Guess what? We're number one! Yes, we should get a gold medal for the production and distribution of instruments of killing. And, we are far ahead of our closest competitor, Russia. ($66.3 billion vs $4.1 billion.)
Arms control advocates are frustrated by lack of progress on any international regulation of arms proliferation.
The Arms Control Association’s Kimball, who attended the New York negotiations, lay much of the blame for that failure on the U.S. hosts, particularly President Barack Obama.
“Although the U.S. delegation had succeeded in inserting all of its preferred formulations in the treaty text and avoided all ‘red lines’, President Obama should have – but did not – provide the leadership necessary to close the deal,” he said.I'd like to pose what may sound like an obscure conspiracy theory. The military-industrial complex is a major dynamic component driving the policies of the home country, USA. Obama was selected to serve the Empire's ruling One Percent to promote its policies. He is serving it very well, and there is no doubt in my mind that he will be selected once again.
Romney would also function well (for the One Percent), but Obama still has some magic with the 99 Percent, and some of the latter feel that Obama is the lessor of the two evils. As an employee of the One Percent, he will pursue basically the same policies as Romney, but will do it with much more charm. Moreover, because the domestic economy is in shambles for most working people, the latter will fight to keep their fairly well paying jobs producing weapons for their masters in order to keep up on their mortgage payments on their homes.
I wonder how many of these weapons are now in the hands of mercenary armies, oops, I mean "freedom fighters" in Syria.
(Sorry for all the cynicism--I couldn't help it.)