‘The US has a long-standing (and accelerating) policy of arming, training and aiding some of the world's most repressive regimes. As insecurity mounts from Najaf to New Orleans, more weapons and high-tech military equipment are flowing into some of the globe's most vulnerable and war-torn regions.  

The Congressional Research Service recently found that global arms sales rose to US$37 billion in 2004 - the highest level since 2000. US companies such as Lockheed Martin and Boeing rang up $12.4 billion in weapons contracts - more than one-third of the total and more than twice what Russia - the second largest exporter sold. The Departments of State, Commerce and Defense are all involved in different aspects of approving licenses, managing logistics and (in many cases) loaning or granting funds to nations as they seek weapons from US corporations.  

The US transferred weaponry to 18 of the 25 countries involved in active conflicts in 2003, the last year for which full Pentagon data is available. From Chad to Ethiopia, from Algeria to India, transfers to conflict nations through the two largest arms sales programs totalled more than $1 billion.    

When poor human rights records, serious patterns of abuse and histories of conflict are all factored in, 20 of the top 25 U.S. arms clients in the developing world in 2003 - a full 80 percent - were either undemocratic regimes or governments with records of major human rights abuses.’

Ending Tyranny - The Bush Way