By the time President Barack Obama leaves office, he will have overseen more sales of military weaponry than any other president . Since 2009, the United States has approved the sale of more than $200 billion worth of American-made arms to countries around the world. These sales constitute $60 billion more of such sales than during George W. Bush's two terms.
Factors driving the Obama surge include a shift toward arming allies instead of putting American boots on the ground and his decision to relax arms export rules, a move supported with an estimated $170 million in lobbying by the defense industry.
US Military Weapons Sales Agreements, 1970-2014
U.S. military weapons sales agreements have risen from a base of about $6 billion in 1970 to a high of over $60 billion in 2014. There were spikes to about $45 billion in the mid-'70s and nearly $50 billion in the mid-'90s.
Cluster Bombs
The Obama administration has approved the sale of 2,135 cluster bombs, which are banned by more than 100 countries. Most have gone to Saudi Arabia, which is using them in the U.S.-backed war against Yemeni rebels.
Arms Sales to Saudi Arabia
Between 2009 and 2015, the U.S. and Saudi Arabia signed arms deals potentially worth more than $100 billion, including a $29 billion deal in 2012 and a recent $1.3 billion deal that included 22,000 bombs and other munitions.
U.S. Control of the Arms Market
The United States controls more than half of the global arms market. Russia, the next biggest supplier, has 14%.
Top 5 Buyers of American Weapons, 2009-2014
1. Saudi Arabia
2. United Arab Emirates
3. Australia
4. Iraq
5. Israel (Source for all above: "Arsenal of Democracy," Mother Jones, March/April 2016.)
ADDENDUM:
*KIDS AND LIFE WITHOUT PAROLE, BY THE NUMBERS
In 2012, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that mandatory life without parole for juveniles was unconstitutional.
Here's how the states decided to deal with their inmates: By the end of 2015, twelve had either denied or nor addressed retroactive sentencing; four had the matter under review in the courts; and eleven had allowed retroactive resentencing. The remaining states have never used mandatory life without parole.
The states with the highest number of inmates serving life-without-parole sentences for crimes committed as kids are Pennsylvania, with 376; Michigan, with 368; California, with 288; Louisiana, with 247; and Florida, with 227. Louisiana's 247 constitutes 5.31 per 100,000 residents -- the highest rate in the nation. Of Louisiana's inmates, 199 of them, or 81% are black. Michigan's 368 inmates constitute a rate of 3.71 per 100,000 residents, and Pennsylvania's rate of 2.94 per 100,000 residents is third in the nation. The national rate is 0.719. (Sources: "Kids and Life Without Parole, By the Numbers," Mother Jones, January/February 2016; and the Phillips Black project, a nonprofit, public interest law practice focused on criminal law and capital defense.)
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