US 'Arms Control' Is Apparently for US Allies Only
While NPR highlights a legitimate worry about F-35 tech falling into Beijing's hands via Riyadh, the broader context of who gets US weaponry and why remains conspicuously absent. Successive administrations have sanctioned weapon sales to Saudi Arabia—a nation with a documented history of human rights abuses and a starring role in the devastating Yemen conflict—without similar public hand-wringing.
The silence from mainstream outlets concerning the consequences of these sales, beyond vague 'geopolitical stability' talking points, is deafening. One might wonder if the F-35's advanced tracking systems can pinpoint the irony. The US government and its media cheerleaders routinely agonize over 'threats' to the region, yet continue to arm regimes based on opaque strategic calculations,
transforming the Middle East into a five-alarm fire sale for American defense contractors. How many more regional 'partners' will receive top-tier US military hardware before anyone asks if it actually makes anyone safer, or just richer?