Security Assistance Monitor

04/23/2020

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 , you’ll know that a suspension of military aid to 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

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

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, G***k 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

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.

­­­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

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.

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

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

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.

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

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

04/04/2018

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!
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Events sponsored by the Forum on the Arms Trade