EDITORIAL – U.S. arms potential enemies for war on terror

It seems that the United States just doesn’t learn. A report released Friday from the World… It seems that the United States just doesn’t learn. A report released Friday from the World Policy Institute said that the United States has tremendously increased its sales of weapons to undemocratic countries in an effort to gain assistance in Bush’s “war on terror.”

The study asserted that since the events of Sept. 11, 2001, more than 20 countries have received military aid, weaponry or weapons for the first time after being blacklisted because of their failures to protect human rights.

Strangely enough, the countries that proved to be the most problematic concerning issues of humanity are being sold the most weaponry. Although the cost of arms cannot offset the cost of war, the numbers are convincing.

Undemocratic and problematic countries include: Saudi Arabia ($1.1 billion), Egypt ($1.0 billion), Kuwait ($153 million), United Arab Emirates ($110 million) and Uzbekistan ($33 million), where hundreds were killed recently as a result of anti-government protests.

Another frightening correlation is that not only are undemocratic countries being polluted with weaponry, countries that have domestic disputes and internal conflicts are also at the top of the list.

One may wonder how many of these countries — some even third world — can afford the merchandise that the United States has to offer. A significant amount of the money is from Foreign Military Financing.

The FMF, the largest U.S. military aid program, administers grants to nations as long as they invest their funding in U.S. weaponry. Between 2001 and 2005, countries receiving “weapon welfare” increased from 48 to 71 percent, and the numbers are continuing to rise.

The biggest concern with the results of this study is that we are unwittingly arming potential adversaries. Although research does not suggest that arming nations has any effect on terrorism, history suggests that these weapon systems could end up being not only fatal for us, but that they could cost us more money in the long run in war costs than we are making in profit.

We all remember too well the “constant” search conducted this year in Iraq and other portions of the Middle East that was tantamount to a wild goose chase. Also, while we’re thinking back, we should go a little further into history and think about how exactly Iraq obtained the weapons that provoked our “war on terror.”

We were the benefactors to Saddam Hussein and Iraq in the ’80s. And when Iraq turned on us, those same missiles we sold were targeted at us in the Gulf War. What makes absolutely no sense is that a lot of the U.S. administrators have remained in power throughout the Gulf War and former President George H.W. Bush’s administration. Still, Donald Rumsfeld and company have not learned from their mistakes.

These long-term consequences cannot be ignored any longer. Since the beginning of time, several great powers have fallen. From Rome to Russia, their fates have all been inevitable, and empires that rose to the summit truly plummeted to the very bottom. Thus, we must learn from the past and not speed this process.

The costs — armed adversaries and potential repetition of the events of Sept. 11, 2001 — greatly outweigh the supposed benefits — partners in fighting terrorist crime and access to military facilities overseas.

Thankfully, the report did offer some recommendations that it would behoove the United States to follow. In addition to following the Arms Export Control Act, which says to arm nations only when they are in need of weaponry for self-defense, the report urges the government to ratify an international arms trade treaty and to discard any surplus weapons.

This, at the very least, is a start to changes in the drastic measures taken since our war on terrorism. But the government should redirect its areas of focus and concentrate on ameliorating this problem.

Congressmen have recently pushed to enforce legislation that would require all high schools and colleges to teach about the Constitution on Sept. 17 — its anniversary. Instead of concentrating on Sept. 17 we should be reflecting on Sept. 11, 2001. And the month of September should be a month where the government learns about this country’s fallible history so that it does not continue to make what could soon be irrevocable mistakes.