Yes, I DO Take It Personally! What Martin Luther King Jr. Meant When He Said: "...the greatest purveyor of violence in the world today -- My country"

Reference ~~ Martin Luther King Jr., "Beyond Vietnam -- A Time to Break Silence" (Speech delivered 4 April 1967 at a meeting of Clergy and Laity Concerned, Riverside Church, New York City)

Also see: Martin Luther King Jr., Domestic Terrorist


In 2008, according to an authoritative report from the Congressional Research Service (CRS), $55.2 billion in weapons deals were concluded worldwide. Of that total, the United States was responsible for $37.8 billion in weapons sales agreements, or 68.4% of the total “trade.” Some of these agreements were long-term ones and did not result in 2008 deliveries of weapons systems, but these latest figures are a good gauge of the global appetite for weapons.


It doesn’t take a PhD in economics to recognize that, when one nation accounts for nearly 70% of weapons sales, the term “global arms trade” doesn’t quite cut it.


Consider the “competition” and reality comes into focus. Take a guess on which country is the number two weapons exporter on the planet: China? Russia?

No, Italy, with a relatively paltry $3.7 billion in agreements with other countries or just 9% of the U.S. market share.


Russia, that former Cold War superpower in the “trade,” was close behind Italy, with only $3.5 billion in arms agreements.

More from ProfMarcus: "The U.S. - making sure that purveyors of death and destruction have the latest and best tools for the job" @ "And Yes I DO Take It Personally"

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