The trade
in question is in the private sector of
so-called “non-military weapons”. There
seems little doubt that unleashing an already
massive American export trade in private weapons
will further fuel “the scourge” of
conflicts and terrorism around the world.
What is
also telling is the timing of the move by the
Trump administration.
The move to boost exports of private American
gun makers also follows an
investigative report
revealing a $2.2 billion arms pipeline run by
the Pentagon and the CIA into Syria. Citing
incriminating procurement papers, the explosive
report shows how American government agencies
are funneling assault rifles and rocket
launchers, among other munitions, from Central
and Eastern Europe into Syria to arm
anti-government militant groups.
What
the latest move by the Trump administration will
do is obscure the potential paper trail of the
weapons trade. In effect, the proposed change in
US export regulations amounts to privatizing
arms dealing.
As Reuters
reported, the
Trump administration wants to shift the
responsibility for issuing export licenses for
“non-military firearms” from the State
Department to Commerce. The change could be
implemented within the next months.
The
volume of US privately manufactured weapons that
are traded around the world is already huge.
Last year, the State Department granted licenses
for the export of $4 billion-worth of US-made
small and medium arms. These weapons included
handguns, assault rifles and even rocket
launchers for the more adventurist gun
enthusiasts.
Under
the proposed Commerce Department’s purview the
flow of arms overseas is expected to
dramatically increase. That’s because Commerce
has less restrictions than State on the risk of
illicit weapons proliferation. Commerce is more
driven by basic concerns to maximize trade and
profit.
“There will be more leeway to do
arms sales,”
one senior administration official
told Reuters.
“You could really turn the spigot on if you
do it the right way.”
The Trump administration is pushing for the
regulatory change on the basis that it will
boost America’s trade figures. “Buy
American” is part of Trump’s plan to
“make America great again”.
One key
area to reduce the US trade deficit and
supposedly give a fillip to American
manufacturing jobs is to expand the export of
“non-military” weapons.
Trump’s election campaign was bankrolled by the
National Rifle Association to the tune of $30
million. Earlier this year, in April, he
told an NRA
convention:
“I am going to come through for you.”
Some
senior US lawmakers have expressed concern that
the loosening of trade regulations will fuel
conflicts overseas.
As Reuters reported:
“Assault rifles like the Bushmaster would be
some of the most powerful weapons expected to be
more readily available for commercial export
under the new rules.”
Democrat Senators Dianne Feinstein and Patrick
Leahy
reportedly
wrote objections to US Secretary of State Rex
Tillerson, pointing out that combat firearms are
the
“primary means of injury and
destruction in civil and military conflicts
throughout the world.”
However, the issue is about more than just
callous indifference in the pursuit of profit.
It is also about obscuring the potential links
between US authorities and the arming of
terrorist groups in the Middle East and
elsewhere.
In the investigative
report cited
above, published earlier this month by the
Balkans Investigative Reporters Network (BIRN),
it confirms what many observers have been
claiming for a long time. Namely, that the
Pentagon and CIA have been covertly running a
massive arms pipeline to militants in Syria to
overthrow the Assad government.
According to the BIRN, the transfer of arms
include Soviet-made assault rifles and
rocket-propelled grenades. The arms were
apparently scooped up from suppliers in Bosnia,
Czech Republic, Poland, Germany, and elsewhere,
and then shipped from Bulgaria and Romania to
Turkey and Jordan before final destination in
Syria.
The problem for the American authorities is that
such industrial-scale trading leaves an
embarrassing paper trail, from procurement
documents to shipping contracts. The paper trail
unearthed by BIRN clearly implicates the
Pentagon’s Special Operations Command (SOCOM)
and the CIA. The exposure compromises one of the
main tenets of
the CIA which is “plausible denial”. So
serious are the findings of US gun running from
Europe to the Middle East that the German
authorities have been now
reportedly
forced to investigate.
The
repercussions do not only concern Syria. It
concerns any other country where American
planners endeavor to covertly arm mercenaries
for regime change or some other illicit
function.
By
shifting the responsibility for overseeing
non-military arms exports from the State
Department to Commerce, the Trump
administration’s move potentially obscures
federal government involvement in illicit arms
trade. Rather than the Pentagon or CIA having to
do paperwork for its ventures, the onus will be
on private weapons companies and their private
buyers overseas. That inevitably lessens the
accountability of the US authorities when
weapons end up fueling conflicts.
As
noted, the American trade in non-military
weapons is already substantial at an annual
volume of $4 billion. Under Commerce’s looser
regulations that trade figure is expected to
jump by 15-20 per cent, according to Reuters.
One of
the main importers of American private arms is
Saudi Arabia. Which, as Hillary Clinton’s
communications leaked by Wikileaks acknowledged,
is accused of being the biggest sponsor of
“Sunni extremist groups” operating
globally.
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The
Trump administration appears to be primarily
motivated by an unscrupulous objective of
maximizing profits.
“Commerce wants more exports to
help reduce the trade deficit. And State wants
to stop things because it sees [arms]
proliferation as inherently bad,”
one of the US officials is
quoted as
saying. “We want to make a decision that
prioritizes what’s more important,” he
added, pointing to the need to get ahead of
international arms competitors based in Europe.
But
equally important, it would seem, is the erasing
of connection between US authorities and
“the scourge of terrorism”, which
ironically President Trump admonished the UN
General Assembly about earlier this week.
In
effect, the Trump administration will make it
easier for US weapons to end up in the hands of
terror groups. What has been up to now the shady
business of the Pentagon and CIA will henceforth
become even more darkened through private
networks of sellers and buyers.
The
move is a corollary of how much of American
military operations overseas have been
privatized to security contract firms like Eric
Prince’s Black Water. In Afghanistan and Iraq,
for example, it is estimated that thousands of
such private contractors have taken over the
role formerly carried out by US troops. There
are also suspicions that American-run
mercenaries are active in Ukraine, Syria and
Yemen. That privatization allows for Washington
to dodge questions about its violation of
international law.
Similarly, the deregulation of American arms
trade involving private manufacturers allows for
the Pentagon and the CIA to better invoke
plausible denial when they are accused of
sponsoring terrorist proxies.
It
serves to show how Trump’s touted concern about
terrorism at the UN was a cynical “hoax”
– to use one of his favorite catchphrases.
Finian Cunningham has written extensively on
international affairs, with articles published
in several languages. He is a Master’s graduate
in Agricultural Chemistry and worked as a
scientific editor for the Royal Society of
Chemistry, Cambridge, England, before pursuing a
career in newspaper journalism. He is also a
musician and songwriter. For nearly 20 years, he
worked as an editor and writer in major news
media organisations, including The Mirror, Irish
Times and Independent.