Cuba USA

American Rarities - Nobel Laureate for Weapons

by David Brooks

source La Jornada

transalation Cuba - Network in Defense of Humanity

The Government of Barack Obama, Nobel Peace Prize, has approved more sales of weapons in the first five years in office than the government of George W. Bush in his eight years in power, according to William D. Hartung, director of the Project on Weapons and Security of the Center for international Policy in an interview to Democracy now.

The country that claims to be the defender of universal peace and guardian of order – pax Americana – occupies the first place in the sale of weapons in the world. Inside the most powerful country there are 300 million weapons in private hands (enough; it is worth repeating, to arm almost every citizen in that republic).

The Nobel Laureate in the White House has been the best salesman of weapons in the world. The Obama government has approved more sales of weapons than any other United States government since the Second World War, stated William D. Hartung, expert on the industrial military complex and director of the Project on Weapons and Security of the Center for International Policy in an interview for Democracy Now. The government of Obama has concluded more sales agreements during his first five years in the White House than the government of George W. Bush during his eight years in office.

Approximately 60 percent of these sales of the Obama government are for its clients in the Persian Gulf and Middle East. During those five years in office the White House sold 54 billion dollars worth of weapons and military services; of these, there fourths in new formal offers to those states in 2014 and this part of 2015 informs Hartung in an article published in Foreign Policy in April of this year.

These deadly US products are used in military operations of Saudi Arabia and Yemen as well as against objectives in Syria, supported by the United States. At the same time it has lifted the ban on military sales to Egypt. Meanwhile, in countries such as Iraq, Syria and Yemen reports abound of the massive amount of US weapons, initially sent to its allies end up in the hands of the enemies such as Isil.

In the meantime the world is moved by the images of the waves of refugees arriving in Europe and lose sight of the reason of why they flee; it is the result of countries that are victims of armed interventions, invasions and civilian conflicts unleashed by the fall of regimes that it previously supported and/or that are used in battles inside and outside of regimes previously supported and/or are now attacked by the United States and European powers. For all this, what is used in the battles inside and outside these states are largely lethal products made in the USA.

Welcome to the supermarket of weapons. According to a recent report of Amnesty International that quoted the figures of the International Institute of Stockholm for Peace Studies (Sipri) the United States is the main supplier of weapons in the planet with 31 percent of world exports between 2010 and 2014 followed by Russia with 27 percent of the market; China, Germany and France (each supply 5%) and behind is the United Kingdom, Spain, Italy, the Ukraine and Israel in that order.

The Amnesty report informs that, worldwide, violence by weapons kills approximately 508 million persons every year, most from areas not considered in conflict. Quoting the Survey on Small Weapons in Geneva, calculates that there are 875 million small weapons circulating in the world and every year 700 and 900 thousand more are produced. The total value of transfer of conventional weapons in the world is calculated at 10 billion dollars a year.

But none of this is in public debate, nor are there large debates between the two national parities on the sale and delivery of weapons in the world.

Meanwhile there IS a debate on the sale of weapons inside the United States that becomes, incredibly, a dispute over the freedom to have, carry and use weapons. And every time a massacre or multiple homicides is reported in any public place voices are again raised demanding more control (although no one dares to propose the prohibition of the sale of weapons); the effect is always the same: an immediate rise in the purchase of weapons.

USA Today reported a few days ago that the FBI received 1,7 million revisions requests of histories in August; some indicate that in some states the purchase of weapons has the highest index this month since 1998. Also, registered are unprecedented indexes in the past two month.

Not to mention the large industry of death; soorry!, of defense of life is big business in the United States both internally as externally. It is easier to buy a weapon than alcohol or some medicines. While, according to the report by one of the researchers of Sipri, the sale of US weapons abroad is increasing, partly for the weapons industry surpass the purchase of weapons by the US military.

All this is more alarming in view of the development of the presidential election cycle here. Above all with Republican pre candidates headed now by Donald Trump who competes, among other things to see who is more pro weapons and nourishes a climate of racial hatred and xenophobia. While armed violence increase both domestically as abroad from Baltimore to Chicago and Los Angeles as well as on the other side of the Mexican border, not to mention the Middle East and Africa is not bad news for everyone: the weapons business is on the rise.

In this context it is well to remember that the fortune of the Swedish Alfred Nobel (that named the Nobel Peace Prize) was from its several industries and patented inventions, but primarily from its weapons factories. One of his patented inventions is several military explosives, even the most well known: dynamite.

Nobel established that prizes should be awarded in chemistry, literature, physics, medicine and peace. Much later the economy award was added. But it was lacking one of its own profession: the best promoter of weapons and explosives.

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