Arms Trade
The role of the United States as a peacemaker in the world brings into question the flourishing international arms trade, with the United States as the major supplier of armaments.
In 1985 the global trade in major weapons reached $36 billion, of which $24.7 billion went to Third World nations. The United States is also the major supplier of the technology that other countries want in order to produce their own nuclear, chemical and biological weapons. The military industries thrive while the weapons we sell or give outright to countries with whom we share security interests encourage invasions, civil wars and the migration of 14 million refugees roaming the world, driven from their homes by war.
Before World War II the hidden arms trade and black markets were the domain of munitions makers. As contracts have grown into billions of dollars, the sale of weapons has become government policy.
What is the response of Congress to all of this? What do the American people want? Do they want to live permanently in a war economy?
ALICE BANOS
Concerned Faculty at UCLA
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