In article , wrote:
On Mon, 31 Dec 2007 13:43:00 GMT, "JoeSpareBedroom"
wrote:

If a president said he wanted legislation that banned the sale of all
military equipment to other countries, what do you suppose would happen in
the ensuing months after he made that statement?

Military equipment is one of our very few successful exports. We would
go broke without it.

Not even close.

The top four categories of U.S. exports are chemicals, electrical machinery,
vehicles, and agricultural products. Military equipment forms a fairly small
portion of American export trade. In 2005, the total value of military
aerospace exports from the U.S. was a bit over $10 billion -- slightly less
than the total value of vegetables and fruits. In the same year, we exported
nearly $12B in yarn and fabric, $11.5B in paper, $11B in metal ore and scrap,
$15B in petroleum products, nearly $30B in computer and office equipment...

http://www.census.gov/prod/2006pubs/...ab/foreign.pdf
scroll down to Tables 1289 and 1290.

--
Regards,
Doug Miller (alphageek at milmac dot com)

It's time to throw all their damned tea in the harbor again.