ANN/Groong -- We Arm the World

ANN/Groong -- We Arm the World: "A $7 billion missile-defense system for the United Arab Emirates. An estimated $15 billion potential sale of Lockheed Martin's brand-new fighter plane to Israel. Billions of dollars in weaponry for Taiwan and Turkey. These and other recent deals helped make the United States the world's leading arms-exporting nation. In 2007, U.S. foreign military sales agreements totaled more than $32 billion ' nearly triple the amount during President Bush's first full year in office. The Pentagon routinely justifies weapons sales as `promoting regional stability,' but many of these arms end up in the world's war zones. In 2006 and 2007, the five biggest recipients of U.S. weapons were Pakistan ($3.5 billion), Iraq ($2.2 billion), Israel ($2.2 billion), Afghanistan ($1.9 billion) and Colombia ($580 million) - all countries where conflict rages."