Duplicitous Rhetoric

I’ve got another problem of understanding. It seems like I have these little peccadillos of understanding every so often.

Here’s the issue.

The State Department’s Military Assistance Report from June 8^th reported that it approved $44.28 billion in arms shipments to 173 nations in the last year.

What kind of weapons are we selling to the world?

Firearms, armored vehicles, aircraft, chemical and riot control agents like tear gas. Many of our client nations have struggled with human rights problems. These include: Djibouti, Honduras, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, The United Arab Emirates. Egypt, Brazil, India, Algeria and Peru.

According to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, the United States is the world’s top provider of major conventional weapons. Next comes Russia, France and China.

What the heck are we doing? What the heck is the world doing? We elite industrial countries are making a buck off the leadership insecurity and perceived protection needs of other dictatorial nations.

This is idiocy. We help nations kill or suppress their enemies rather that talk to them. Talk might find a peaceful resolution to dynamic controversies, but that’s too hard.

We do this at the same time we tout, promote, and encourage peace among the world’s countries and diverse communities.

I don’t understand it!