America the arms pot shouldn't call any kettles black
■"Weapons Sales Worldwide Rise to Highest Level Since 2000: Substantially more arms purchases by developing nations," by Thom Shanker, New York Times, 30 August 2005, p. A8.
Global arms transfers are up to a level not seen since 2000, and the biggest buyers are found in the New Core. China, for example, has bought a whopping $10 billion in foreign arms over the past four years alone!
Wow! China buys from other nations roughly 2-3 billion dollars of weapons and platforms each year.
That is impressive. I mean, that's an entire Seawolf submarine in cost!
Actually, China was surpassed by India in 2004, as New Delhi bought almost $6 billion in foreign purchases. Saudi Arabia was second with $2.9 billion, and "rising near-peer competitor" China managed only $2.2 billion-or exactly what the Pentagon pays for its new attack sub.
Yes, the Chinese are narrowing our lead all right.
Oh, and guess who's the biggest arms merchant in the world again this year.
You've guessed it! The United States. We accounted for one-third of all sales in the world, including roughly one-third of all sales to so-called developing nations (basically the Gap plus the New Core). But the big growth among Old Core sellers of arms occurs with Western Europe, not us. Britain, France, Germany and Italy sold less than a billion in 2003, jumping to $4.8 billion in 2004. And they managed to do this without lifting the EU's ban on military sales to China.
In all, the "developing world" bought just over $20 billion in arms last year, but take out India and China and that total drops to less than $14 billion.
Still, you have to ask yourself what the Old Core buys with all those sales to the Gap.
Since the Gap is the source of all the wars and ethnic conflict of note in the global security order today, wouldn't it seem like most of that money's being wasted?
Ah, but here's the big rationale we hear from the defense-industrial complex: (in effect) "we make so little profit per unit in the Old Core that we have to sell knock-offs to the New Core and Gap to recoup our costs and make a decent profit."
Beautiful system, isn't it?
Meanwhile we're told by so many security experts that it would "bankrupt" us to try and shrink the Gap militarily.
"Riiiiiiiiight," drawls Dr. Evil.