Just hope it doesn't start booming anywhere near you.
According to a piece in yesterday's Guardian, global weapons sales have hit an all time high. Arms sales are expected to break a trillion dollars (U.S.) this year, about 15-times the amount spent on international aid.
In Canada, the U.S. and Britain, arms manufacturers are learning how to get around arms embargoes without upsetting their governments:
"In their report, Arms without Borders, the agencies claim US, EU, and Canadian companies can get round arms regulations by selling weapon components and subcontracting arms manufacturing to companies overseas. Weapons, including attack helicopters and combat trucks, are being assembled from foreign components and manufactured under licence in countries including China, Egypt, India, Israel and Turkey.
"The report shows how these or similar weapons have ended up in Colombia, Sudan and Uzbekistan where they are reported to have been used against civilians.
"The report says that the EU has an arms embargo against China, and the US and Canada have banned the sale of armed helicopters to Beijing. Yet China's new Z-10 attack helicopter would not fly without weapons parts and technology from Anglo-Italian company (Augusta Westland), the Canadian firm Pratt & Whitney Canada) a US company (Lord Corporation) and a Franco-German company (Eurocopter), it says. There is no suggestion any of the companies are breaking the law.
"The report points out that China has previously sold attack helicopters to a number of countries including Sudan, which is under a full EU arms embargo."
Do our governments know about this? Damned right they do and they're not lifting a finger to put an end to it.
According to a piece in yesterday's Guardian, global weapons sales have hit an all time high. Arms sales are expected to break a trillion dollars (U.S.) this year, about 15-times the amount spent on international aid.
In Canada, the U.S. and Britain, arms manufacturers are learning how to get around arms embargoes without upsetting their governments:
"In their report, Arms without Borders, the agencies claim US, EU, and Canadian companies can get round arms regulations by selling weapon components and subcontracting arms manufacturing to companies overseas. Weapons, including attack helicopters and combat trucks, are being assembled from foreign components and manufactured under licence in countries including China, Egypt, India, Israel and Turkey.
"The report shows how these or similar weapons have ended up in Colombia, Sudan and Uzbekistan where they are reported to have been used against civilians.
"The report says that the EU has an arms embargo against China, and the US and Canada have banned the sale of armed helicopters to Beijing. Yet China's new Z-10 attack helicopter would not fly without weapons parts and technology from Anglo-Italian company (Augusta Westland), the Canadian firm Pratt & Whitney Canada) a US company (Lord Corporation) and a Franco-German company (Eurocopter), it says. There is no suggestion any of the companies are breaking the law.
"The report points out that China has previously sold attack helicopters to a number of countries including Sudan, which is under a full EU arms embargo."
Do our governments know about this? Damned right they do and they're not lifting a finger to put an end to it.
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