“The U.S. sold $175 billion in weapons to foreign partners and allies in fiscal 2020 (under Trump),
a 2.8 percent rise from the previous year’s total, according to a Friday announcement from the Defense and State departments,” reports DefenseNews.
There are a number of laws on the books to try and regulate the practice of FMS.
“The 1976 Arms Export Control Act, the 1997 Leahy Law, and the 2008 Foreign Assistance Act all require in various ways that the U.S. government give consideration to risks,” explains the Cato Institute. “Risks,” meaning
“how dangerous are the countries we sell the stuff to.”
In 2020, the Trump administration was bound and
determined to sell billions in arms to Saudi Arabia.
Inspector General Steve Linick attempted to investigate the sale, based on Saudi Arabia’s documented record of atrocities in the Yemen war.
He was fired by the Trump administration for attempting that investigation.
In December of 2020, despite enormous pushback from many in Congress, the State Department approved the sale of $290 million in weapons to Saudi Arabia.
It was finalized an hour before Biden took the oath of office on January 20.
“The Biden administration plans to suspend the sale of many offensive weapons to Saudi Arabia approved under the Trump administration,”
but it will allow the sale of other matériel that can be construed to have a defensive purpose, U.S. officials said on Wednesday.
The plan, which was briefed to Congress last week, is part of an administration review of billions of dollars in arms sales to Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) that the White House announced soon after President Biden’s inauguration.”
From this deal, the UAE and Saudi Arabia can expect to receive “defensive” weapons like the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter (if they can keep it in the air) and armed Reaper drones.
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