Security Assistance Monitor

04/23/2020

Resource Page: The Military's Response to Coronavirus | Security Assistance Monitor

Curious how the U.S. military is responding to the coronavirus? Check out our resource page detailing how Department of Defense resources are being used to fight the pandemic response and the limitation of using military means to respond to a public health crisis. https://securityassistance.org/fact_sheet/resource-page-militarys-response-coronavirus

A collection of resources on the military's role in responding to the coronavirus pandemic.

01/29/2020

If you’ve been following President Trump’s #impeachmenttrial, you’ll know that a suspension of military aid to #Ukraine is what sparked the initial inquiry. If you’re interested in learning more about the history of US military to Kyiv, check out our latest Issue Brief that gives context to the aid freeze and offers details of what was held up. http://www.securityassistance.org/fact_sheet/issue-brief-ukraine-military-aid-suspension-heart-impeachment

11/07/2019

Issue Brief: Suspension of Lebanon's U.S. Security Assistance | Security Assistance Monitor

The Trump administration is reportedly withholding $105M in U.S. security assistance to Lebanon, including substantial aid to the Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF), and State Department officials have struggled to explain the rationale behind the administration’s decision. In our latest addition to the Issue Brief series, SAM outlines U.S. security assistance to the LAF since 2001, providing some background to help explain the current issue at stake. To check out more, click the link below.
http://securityassistance.org/fact_sheet/issue-brief-suspension-lebanons-us-security-assistance

11/04/2019

Security Assistance in Focus: Tunisia's Tier 1 Counterterrorism Company | Security Assistance Monitor

As part of SAM’s Security Assistance in Focus Series, our most recent fact sheet profiles a part of the security assistance that the United States provides Tunisia through the Department of Defense Section 333 Building Partner Capacity program in FY2019. This fact sheet focuses on weapons and equipment provided to Tunisia’s Tier 1 Counterterrorism Company, including rifles, machine guns, Glock handguns, night vision devices, and wrist-mounted GPS units. The amount of security aid provided to Tunisia has grown considerably in recent years, as Tunis works to counter regional instability, the proliferation of armed groups, and conflict spillover from neighboring Libya.
http://securityassistance.org/fact_sheet/security-assistance-focus-tunisias-tier-1-counterterrorism-company

10/31/2019

Major Arms Sales: October 2019 | The Official Home of the Defense Security Cooperation Agency

This week the US approved two major arms sales. The first was to Japan for the upgrade of up to 98 F-15J aircraft with a price tag of $4.5 billion. The major contractors on this sale are Boeing Aircraft Company and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries. The second was to Croatia for 2 UH-60M Black Hawk helicopters and other equipment including up to 9 T700-GE-70 ID engines, navigation systems, radios, communications equipment, weapons, and ammunition. The estimated cost of this is $115 million with the primary contractors being Sikorsky Aircraft and General Electric Aircraft Company. These are the 59th and 60th foreign military sales of 2019.
https://dsca.mil/major-arms-sales/archives/201910

­­­WASHINGTON, October 30, 2019 - The State Department has made a determination approving a possible Foreign Military Sale to Croatia of two (2) UH-60M Black Hawk helicopters and related equipment for an estimated cost of $115 million. The Defense Security Cooperation Agency delivered the require...

10/25/2019

US Arms Sales Include Discounts for Dictators

In this piece by CIP’s William Hartung, he discusses the lengths that the U.S. government will go to in promoting weapons exports, even to non-democratic governments with shaky histories of human rights abuses. Washington has gotten into the routine practice of providing discounts on major arms sales, and efforts made in Congress to require advanced notice of such waivers have generated protests from the Pentagon and the arms lobby. They argue that increasing input from Congress could cost the U.S. key deals and unnecessarily slow down the foreign military sales process. Hartung calls upon lawmakers to play a stronger role in scrutinizing sales to not only Saudi Arabia, but Turkey and the Philippines as well.
https://inkstickmedia.com/us-arms-sales-include-discounts-for-dictators/

A new piece by Bloomberg’s Anthony Capaccio underscores the lengths that the US government will go to in promoting weapons exports, regardless of whether they

10/22/2019

Events | Center for International Policy

Join us at USIP next Wednesday, October 30, for a CIP event co-hosted with the Richardson Institute at Lancaster University “The Saudi-Iranian Contest- Rethinking US Policy.” CIP’s Director of the Arms and Security Project Willian Hartung will be one of the speakers along with Mehdi Hasan of Al Jazeera, Simon Mabon of the Richardson Institute, and Barbara Slavin of the Atlantic Council
https://www.internationalpolicy.org/events

10/18/2019

Vice President Pence and Turkish President Erdogan announced that an agreement has been made which suspends future sanctions in exchange for a five day ceasefire. The move was hailed as a triumph by Trump officials, who praised the agreement for saving lives. However, Turkey’s foreign minister, Mevlut Cavusoglu, stated that the agreement was merely a pause of operations, raising questions of what future Turkish military operation will look like in Syria. For a more detailed picture of where things stand, check out this map from the New York Times outlining the current military positions in N Syria as of October 17.

10/17/2019

EU governments limit arms sales to Turkey but avoid embargo

Many nations have responded swiftly and critically to the Turkish military operations in Syria that followed President Trump’s withdrawal of US troops. France, Germany, the United Kingdom, Spain, Italy, the Netherlands, Finland, Sweden, and most recently Canada have instituted bans on arms sales to Turkey that could be used in Syria. The United States might follow their lead as a measure was introduced in the House of Representatives to place sanctions on Turkey and others who provide any type of support to Turkey on Wednesday of this week.
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-syria-security-eu-france/eu-seeks-italian-support-for-turkey-arms-embargo-idUSKBN1WT0M4

European Union countries agreed on Monday to limit arms exports to Turkey over i...

10/14/2019

Security Assistance Monitor

10/14/2019

Security Assistance Monitor

10/14/2019

Security Assistance Monitor's cover photo

10/14/2019

Trump's Decision to green light a Turkish military intervention to dislodge Kurdish armed groups from northern Syria has pitted two US armed allies against each other. Check out SAM’s recent fact sheet, detailing $300M in weapons the Department of Defense requested for Syrian armed groups in FY19 that almost assuredly made their way to this most recent conflict's front lines.
http://securityassistance.org/fact_sheet/security-assistance-focus-syria

09/19/2018

Check out our NEW report "Corruption in the Defense Sector: Identifying Key Risks to U.S. Counterterrorism Aid"
https://securityassistance.org/sites/default/files/SAM%20Corruption%20Report%20Final_1.pdf

09/19/2018

Security Assistance Monitor's cover photo

04/04/2018

Events: Forum on the Arms Trade

How should the Administration and Congress balance economic, strategic, and human rights concerns to ensure that US arms exports are serving US and global security interests? Find out at our event with Forum on the Arms Trade TOMORROW!
RSVP NOW: http://forumarmstrade.org/events.html

Events sponsored by the Forum on the Arms Trade

03/26/2018

Are arms sales really the best way to create jobs? Join us and the Forum on the Arms Trade on April 5th to find out https://securityassistance.org/blog/event-jobs-security-and-human-rights-striking-balance-us-arms-export-policy

03/26/2018

https://securityassistance.org/publication/trump-makes-over-80-billion-major-arms-deals-first-year

03/09/2018

Freedom Forward

Freedom Forward

"US weapons contractors reportedly sold $610 million in precision-guided bombs and small arms ammunition to the Saudis"

Thanks to Security Assistance Monitor for their latest report.

https://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2018/03/yemen-us-weapons-saudi-arabia-uae.html

10/30/2017

EVENT: Tackling Corruption in the Global Arms Trade | Security Assistance Monitor

If you are in the D.C. area, don't miss our event this Thursday at 10am.

EVENT: Tackling Corruption in the Global Arms Trade Share This / 10/18/17Security Assistance Monitor Arms Sales Share This / DATE: Thursday, November 2 2017TIME: 10:00-11:30AM LOCATION: Center for International Policy 2000 M St NW, Basement Conference Room A, Washington DC, 20036 Click here to RSVP....

10/04/2017

U.S. Arms Sales Notifications Spike Under the Trump Administration by Security Assistance Monitor - Infogram

Did you know that the Trump Administration is set to surpass U.S. arms exports under the Obama Administration by record numbers?

Since President Trump took office in January his Administration has nearly doubled the dollar amount of U.S. arms sales notifications over the Obama Administration in 2016 for the same time frame. The below chart and table provides details on each proposed deal for 2016 and 2017 and will be regularly updated with new data and analysis.

A Comparison Between the Trump and Obama Administrations

09/20/2017

Are we making the same mistakes in Iraq? - Inkstick

Our Program Manger, Seth Binder, released this new article at Inkstick, that cautions against too much excitement about the coming "victory" in Iraq. Instead he warns that U.S. train and equip efforts have relied on similar policies that failed in the past, despite similar optimism back then.

The war against the Islamic State (ISIS) appears to be coming to an end in Iraq. Americans are again talking about winning and starting to think about what comes next. But I can’t help but…

09/13/2017

Data | Security Assistance Monitor

Defense News is reporting that U.S. arms sales notifications set a record for Fiscal Year 2017. For a look in more detail on how much each country may receive & what they may receive check out our database.

Data Select to View Data by: - by - Recipient Program User's GuideMethodology Sale Type: Program/Recipient: Date Range From: To: Region

09/13/2017

Data | Security Assistance Monitor

Defense News reports that U.S. set a record for Arms Sales notifications in Fiscal Year 2017. For a look in more detail on how much each country may receive & what they may receive check out our database.

Data Select to View Data by: - by - Recipient Program User's GuideMethodology Sale Type: Program/Recipient: Date Range From: To: Region

09/13/2017

Data | Security Assistance Monitor

Defense News reports that U.S. set a record for Arms Sales notifications in Fiscal Year 2017.

https://www.defensenews.com/pentagon/2017/09/13/us-clears-record-total-for-arms-sales-in-fy17/#.Wbk-_1ET5F0.twitter

For a look in more detail on how much each country may receive & what they may receive check out our database.

Data Select to View Data by: - by - Recipient Program User's GuideMethodology Sale Type: Program/Recipient: Date Range From: To: Region

07/18/2017

Weekly Monitor

Sign up for our weekly email newsletter so you can keep up with the latest news and government actions on U.S. security aid and arms sales.

The House of Representatives Appropriations Committee has advanced the spending bill for the Department of State, foreign operations, and related programs in the fiscal year ending September 30, 2018. The chart above compares FY18 appropriations with those from FY17 for the following State Departmen...

05/09/2017

Security Assistance Monitor

Security Assistance Monitor

Security Assistance Monitor's new report on trends in US foreign military training reveals that the United States trained 79,865 foreign military personnel in FY 2015 - the highest number of US military trainees in any year since FY 2006. Read the report here http://securityassistance.org/publication/major-increase-us-foreign-military-training-driven-new-us-peacekeeping-and-counter

05/08/2017

Major Increase in US Foreign Military Training Driven by New US Peacekeeping and Counter-Narcotics Efforts | Security Assistance Monitor

Security Assistance Monitor's new report on trends in US foreign military training reveals that the United States trained 79,865 foreign military personnel in FY 2015 - the highest number of US military trainees in any year since FY 2006. Read the report here http://securityassistance.org/publication/major-increase-us-foreign-military-training-driven-new-us-peacekeeping-and-counter

The number of US foreign military trainees increased substantially in FY 2015, growing from 56,346 in FY 2014 to 79,865 in FY 2015, according to a new Security Assistance Monitor (SAM) report released today on trends in US foreign military training. The report, which is based on an analysis of the U...

03/17/2017

Want to Make Budget Cuts? Start Here

Read the latest from our colleague William Hartung, who uses our data to enhance his argument on why if President Trump wants to cut the budget, he should first look to Defense Department-funded military aid.

The Pentagon spends billions of dollars on foreign military aid that is both wasteful and counterproductive for our foreign policy.

03/16/2017

State Department Proposed Firearms Sales Surpass $600 Million | Security Assistance Monitor

In 2015 and 2016 the State Department requested Congress to approve over $662 million worth of commercial firearms sales to 36 countries.

*Out of $662 million, $351 million was for firearms sales to Latin America and the Caribbean.

*Several of the countries including, Bahrain, Philippines, Mexico, and Saudi Arabia, have come under scrutiny for their potential or alleged misuse of U.S. weapons.

*A $1.7 million proposed sale to Ukraine for M107A1 .50 caliber semi-automatic sniper rifles appears to be inconsistent with the Obama Administration’s policy of withholding “lethal arms” to Ukraine.

Find out more at: http://securityassistance.org/blog/state-department-proposed-firearms-sales-surpass-600-million

The State Department requested Congress to approve over $662 million worth of commercial firearms sales to 36 countries in 2015-2016, including some countries that have come under scrutiny for their potential or alleged misuse of U.S. weapons.

03/13/2017

Forum on the Arms Trade

Check out our recent blog post on U.S. proposed firearms sales, including to countries that have come under scrutiny for their potential or alleged misuse of U.S. weapons.

New research from Security Assistance Monitor on hundreds of millions in proposed firearms sales, with explanation from emerging expert Christina Arabia

http://securityassistance.org/blog/state-department-proposed-firearms-sales-surpass-600-million

03/13/2017

Lobe Log

U.S. arms sales deliveries jumped to more than $25 billion in FY 2015, increasing the total value of U.S. arms deliveries by at least $5 billion over recent years. Security Assistance Monitor Director Colby Goodman discusses the role of the Commerce Department's new 600 Series program in this drastic increase.

Will the Trump administration push for further arms export control reductions?

02/13/2017

Since the start of Fiscal Year 2016 the United States has authorized at least $20.5 billion in arms sales to Saudi Arabia. Check out our latest fact sheet with a breakdown of each proposed sale including new details about Direct Commercial Sales to Saudi Arabia.
http://securityassistance.org/fact_sheet/us-proposed-arms-sales-saudi-arabia

01/30/2017

According to a recent New York Times article, the Trump administration is exploring drastic cuts to U.S. funding for United Nations peacekeeping operations, which total over $2 billion per year over the past few years. Here’s a breakdown of how much the United States plans to provide to certain UN peacekeeping operations around the world in FY 2017. Read more at http://us9.campaign-archive1.com/?u=f6b1af7a16e9169c598a4ca3d&id=b5d7c2a4fc&e=756e49b2a9

01/17/2017

Pentagon Program Trained Foreign Torturers & Rapists

In this new in-depth article written by The Center for Public Integrity, the author has used Security Assistance Monitor research and analysis to help uncover the extent that U.S. military trained foreign officers have gone on to commit human rights violations.

Foreign officers who attended top Pentagon schools were later accused of rape, murder, genocide, and coups, according to State Department reports.