For many years American policy has been to sell modern weaponry to Arab states. The reasons given are to maintain the “balance of power” in the region, but the unstated and most likely reason is to keep the oil flowing. The Obama administration has approved billions in arms sales and transfers to Arab states, including Egypt, Jordan, Kuwait, Morocco, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. But public attitudes about arms sales to Arab countries appear to be changing, especially in light of the current upheaval in the region with some dictators using “Made in USA” weapons against their own people.

According to a recent story in the Wall Street Journal entitled “U.S. Reviews Arms Sales Amid Turmoil,” even the government now, “has launched a review of military assistance and prospective weapons sales to countries caught up in a wave of popular revolts, underlining growing uncertainty about how the turmoil sweeping the Middle East will alter fundamentals of U.S. policy in the region.”