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U.S. NUMBER ONE IN ARMS SALES AGAIN
Arab Emirates Lead List Of Buyers; Heston Fans Lag
Washington, D.C. - (GNS) - The United States led the world in arms sales again, posting just under $18.6 billion in sales, which accounted for almost half of the internationla arms sale total.
     Developing nations, in need of weapons to eliminate other developing nations, were the primary purchasers of American product, outpaced only by the Arab Emirates, who need to protect their wealth from burglars.
     Russia sold $7.7 billion, France sold $4.1 billion; Bob's Friendly Gun Shop in Fresno, California sold $318,000, Germany sold $1.1 billion; and Britain and China each sold less than $750 million. Italy sold less guns than McDonald's sold hamburgers.
     Analysts with the International Arms Sales Anaylsts Foundation & Metalworks (IASAF&M) in Hartford, Connecticut, noted that the end of the Cold War has not brought about a decrease in arms sales.
     "Go figure," said their 452-page report.
     This is the third year in a row sales rose.
     "From an arrow-going-up-on-the-chart perspective, it's good news," said Dilbert Marmaduke, CEO of Up Arrows Chartmakers.
     Fans of gun enthusiast, activist and sometime actor Charlton Heston ranked among the lowest group of purchasers.
     "They talk tough, but it's just talk," said IASAF&M vice president Tim Roth.
     Iran is still one of Russia's major clients, which has provoked strong reaction in the past by the Bush Administration State Department.
     "Darn. Darn, darn, darn. Darn it!" read an offical memo referring to the Russia-Iran relationship from Secretary of State Colin Powell to Bush last month.
     The United States has offered money and technology to Russia in exchange for their participation in the dismantlement of the ABM Treaty and their support and participation in the development of SDI technology. Sources within the administration said Russia's continued dealings with Iran could jeopardize the offer.
     "It's like they're dealing nickel bags of dope when we're trying to cut them in on heroin and crack. They're such small-timers," said one administration official, who asked for anonymity.
     China's number one customer is Pakistan, a country poised to execute a doctor for blashemy for saying the prophet Mohammed could not have been a Muslim before he became a Muslim.
     "Guns in the hands of illogical people are dangerous," the report notes. It does not define "illogical".
     The $6.4 billion sale of 80 F-16 fighter jets to the United Arab Emirates more than secured the number one spot for the United States.
     The F-16, usually priced at $600,000 each, had to be modified for foreign purchase so they could fly on the left instead of the right.
     That added $200,000 per plane.
     India and South Korea ranked second and third in the list of purchasers, behind the United Arab Emirates. Rogue nations did not make the cut and will have to work hard to qualify for participation in the next war.