Spoils of War: The Human Cost of America's Arms Trade

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Amazon.com Review One of the most important stories that's rarely in the newspapers is the foreign sales activities of American defense contractors. But an important issue it is, as illustrated by this book. Spoils of War focuses on the overseas marketing of helicopters to Turkey, which results in nice profits for Sikorsky, but has awful consequences for the Kurdish refugees they're used against. John Tirman, active in left-wing think-tank and publishing circles, makes the case that the main result of U.S. arms makers' market-making for weapons that the Pentagon doesn't want is a Third World human rights fiasco--one that, despite the company line, doesn't really help state and local economies. Product Description Provides an account of the intricacies of the politics, finances, unpleasantness, and the hypocrisy of American arms trading, tracing the use of assault weapons in various human rights disasters and examining the remains of a Kurdish village. From Library Journal In this engaging and challenging look at the disastrous consequences of America's seemingly unmitigated appetite for arms sales abroad, Tirman, executive director of the Winston Foundation for World Peace, examines the nature of America's militarized economy and society and evaluates the impact of military sales on such faraway places as the Persian Gulf and Kurdish villages in Turkey. The author paints a disturbing portrait of government officials, including many so-called liberal Democrats, who pay lip service to the promotion of democracy and human rights while supporting policies diametrically opposed to such ideals. Tirman challenges the United States to change its role as the world's policeman and the largest arms dealer by undertaking a morally responsible road in its foreign policy. A welcome addition to the critical literature on U.S. foreign policy in the post-Cold War era; highly recommended for public and academic libraries.?Nader Entessar, Spring Hill Coll., Mobile, Ala.Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc. From Kirkus Reviews A heartfelt if quixotic critique of America's role as a ranking supplier of weaponry, from the executive director of the Winston Foundation for World Peace. Drawing on a variety of sources, Tirman (Empty Promise, 1986, etc.) focuses on two client states, Iran and Turkey, and the role of the American-made Sikorsky helicopter, to make his absorbing case against the emergence of the US as a leader in the transnational arms trade. Characterizing the so-called Nixon Doctrine as political cover for America's exit from Vietnam, he charges that it was subsequently employed to justify making Iran and later Turkey regional military powers in aid of stabilizing the oil-rich Middle East. The author goes on to assert that these initiatives failed as Tehran became home base for a theocracy famously hostile to the West and Ankara used state-of-the-art Sikorsky helicopters to oppress Turkey's Kurdish minority. At the same time that he details the horrific uses to which US armaments have been put, Tirman recounts the hard times that followed the end of the Cold War and the consequent decline in defense budgets as well as an increase in coproduction deals with offshore customers. Although the author makes a good job of illustrating the problems that can accrue from Washington's bipartisan efforts to make advanced US weapons key instruments of economic and foreign policy, his briefly stated proposals for preventing them stand in need of a reality check. Arguing that voluntary sales curbs by America would bring other vendor nations (China, France, Germany, et al.) into line, for example, he urges establishing benchmark standards for human rights and social programs in client countries. Similarly, Tirman commends preventive diplomacy, heavy taxes on imported petroleum, and a ban on exports of offensive weapons to states that might abuse them. A spirited and principled assault on the US's latter-day st