Arab Spring Comes in Western Arms http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=55513

Global spending on arms in 2010 were an estimated 1.6 trillion dollars, with governments in the Middle East dishing out more than 111 billion for weapons - raising questions as to whether Western arms suppliers circumvented international treaties by exporting to repressive regimes.Last year, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Iraq, Oman, Kuwait, Bahrain and Egypt accounted for over 75 percent of U.S. arms sales - with Saudi Arabia ordering more than 60 billion dollars in weaponry, making it the leading buyer. 

"There is no doubt that the intersection of arms sales and human rights is a sticky one, and late last year the [Government Accountability Office] GAO reported that the U.S. Defence and State Departments haven’t always documented their reasons for such sales consistently," Laicie Olson, senior policy analyst with the Center for Arms Control and Non-Proliferation in Washington told IPS.

Large defence contractors such as Boeing and Lockheed Martin are some of the major profiteers - these companies and their employees depend on arms sales for a significant portion of their revenue. However, in a region that is said to be one of the most militarised in the world, human rights advocates claim that the U.S. continues to circumvent legislation like the Leahy Amendment, which prohibits U.S. arms sales to governments that fail to curb grave human rights violations.

[US IS VIOLATING LEAHY LAWS AND SHOUDL BE HELD ACCOUNTABLE AND RESPONSIBLE FOR WAR CRIMES BEING COMMITTED BY ITS MIDDLE EASTERN CLIENT REGIMES,AND WHY THEY DIDNT MENTION US ARMS TO ISRAEL?(ILL LET YOU FIGURE IT OUT)WICH IS A VIOLATION OF SYMMINGTON AMMENDMENT AS WELL..