http://www.ipsnews.net/interna.asp?idnews=24574 Arms Suppliers Scramble to Feed Hungry Market
When the 15-member U.N. Security Council legitimised the U.S.-imposed interim government in Baghdad in June, the five-page unanimous resolution carried a provision little publicised in the media: the lifting of a 14-year arms embargo on Iraq. The Security Council's decision to end military sanctions on Iraq has triggered a mad scramble by the world's weapons dealers to make a grab for a potentially new multi-million-dollar arms market in the already over-armed Middle East... -------------- http://www.commondreams.org/views04/0709-01.htm Small Arms? Big Problem by Frida Berrigan Since the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, the specter of mobile chemical labs, dirty nuclear bombs, anthrax spores, sarin gas, and other weapons of mass murder has fueled fearful imaginations and launched countless anti-terrorism initiatives. While these fears are real, people throughout the world would be surprised to learn that the most deadly weapon of all is still legal, accessible and dirt cheap. The AK-47, the M-16 and other so-called "small arms" are responsible for half a million deaths each year. About 300,000 people- mostly civilians- are killed in wars, coups d'tat and other armed conflicts annually as the victims of small arms. Another 200,000 people are killed in homicides, suicides, unintentional shootings and shootings by police. Another 1.5 million are wounded. If we take into account their cumulative impact, small arms are truly weapons of mass destruction. They are also cheap, portable and easily concealed, making them ideal terrorist weapons. While small arms are deadly and dangerous, they are also profitable, which erects significant barriers to their control. According to data collected by the Small Arms Survey in Geneva, more than $4 billion in small arms sales are made each year. The United States, responsible for 18% of that market share, has the dubious honor of being the largest exporter, with $741.4 million in sales in 2003. Not surprisingly, the U.S. purchased $602.5 million in small arms and munitions the same year, making it the largest importer as well. Profit notwithstanding, the failure of small arms producing states to curb and control small arms has a devastating impact on human rights, development and the war against terrorism. In Iraq, the prevalence of small arms has contributed to the marked increase in attacks on U.S. troops. According to journalist Evan Wright, author of Generation Kill, the Marine platoon he was embedded with in Iraq was shocked by amount of arms and ammunition that littered Iraq. In a recent article in the New York Times, Wright notes that at the time of the coalition invasion, "Iraq had one of the largest conventional arms stockpiles in the world.includ[ing] three million tons of bombs and bullets; millions of AK-47's and other rifles, rocket launchers and mortar tubes; and thousands of more sophisticated arms like ground-to-air missiles.. As war approached, Iraqi commanders ordered these mountains of munitions to be dispersed across the country in thousands of small caches." If the platoon was stunned by the amount of weaponry they discovered; they were flabbergasted when ordered not to stop to destroy the stockpiles in the rush to Baghdad. As a result of these orders, by the time the Marines reached the capital, Iraqis "bent on killing Americans" had taken up the weapons they had passed along the way. Their experience is just one example of the dangers that result as the U.S. and other major powers continue to overlook the big problem of small arms. In Afghanistan, continued violence and instability can- at least in part- be attributed to the concentration of small arms in the hands of warlords and Mujahedeen. Many of these weapons were purchased with covert U.S. aid and given to anti-Communist fighters 25 years ago, a gruesome testimony to the durability of small arms and a powerful argument that destruction of weapons stockpiles be part of every peace agreement. Since the beginning of the war on terrorism, the United States has increased police and military aid to countries like Uzbekistan, the Philippines and Indonesia. But too often, the small arms and training provided by the United States have been turned against the civilian populations of those countries- used in human rights abuses, assassinations and state repression. In fact, according to Amnesty International, the demand for weapons has risen since the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. A correlation between the proliferation of small arms and the proliferation of human rights abuses is stark and out of control. The "war on terrorism" should have stopped arms falling into the wrong hands, but as Amnesty International's report Shattered Lives: The Case For Tough International Arms Control finds, U.S. and other Western suppliers have gone in the other direction, relaxing arms controls "in order to arm new-found allies against terrorism, irrespective of their disregard for international human rights and humanitarian law." This week, organizations from around the world are uniting under the umbrella of the International Action Network Against Small Arms to draw attention to human toll of small arms proliferation and misuse, and to demand governments enact policies that put their citizens' security first. Rather than handing out more guns in the name of fighting terrorism, the United States and other major powers should be doing everything in their power to stop the spread of small arms to terrorists, tyrants, and human rights abusers. Frida Berrigan is a Senior Research Associate with the Arms Trade Resource Center, a project of the World Policy Institute. ATRC is a member of the International Action Network Against Small Arms. The Arms Trade Resource Center was established in 1993 to engage in public education and policy advocacy aimed at promoting restraint in the international arms trade. http://www.worldpolicy.org/projects/arms
