Arms sales record as firms duck controls with 'flat-pack' weapons

[Kefka]

http://www.guardian.co.uk/international/story/0,,1886021,00.html

By the end of the year, military spending is estimated to reach $1,058bn (£561bn), about 15 times the amount spent on international aid, say Amnesty, Oxfam, and the International Action Network on Small Arms (Iansa).

The figure is higher than the cold war record reached in 1987-88 of $1,034bn in today's prices, they claim, adding that last year the US, Russia, Britain, France and Germany accounted for an estimated 82% of all arms transfers.

If you ever wondered about the US's 'wars on terror without end', just take a look at the numbers and how profitable war is for the defense contractors.

And unfortunately, weaponry seems to be the only American-made (or licensed) item that people are interested in buying these days.