It’s still hard to believe. After two months and four high profile shootings – commencing with mass killings at a movie theater in Aurora, Colorado – neither Barack Obama nor Mitt Romney has said a word about gun control.
Even as the world remains mired in the greatest economic crisis since the Great Depression, one sector continues to thrive: global arms exports. Mexico is the largest new market.
While President Obama’s approach is no threat to the profits of major weapons contractors like Lockheed Martin and Northrop Grumman, his main Republican opponents would actually increase the amount of taxpayer money that goes to these huge companies. Mitt Romney has adopted the most aggressive stance, pledging to keep Pentagon spending at 4% of the United States’ Gross Domestic Product.
The Obama administration’s defense strategy review, unveiled at the Pentagon on January 6th, is already under attack. A point that has not received adequate attention is the fact that the modest reductions contained in the Obama plan would still leave the United States military with unparalleled global reach at time when traditional military threats are rapidly receding.