How the US Arms Problematic Regions

All local conflicts of the last decade have one common trait. Regardless of the geography, national, and religious character of their sides, they all gain weapons supplied by American forces. This tactic is based on the US’ authorities’ desire to apply their favorite tactic for destabilizing states and regions: creating controlled chaos. With the help of legal, semi-legal and criminal methods, they import weapons into the region and then destabilize socio-political social conditions that lead to the appearance of armed clashes. Thus, war is started once there is a sufficient number of weapons in the conflict zone. 

Black Market

Recently, one of the leading US media published an article which openly speaks of the impossibility of tracking US weapons legally sent to the Middle East. Thus, the author tells the story of a Hussein Mahyavi of Iraq, who used Facebook social networking to sell an M4 carbine used by the US Armed Forces. At the same time, the rifle had a mark that is characteristic for American military weapons, including a QR-Code with unique weapons inventory data. Despite the fact that the administration of the social network has responded to users’ complaints, and Mahyavi’s page was blocked, a black market weapons in the Middle East is rapidly growing, and the Internet is one of the most appropriate trading platforms. The prices of a particular type of weapon are regularly published. For example, in some regions, the price of the M4 Carbine can grow up to $6000. It is important to understand that the registration and control of weapon processes in the US military is simple and fast, which means that the weapon is unlikely to be simply “lost” and then appear on the black market.

Tip of the Iceberg

We can find a confirmation of this fact in a variety of journalists’ investigations and the reports of monitoring organizations such as Action on Armed Violence. According to its experts, in the last half decade, the Pentagon has given the law enforcement agencies of Afghanistan and Iraq about 1.45 million firearms, including more than 978,000 rifles, 266,000 pistols and about 112,000 guns. However, as the organization noted, this is just the tip of the iceberg, since it published only the officially documented transactions between Washington, Baghdad and Kabul. The supplies to local groups in Iraq, Syria, and other countries are not taken into account. We should not forget that, in addition to the United States, Israel and Saudi Arabia are also major regional players. They are also engaged in supplying arms to groups involved in military conflicts.

Explosive Funnel

It is important to note that terrorists often receive the weapons initially supplied to government agencies. Thus, one of the official reports said that only in 2007, 110,000 Kalashnikovs and 80,000 pistols purchased by the US government for the Iraqi security forces, disappeared. It was not long before the entire division of the Iraqi army simply disappeared from the places of combat operations after the capture of Tikrit and Mosul by ISIS. It is possible that these divisions joined the terrorist organization or split into several smaller groups. In any case, in only one year, the Pentagon lost almost 200,000 units of arms legally imported into Iraq. This case is certainly not unique.

Friendly Fire

In addition to firearms, the Pentagon has long been sending heavy weapons to conflict zones in Iraq and Afghanistan, such as RPG-7 launchers, SPG-9 calibre recoilless guns, and other weapons designed to destroy enemy armored equipment. In the early years of the conflict, only the US side had such a technique. This information was suspicious not only for journalists and analysts, but also for the US military. It is believed that this was done on purpose to increase the loss of staff and thus acquire an excuse to expand military operations. Another version asserts that US intelligence agencies gave direct assistance to ISIS radicals in order to plunge the entire region into a state of controlled chaos. 

The Largest Deal in History

Several episodes indicate that Washington desires to fill the Middle East with weapons of all kinds as much as possible. This includes the recent signing of an agreement on military aid with Israel in the amount of $38 billion. This was the largest deal in the history of US foreign policy. A small state with a population of about 8 million people is the first on the list of countries with the highest military expenditure per capita in recent years. At the same time, Israel’s geographic location, the border with Syria, and close ties to the Pentagon allow Washington to use Israel as a convenient springboard for the further militarization of the entire region.

New Vector

In addition to the Middle East, the United States could begin to supply lethal weapons to Ukraine in the near future. Congress approved a document which allows the transfer of lethal defensive weapons systems to Kiev. Many publications show that the USA already began to supply the Armed Forces of Ukraine with weapons, but the new law will make such legal and open. At the same time, this can eventually lead to the same situation as in the Middle East. The colossal corruption at all levels of the Ukrainian government, including the armed forces, security forces, and the fragmentation in so-called “volunteer battalions” will help to ensure that US weapons will end up on the black market or in the hands of radical and terrorist organizations.