I won’t be taking my capstone until next fall but I’ve already given some thought as to what I want to research. For some time now, I’ve been fascinated with US arms deals and how American weapons sometimes fall into the hands of terrorists. Trying to avoid the news these days, I wanted to learn about American arms deals and how we can actually end up arming terrorists. I came across two articles in the Times – one from today and another from two years ago.
This article discusses the rampant corruption among the Iraqi military and how plans to arm rebels always go poorly. We’re in a dilemma here, we “need” to arm these militaries, but the corrupt officials that actually receive the arms will sell the weapons to the highest bidder. “If each soldier is supposed to get 100 bullets, he will only get 50, and the officer will take and sell the rest,” Colonel Obeidi said. As he showed a reporter the Austrian-made Glock handgun he obtained from United States forces years ago, he added, “If the Iraqi Army had supplied this, the barrel would explode in two rounds.”
So corruption is one reason American weapons end up in the terrorists hands. Another is the fact that we readily arm “allies” that use our weapons to destroy their enemies.
Take the example of the vicious 20 month war in Yemen. Saudi Arabia has been relentlessly bombing Yemen since March 2015 with the goal of removing the rebel Houthi government from power. Using American weapons that they have acquired through arms sales, they have bombed civilians again and again. Factories, bridges, roads, and even a funeral are all subject to Saudi destruction. This article in the Times explains the damage in Yemen’s war and how American weapons have devastated the country.