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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsUS Will Sell Iraq $1 Billion In Warplanes, Armored Vehicles, And Surveillance Equipment
http://www.businessinsider.com/us-will-sell-iraq-1-billion-in-military-equipment-2014-5Iraqi government forces take part in a military operation in the city of Ramadi, west of the capital Baghdad, on April 26, 2014
The United States plans to sell nearly $1 billion worth of warplanes, armored vehicles and surveillance aerostats to Iraq.
The deal includes 24 AT-6C Texan II light-attack aircraft, a turboprop plane manufactured by Beechcraft that has .50 caliber machine guns, advanced avionics and can carry precision-guided bombs, the Pentagon said.
The aircraft and related equipment and services are valued at $790 million.
The Pentagon's Defense Security Cooperation Agency informed Congress on Tuesday of the planned sale, which will go ahead unless lawmakers block the deal.
Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/us-will-sell-iraq-1-billion-in-military-equipment-2014-5#ixzz31mfjb0am
WinkyDink
(51,311 posts)RKP5637
(67,112 posts)way. Disgusting!
clydefrand
(4,325 posts)I don't go along with this. Won't our gov. EVER learn? We sold them weapons a long time ago and they ended up using them against our troops. Did W sneak back in office??
RKP5637
(67,112 posts)it comes to foreign affairs.
clydefrand
(4,325 posts)Orsino
(37,428 posts)hobbit709
(41,694 posts)Guy Whitey Corngood
(26,501 posts)go to war with them in a few years. Who knows maybe they'll make a few bucks selling some of that shit to Iran.
malaise
(269,157 posts)treasury. War is so fugging profitable that it is needed 24/7
okaawhatever
(9,462 posts)purchased from the Israelis, Chinese and French. We haven't gotten squat from them. We didn't get any of the oil contracts in the first couple of bidding rounds. They gave the contracts to the Chinese and Russians who then needed our oil companies to handle the technical work because they don't have the expertise. American oil companies were eventually brought in as sub-contractors. That country has gotten how much from us in reconstruction money a couple hundred billion?
People were starving and dying before we invaded. Saddam Hussein was an evil brutal dictator who managed to stay in power despite numerous UN resolutions, sanctions, and everything else the free world threw at him. I don't agree with the invasion, but I also don't kid myself as to the situation before hand. There was nothing to loot. Still isn't.
frylock
(34,825 posts)WinkyDink
(51,311 posts)pampango
(24,692 posts)comes into effect. All these arms exporters, specifically including the US, will be liable for any human rights abuses associated with the arms they export.
"The Arms Trade Treaty obligates member states to monitor arms exports and ensure that weapons don't cross existing arms embargoes or end up being used for human-rights abuses, including terrorism. Member states, with the assistance of the U.N., will put into place enforceable, standardized arms import and export regulations (much like those that already exist in the U.S.) and be expected to track the destination of exports to ensure they don't end up in the wrong hands. Ideally, that means limiting the inflow of deadly weapons into places like Syria."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UN_Arms_Treaty#Content
okaawhatever
(9,462 posts)to rebuild their military.
WinkyDink
(51,311 posts)okaawhatever
(9,462 posts)sell them a small amount of arms. If we'd have stayed out we could have had much more business.
Scuba
(53,475 posts)WilliamPitt
(58,179 posts)So, OK, we went to war in Iraq because of 9/11...wait, no...because of weapons of mass destruction...wait, no...because we want to fight them over there instead of fighting them over here...wait, no...because they hate our freedom...wait, no...dammit...I know why we went...it's right on the tip of my tongue...
...oh, wait, now I remember.
Mission Accomplished.