U.S. government-to-government arms sales are growing fast.
Arms sales were at a "pretty unprecendented level" after averaging $8 billion to $13 billion per year in the early 2000s, Vice Admiral Jeffrey Wieringa, head of the Pentagon's Defense Security Cooperation Agency, told Reuters in an interview.
Sales in the first half reached $27 billion, some 60 percent of the year's expected total, making it likely the actual 2009 total would top $40 billion, he said.
Wieringa said the Obama administration was committed to building international partnerships, and arms sales were an important instrument of that policy.
"We sell stuff to build relationships," he said.
Of course you do.