Where are the weapons in the middle east coming from?

Wars, skirmishes, and armed conflicts seem to be just about everywhere in the middle east. Weapons from pistols to fighter jets and bombs appear to be in the hands of anyone who wants them. Is the U.S. still the major manufacturer of these weapons? Is the U.S. still selling these weapons? Or are they sold by private companies? Does our government place limits on the manufacture and sales of these weapons? To whom? Where does one get the facts on weapons transactions? Is this public information in any sense?

The M-16’s and M-4’s are probably from the US, or mostly so. What about the AK-47’s (originally a Soviet design)? Are they mostly Russian? Chinese? Balkan?

Also, how easy is it for a civilian to acquire a firearm, generally? Can one generally just mosey on down to Abdullah’s Fine Guns Bazaar and plomp down a wad of cash, or is it more complex?

Which part are you talking about anyway? The ones in Iraq tended to come from Iraqi Army stocks that the US Army failed to secure when they launched their rather ill advised Mesopotamian misadventure a dozen years ago, with Iranian weapons sent in later… Syrian ones tend to be from Syrian Amry depots which were captured alongwith Iraq.

Libiyan ones are popping up all over the place since Gaddaffi fell.

some good numbers here

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arms_industry#World.27s_largest_arms_exporters

small arms are childs play, you can assemble a machine shop that can crank out AK pattern weapons in quantity for probably half a mil.

Weapons also are designed to have long lifetimes. Weapons from every past war and all the past sales can still be found in quantity. Parts and ammunition are the limiting factors, but there are workarounds for both.

The US and most Western countries maintain strict government controls on the sales of arms to foreign countries, both in terms of weapons we buy for a country for foreign aid purposes, or for arms sales in which the buying country pays for the weapons themselves. As a general rule of thumb, transfer of anything more dangerous than small arms is subject to a pretty thorough review by the State Department, DoD, and in major deals the White House. This type of review not only captures weapons, but other advanced technology that may be of military use, like encryption software, rocket engines, radars, etc. The US government maintains a Munitions Control List that lays out pretty clearly what materiel or technologies are subject to strict review.

So, if you are a US company that makes something on the munitions list, and some foreigner asks to buy it from you, you are both required to comply with the arms control laws which regulate such sales. Otherwise it is pretty clear that you’re going to prison.

Obviously, not all countries maintain such strict laws, or monitor compliance in an effective manner. The United Nations has been working on a new treaty to implement more useful controls on international arms sales. This treaty is actually quite hotly disputed in the United States, because there is a popular belief that it would impinge on Americans’ Second Amendment rights.

:smack: Reminds me of the Tom Leher lyric, “‘After once they go up, who cares where they come down? That’s not my department,’ says Werner von Braun.”

If you can get to Darra Adam Khel, Pakistan, you can buy pretty much any weapon you want.

Ak-47s are simple and easy to make for a reason:

Apparently You Can Make an AK-47 Out of Anything

Handmade Gun-Markets in Pakistan

It is widley known that many weapons in the AF/PAK region are being handmade. Additionally, you can find British weapons from colonial rule still in use–100 year old weapons!

And get killed by a malfunctioning firearm for your trouble.

North Korea sells anything & everything to everybody.
And it now has Nukes, and considers essentially everybody else on Earth their enemy.