China's Arms Exports Pour Into Africa

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Sources: SIPRI Arms Transfers, Embargoes databases. The Washington Post.

China’s Arms Exports Flooding Sub-Saharan Africa -- Washington Post

UNITED NATIONS — China’s arms exports have surged over the past decade, flooding sub-Saharan Africa with a new source of cheap assault rifles and ammunition and exposing Beijing to international scrutiny as its lethal wares wind up in conflict zones in violation of U.N. sanctions.

Weapons from China have surfaced in a string of U.N. investigations in war zones stretching from the Democratic Republic of the Congo to Ivory Coast, Somalia and Sudan. China is by no means alone in supplying the arms that help fuel African conflicts, and there is no proof that China or its arms exporters have intentionally violated U.N. embargoes in any of those countries.

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My Comment: The Chinese buy the minerals that they need .... and pay it with weapons. Good deal for China .... a shitty one for Africa.

U.S. Arms Sales Continue To Grow

Source: Congressional Research Service

U.S. Arms Sales Make Up Most of Global Market -- New York Times

WASHINGTON — Weapons sales by the United States tripled in 2011 to a record high, driven by major arms sales to Persian Gulf allies concerned about Iran’s regional ambitions, according to a new study for Congress.

Overseas weapons sales by the United States totaled $66.3 billion last year, or more than three-quarters of the global arms market, valued at $85.3 billion in 2011. Russia was a distant second, with $4.8 billion in deals.

The American weapons sales total was an “extraordinary increase” over the $21.4 billion in deals for 2010, the study found, and was the largest single-year sales total in the history of United States arms exports. The previous high was in fiscal year 2009, when American weapons sales overseas totaled nearly $31 billion.

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My Comment: This is a massive increase in just one year .... I guess the world is not becoming a safer place.