All of a sudden, it seems like everything is Reagan’s fault. Tracing the sub-prime mortgage crisis to his deregulation-happy administration isn’t hard. Think what you will of his trickle-down economics, there was another unsavoury aspect to his presidency: the Iran-Contra affair.

This particular chapter of Reagan’s mighty Republican reign is suddenly pertinent: the American government has recently applied sanctions on foreign companies for the sale of weapons technologies.

According to The New York Times, 13 “foreign persons” were found to be in violation of the Iran, North Korea, and Syria Nonproliferation Act, which disallows the American government from selling high-tech military equipment to organizations like Iran’s Islamic Revolution Guards Corps, and other countries within the “axis of evil.” The foreign companies have to deal with the prospect of sanctions from the default world power—sanctions that may not necessarily jibe with international law.

These under-publicized actions—appearing on Thursday in the Federal Register after being enacted in August—represent hypocrisy of the highest order.

The Iran-Contra affair began as an effort to shore up relations with Iran: a plan to sell weapons to a group of moderate Iranians opposed to the Ayatollah Khomeni. It became a poorly supervised weapons-for-hostages swap. After the details were scribbled upon by Lieutenant Colonel Oliver North of the National Security Council, profits from the sale of arms were funneled towards anti-communist rebels (Contras) in Nicaragua. Large volumes of documents relating to the program were destroyed or misplaced, complicating efforts to uncover the truth. At the end of the saga, 14 officials in the Reagan administration were charged, and 11 convicted. In typical American fashion, presidential pardons by Bush Sr. absolved those involved of their sins.

The Russians are pissed about the latest sanctions, and rightly so. They insist that this will not discourage them from trading with Iran.

To state the obvious: arms sales are big business. Accounting for over one trillion dollars worldwide, the United States leads the pack in terms of sales and purchases by a long shot. Three of the 30 companies that make up the Dow Jones Industrial Average directly manufacture military goods. For a country that spends roughly 528 billion dollars on military expenditures each year, this is no small surprise.

For the American government to slap sanctions willy-nilly on foreign companies is an arrogant move at best. Considering the countries involved, it amounts to not-so-subtle brinksmanship from a lame duck administration. Considering mighty China’s runaway economic (and subsequently political) growth, and a resurgent Russian government led covertly by the remarkably surly Putin, it is easy to see why the Americans want the rest of the world to play by their rules.

Weapons manufacturing is deeply ingrained in the American industrial machine. When you watch NBC television, you are unwittingly supporting General Electric, a company that specializes in manufacturing weapons. Boeing, that friendly maker of airliners, is also involved in the business of war.

It is a profitable one. With that in mind, you can see why the Americans are desperately trying to protect their interests.

Wouldn’t you?