Are U.S. Arms Sales To Foreign Countries Making America Less Safe?

A US Army soldier fires a Javelin anti-tank missile during a training exercise in Estonia in 2016. Credit: Minnesota National Guard by Sgt. 1st Class Ben Houtkooper

Defense One: 70 Percent of Americans Say Arms Sales Make US Less Safe

A recent Chicago Council survey shows the Trump administration out of step with public opinion.

Most Americans want the United States to maintain strong alliances overseas, but not through foreign arms sales, a key tactic used by the Obama and Trump administrations..

Those findings from a recent Chicago Council survey arrive as the White House has worked to loosen export restrictions on military drones and circumvented Congress to sell weapons to allies in the Middle East.

“Americans don’t like selling weapons to other countries,” said Ivo Daalder, president of the Chicago Council on Global Affairs, and former U.S. ambassador to NATO under President Obama. They are more supportive to allied countries with one exception, he said. “Bipartisan majorities think that selling arms to Taiwan is a bad idea,” and the poll similarly found low support (38 percent) for using U.S. troops “if China invaded Taiwan.”

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WNU editor: The American people overwhelmingly share the same opinion when it comes to arms sales. 70% say it is making America less safe, but only 9% say it does. But last year the U.S. government authorized more than $180 billion in foreign arms sales, and it is probably going to be even larger this year. So even if 70% are against these sales, it is not going to change anything. There is just too much money in this business, and no one in Washington wants this spigot to be closed.