sales and, with the Soviet Union gone, has been the world's top arms dealer since, controlling more than half the market.
This year, the United States is expected to make some $12 billion to $15 billion in arms sales globally, Hartung said.
The U.S. policy promoting exports of weapons began with the Nixon administration in the midst of the Vietnam War as American officials decided it would be better to arm allies than fight for them.
The report said the United States employs 6,395 full-time personnel in the Defense Department to promote and help arrange foreign arms sales by U.S. companies and spends $26.5 million a year at international air and trade shows to show off weapons.