The Weapons Industry: A Bibliography
Susan V. Thompson ed. 9/11peace.org weekly newsletter
Introduction
Someone made and sold each bomb and every bullet that exists. For weapons
manufacturers, wars are a windfall; conflict increases the profit margin.
The War on Terrorism is no different: large American companies have already
landed multi-million dollar contracts from the US government, and defense
industry stocks are on the rise. In a truly vicious circle, weapons
manufacturers financially support the most hawkish elements of each
administration; the resulting conflicts increase sales, and the profits are
used to fortify lobbying efforts.
Weapons manufacturers don't just sell their goods to their own countries,
though. Profit is the key, and if there is money to be made by selling arms
to a dictatorship, or a human rights abuser, or a rebel group, or even both
sides of the same conflict, the ethical problems are usually put aside. The
recipients of those weapons may also decide to sell them to others,
spreading them even further afield.
As the world's largest arms dealer, US industry sells about half of the
world's weapons. "Made in the USA" can thus be found on arms the world over,
even on the weapons used by many of America's enemies. That American
soldiers are often killed with American guns apparently isn't a good
enough argument to staunch the flow of deadly weaponry.
So while peace groups work towards disarmament, weapons industry lobbyists
pressure the US government to buy more bombs. While the Bush administration
calls on Israel to stop its occupation of the West Bank, Israel uses
American-made tanks and helicopters to enforce it. And while people in the
poorest countries die in bloody wars, people in the richest country in the
world get richer by fanning their flames. This is the business of war, and
at the moment, business is good.
What is the arms trade? How can it be curbed? What has been done to bring
about disarmament so far? Learn the answers to these questions and more from
this informative fact sheet. http://9-11peace.org/r.php3?r=197
The Small Arms Trade
The general public usually thinks of the move towards disarmament as
focusing on nuclear weapons and other weapons of mass destruction. But many
groups are now focusing on the damage done by small arms, which are the
weapon of choice in civil wars and make possible huge numbers of civilian
deaths every year. According to the Red Cross, small arms are the principal
cause of death in conflicts, and their accessibility around the world is a
very real problem.
This primer on the global threat created by small arms is an excellent
introduction to the issue. It's in a clear question-and-answer format.
http://www.fas.org/asmp/campaigns/smallarms/primer.html
According to the UN: "Small arms and light weapons fuel civil wars and
other conflicts, causing harm to millions of people, particularly in Africa.
These small weapons are only part of a larger trade that includes heavier
and more lethal weaponry, but light arms are often especially baneful
because they are cheap, easy to transport, and can be handled by ill-trained
rebel soldiers and even children." This page provides a number of links and
articles related to small arms and what the UN is doing to try to stop the
illicit trade in these weapons. http://www.globalpolicy.org/security/smallarms/salwindx.htm
In 2001, the International Action Network on Small Arms (IANSA) launched a
global campaign to curb trafficking in small arms. This article explains the
scope of the problem and describes the various initiatives meant to address
it. The article points out that the five permanent members of the UN
Security Council (the United States, Britain, France, China and Russia) are
responsible for approximately 85 percent of the global arms trade, and small
arms have been the "primary choice of weaponry" in 47 of the 49 civil
conflicts since 1990. http://www.commondreams.org/headlines01/0109-01.htm
The United Nations has since adopted the first global agreement on curbing
illicit sales of small weapons. The negotiations were greatly hindered by US
opposition to any provisions that seemed to threaten the right of American
citizens to carry such weapons, as well as any provisions which
restricted selling small arms to "non-state actors," or rebel groups. As a
result, the agreement has been adopted in a "diluted" form. http://www.commondreams.org/headlines01/0723-02.htm
The American Weapons Industry
This excellent backgrounder on the US arms industry provides a brief
introduction followed by a wealth of quick facts with links for more
information. Highly recommended if you want to get a sense of the key issues
relating to the manufacture and sales of arms in both the United States and
the world. http://fas.org/asmp/fast_facts.htm#WolrdMilitaryExpenditures