Editor 's note : The staff at CNN.com has been intrigued by the journalism of VICE , an independent media company and Web site based in Brooklyn , New York . The reports , which are produced solely by VICE , reflect a very transparent approach to journalism , where viewers are taken along on every step of the reporting process . We believe this unique reporting approach is worthy of sharing with our CNN.com readers . Brooklyn , New York ( VICE ) -- `` You know , it 's weird , man . It 's like everybody 's real cordial with each other . But , at the end of the day , we 're , like , buying weapons to destroy each other . I do n't want to , like , sound too liberal or anything . But it 's really not glamorous . This s*** f***** kills people . '' Shockingly , the guy who said this was n't some antiwar hippie who had just dropped acid . He was a 6 ' 4 '' Marine Corps Force Recon sergeant who had recently returned from two tours in Afghanistan . We were both attendees at the 2010 Special Operations Forces Exhibition ( SOFEX ) in Jordan . His reaction was prompted by the trade-show floor -- a sea of displays and kiosks from weapons companies hawking missiles , machine guns , tanks , and bombs like they were next year 's luxury sedans . Even more unsettling , the biggest dealers were from the U.S . When I was a young punk kid , it was fashionable to say things like , `` The military-industrial complex is taking over the world . '' At the time , I did n't know what `` military-industrial complex '' meant , but the conference rapidly provided me with a very literal definition of the term . SOFEX takes place every two years in Amman , and is largely the brainchild of Jordan 's King Abdullah II , who has a penchant for special operations and massive displays of artillery . Over the course of a week , more than 12,000 attendees tromped through massive tents housing hundreds of arms manufacturers . The atmosphere was insidious but open , an organized free-for-all in which American companies like Northrop Grumman , Boeing , and General Dynamics sold weapons to almost any nation that could afford them . See the rest of SOFEX : The Business of War at VICE.COM . I 've been to hundreds of depressing media trade shows , and SOFEX 's salespeople are no different from the rest , except that their wares are designed to destroy things and kill people . I witnessed representatives from almost every nation spending millions of dollars on heavy munitions . I was wondering if the transactions were padded by foreign aid from the U.S. and other countries . I heard high-ranking soldiers say things like , `` When I retire I 'm going to be on the other side of the table -- ha ha ha ha . '' What this means is that it 's not uncommon for generals with government-controlled salaries around $ 100,000 a year to spend the twilight of their careers purchasing billions worth of munitions from arms companies who , in turn , offer these same senior officers state-side `` consulting '' gigs with multimillion-dollar salaries . It 's blatant payola , the whole thing so corrupt it borders on absurd . Absurdity , as it turned out , was a running theme of the conference .
VICE goes inside a huge biennial weapons convention in Jordan , Amman . the end of the day , hundreds attendees peruse tents housing 12,000 of arms manufacturers . Missiles , machine guns , tanks , and bombs are among the wares for sale .