| Summary |
In an alarming development that is shaking all of America, countries that were once considered our allies as well as our enemies are secretly arming our enemies. In an exposé of treachery and deceit, an investigation recently uncovered that, through shell companies and top-secret networks, countries from all over the world are quietly selling weapons to America's opponents.
The investigation, conducted by a private arms-trafficking watchdog organization, reveals that there have been several shipments of deadly weapons and ammunition sent directly to America's adversaries. These illicit deals are taking place through a complex network that spans numerous countries, front-companies, and transport companies, making them incredibly difficult to trace.
Some of the countries participating in these illicit deals are in the Middle East and North Africa, such as Egypt, Qatar, and Yemen. It is also believed that North Korea has been funneling missiles and other weapons to certain countries where America has strong enemies.
The organizations conducting the investigation also uncovered evidence of countries in Europe turning a blind eye to the shipments, with many of them even supplying the weapons through their ports. This means that even America's allies are secretly arming our enemies. It is believed that not only are the weapons being used for military purposes, but various terrorist organizations are also likely to be receiving them.
The investigation also revealed that the weapons being supplied to America's enemies are being sourced from all over the world. These include countries like Russia, Ukraine, and China. The weapons being sold are also believed to be of very high quality, as these countries are known for their advanced weapons manufacturing capabilities.
This news has led to a great amount of alarm and concern among the American public, as well as in the highest echelons of the US government. It is feared that the weapons being sold could be used against American military personnel, civilians, and interests at some point in the future.
It is now up to the US government to take immediate action to address this issue and prevent any further arming of America's enemies. Steps such as increasing surveillance of potential suppliers, tightening export control laws, and strengthening bilateral agreements with other countries are needed to ensure that the weapons being sold are not making their way to our enemies.
America's friends and foes are clandestinely arming our opponents in a treacherous act of deceit. This recent investigation uncovered numerous shipments of high-quality weapons and ammunition being sent to America's adversaries through shell companies and top-secret networks. Countries from the Middle East, North Africa, Europe and even North Korea, Russia, Ukraine and China were identified as participating in these illicit deals. The US government must take immediate steps to prevent any further arming of our adversaries, such as increasing surveillance of potential suppliers, tightening export control laws, and strengthening bilateral agreements with other countries.
Treachery: How the US's Friends and Foes Secretly Arm Our Enemies
The United States is facing a new form of treachery. America's friends and foes are selling weapons to our enemies without our knowledge. The US finds itself betrayed by nations that have made pledges of loyalty and friendship.The growth in illegal arms sales has been fueled by the civil wars and regional conflicts taking place around the world. This has provided a breeding ground for these kinds of illicit activities. It has created a climate of secrecy and suspicion, making it difficult for the US to identify and prevent these sales.
The result has been a major security dilemma for the US. Its enemies are able to acquire weapons from its allies, even in cases where the US has imposed restrictions. It is a method of arming its enemies that the US is ill-equipped to counter.
Since the end of the Cold War, the level of arms sales to US adversaries has increased exponentially. As the US has imposed sanctions on countries like Iran, North Korea, and Syria, it has become easier for its rivals to get weapons. It has put the US in a difficult position as it struggles to defend itself against these potential aggressors.
The US has long been concerned about the proliferation of weapons in the Middle East and North Africa. In recent years, these regions have become the hub for illicit arms trading. Nations like Iran, Syria, and the Gulf countries have become the primary suppliers of weapons to US adversaries.
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Mr. Gertz documents that this international trade and transfer of weapons materials and intelligence is the very "Axis of Evil" around which Iraq, Iran, and North Korea revolve. Its danger is compounded by the fact that nations with whom the U.S. is allied also maintain alliances with nations that are enemies of the U.S.--and vice-versa. Well-worn aphorisms such as "politics makes strange bedfellows" and "nations don't have friends, they have interests" take on an alarming freshness. The Bush Administration believes that the next major terrorist strike on the U.S. will use WMD, according to Gertz's Pentagon sources. Mr. Gertz points out insider information about the U.S.'s inability to acknowledge its true weaknesses but also casts blame globally when he acknowledges that the United Nations is too inept to help. The U.N.'s "Oil for Food" program that was intended to relieve U.N. trade embargoes to help Saddam Hussein's regime sell some oil to help feed the Iraqi people ended up serving as a pipeline funneling billions of dollars to corrupt officials. This is even more disturbing since threats continue against the U.S., and unless the U.S. acknowledges these truths and fortifies its security, the threats will become even more dangerous, since the international community provides little protection or insulation from outside attacks.
Importantly, Mr. Gertz takes aim at the U.S. Government and faults it for being careless and negligent in allowing weapons-technology proliferation to continue. Between 1992 and 2001, the U.S. supplied arms or military technology to 92 percent of the world conflicts under way.
Mr. Gertz, a defense and national security reporter for the Washington Times and the author of the New York Times bestsellers Breakdown and Betrayal, conducted interviews with top American defense and intelligence officials, including Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld. He also had access to classified documents and reports, supplementing publicly available information. But Mr. Gertz falls prey to his own alliances: his chief sources are the same Pentagon officials who lowered the bar on what constituted evidence of WMD in Iraq, asserting, on the slimmest of evidence, that Iraq was ready to use such weapons.
"Simply stated, there is no doubt that Saddam Hussein now has weapons of mass destruction," said Vice President Dick Cheney. "There is no doubt he is amassing them to use against our friends, against our allies and against us."
However, as we now know, the 1,500-page final report of the chief U.S. arms inspector and head of the Iraq Survey Group submitted to the Senate Armed Services Committee found no evidence of weapons stockpiles. What else was the Pentagon wrong about? These are the concerns that Mr. Gertz alludes to, causing the public to question sources and media coverage which may be incomplete or inaccurate.
Mr. Gertz seems to take the failure to find WMD as grounds for duplicity, emphasizing Iraq's ties to France and President Jacques Chirac dating back to 1975. But French ties to Iraq go back to the 1920 Treaty of Sèvres, which guaranteed France 25% of Iraqi oil production. And at that time, Americans responded to those provisions by whipping up a storm of public indignation. It's an old story, unless of course you have never heard it.
Mr. Gertz goes on to state that the Russians, like the French, had huge oil contracts with Iraq and that, in a shameless display of chutzpah, expected the new postwar Iraqi government to honor those contracts. Again, by using his insider contacts and information, Mr. Gertz is able to depict how countries such as France, Germany, Russia, and China have armed our enemies and have themselves become threats based on their involvement in the proliferation of weapons technology.
Weapons of mass destruction are the crucial components of Mr. Gertz's argument. He acknowledges the suspect motives of both our allies and enemies. In his last chapter, he cites nuclear and non-nuclear weapons proliferation as the important danger for America. But there is a twist. Mr. Gertz advocates increasing weapons spending to create the ultimate deterrent, a new weapon called the Robust Nuclear Earth Penetrator, "what the Chinese call a 'trump card' weapon," he writes. However, it is unclear how the American public would support measures to increase weapons spending in light of the dramatic changes in the international arena, and Mr. Gertz does not sufficiently address this, making for a less-compelling case. However, he does manage to address the issues and questions that America must tackle no matter how intimidating they might be.
If nothing else, after the Senate report on WMD, "Treachery" stirs the pot on the witch's brew of arguments surrounding the war in Iraq.
