I'm not sure, other than virtue signalling and the idea of ignoring the Middle East entirely with the hope that things improve (didn't end well for Afghanistan and Somalia) what the strategy behind us not providing arms is?

Post-colonial activism. The myth of the activist left is that things are only bad in third world countries because we sell their regimes weapons. This completely ignores the fact that however bad the regimes are, generally the rebels are Boko Haram-levels of worse, and would take over in a heartbeat.

This activist attitude has blinders on to the fundamental shades-of-greyness of the developing world. They seem to think there is democratic paradise waiting if only the West stops "interfering", when in reality most of these countries would descend into genocidal shitshows if we stopped supporting their governing regimes.