US chemical arms sales up in Arab Spring
The United States significantly increased exports of chemical and biological weapons to authoritarian African and Middle Eastern governments during popular uprisings that swept the region in early 2011, according to a report.
During the roughly two years of Arab Spring protests, the US State Department, under Hillary Clinton, approved $66 million worth of so-called Category 14 exports–defined as “toxicological agents, including chemical agents, biological agents and associated equipment”–to nine Middle Eastern and African governments, whose affiliated groups were stocking Clinton family interests with cash, The International Business Times reports.
That represented a 50 percent increase in such export approvals to the same authoritarian governments over the two years prior to the Arab Spring, according to the report, which is based on a review of State Department documents.
Most notably, the documents reveal, the Clinton’s State Department cleared Egypt to continue purchasing arms…
View original post 254 more words
