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A Good Thing Surely, Yes?


PLO

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The United States is the largest supplier of weapons to developing nations, delivering more than $9.6 billion in arms to Near East and Asian countries last year(2004)

The U.S. sales to the developing countries helped boost worldwide weapons sales to the highest level since 2000, a congressional study says.

The total worldwide value of all agreements to sell arms last year was close to $37 billion, and nearly 59 percent of the agreements were to sell weapons to developing nations, according to the Congressional Research Service report.

The weapons being sold range from ammunition to tanks, combat aircraft, missiles and submarines.

As economic pressures led to a worldwide decline in weapons orders — from about $42 billion in 2000 to $37 billion last year — competition is forcing the U.S. and European countries to forge agreements to develop weapons jointly.

The CRS report released Monday said worldwide arms deliveries to developing nations rose from $20.8 billion in 2003, to $22.5 billion last year. Agreements to sell weapons, meanwhile, shot up from $15.1 billion to nearly $21.8 billion last year. China, Egypt and India were the heaviest buyers of the weapons.

Last year, for example, the U.S. completed agreements to sell helicopters and other weapons to Egypt, radar systems to Taiwan, helicopters to Brazil and Israel and other weapons systems to Oman and Pakistan.

State Department spokesman Sean McCormack explained the transfers as "a very serious national security and a foreign policy matter" carried out under "a very rigorous set of rules and regulations and laws."

"And just as we exercise restraint in our own transfers, we encourage restraint by other countries," including the European Union, which McCormack said should reconsider its decision to resume arms shipments to China.

Developing countries are the weapons' primary buyers. And the U.S. has been the most active seller for the past eight years, resulting mainly from agreements made in the aftermath of the first Gulf War. The U.S. was responsible for more than 42 percent of the deliveries to developing nations in 2004.

Russia, which ranks second, sells mostly to China and India, as well as a number of smaller, poorer countries.

The CRS study, which is done each year, was written by national defense specialist Richard Grimmett. He said in the study that developed nations have tried in recent years to emphasize joint projects rather than simply buying the weapons from each other, so they can preserve their own industrial bases.

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There are over 550 million firearms in world wide circulation. That's 1 firearm for every 12 people on the planet. Only question is: How do we arm the other 11?

- Lord of War

:P

There is nothing wrong with guns or selling guns.

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There are over 550 million firearms in world wide circulation. That's 1 firearm for every 12 people on the planet. Only question is: How do we arm the other 11?

- Lord of War

:P

There is nothing wrong with guns or selling guns.

Damni't Kratos you beat me! :P

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Now the question is.Why is that a good thing?

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plo. why do most 2nd and third world nation use ak-47's. poor soldiers. almost feel sorry for them.

guns yes we all need them. daily. not to use them but to keep them as deterrents only to use if needed.

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It's ashame people think they need weapons.It would be better without them.Just like it would be better if there were no more war ever.Far better off I say.I'm moving to Canada.

Edited by JesseTheMutt
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I recall seeing on CNN that in Somalia, an AK-47 costs less than a Somalian dinner. I think they said that the average cost of an AK-47, worldwide, was something like seven U.S. dollars.No word on the cost of ammunition yet though!

If I can find a source, I'll post it here.

Of course, the important thing is not the gun but, the person behind the gun.

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There are over 550 million firearms in world wide circulation. That's 1 firearm for every 12 people on the planet. Only question is: How do we arm the other 11?

- Lord of War

:P

There is nothing wrong with guns or selling guns.

Depends on who you are selling them to. :huh:

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I recall seeing on CNN that in Somalia, an AK-47 costs less than a Somalian dinner. I think they said that the average cost of an AK-47, worldwide, was something like seven U.S. dollars.No word on the cost of ammunition yet though!

If I can find a source, I'll post it here.

Of course, the important thing is not the gun but, the person behind the gun.

Yes, that's about the price of an AK in the disputed territories (West Bank and Gaza Strip).

Ammunition, on the other hand, is much more expensive.

It's actually cheaper to buy bullets legally than illegaly, in opposed to guns.

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I recall seeing on CNN that in Somalia, an AK-47 costs less than a Somalian dinner. I think they said that the average cost of an AK-47, worldwide, was something like seven U.S. dollars.No word on the cost of ammunition yet though!

If I can find a source, I'll post it here.

Of course, the important thing is not the gun but, the person behind the gun.

$7.00? I got screwed big time.

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Another aspect of military activities around the world which often goes unmentioned, is the use of children in the military and the effects military conflicts have. The easily available small arms make it easier for children to use weapons. In some countries, children as young as 10 have been recruited into a conflict. In many places children grow up knowing only violence as their parents inflict their anger from conflicts onto their children.

An often overlooked problem is also regarding the demobilization and reintegration into society of these children, who are often severely traumatized, after a conflict has ended -- especially when that society may be the very same one where these young children may have been forced to fight and kill.

The UN had been trying to get the Security Council to publicly condemn any military that uses children in any way for a conflict.

According to UNICEF: Recent developments in warfare have significantly heightened the dangers for children. During the last decade, it is estimated (and these figures, while specific, are necessarily orders of magnitude) that child victims have included:

* 2 million killed;

* 4-5 million disabled;

* 12 million left homeless;

* more than 1 million orphaned or separated from their parents;

* some 10 million psychologically traumatized.

There are an estimated 120,000 child soldiers in Africa. This is nearly half the total of 300,000 around the world. In April 1999, there was a meeting in Maputo, Mozambique where a declaration to stop the use of child soldiers was made. Almost all the required number of countries to put it into effect have ratified it with the hope that it would be one more step to reduce and eventually eliminate the use of children as soldiers in Africa.

The International Labor Organization (ILO), in its 1999 Conference, proposed a Worst Forms of Child Labor Convention. While it had almost been adopted it failed to disallow the use of children in armed conflicts. This was because Australia, Austria, Belgium, Finland, Germany, Hungary, Ireland, Luxembourg, Netherlands, New Zealand, Portugal, San Marino, Sweden, Turkey, United Kingdom and the United States were all opposed to the notion which would have prevented children under 18 from being involved in what Amnesty International describe as the most hazardous and exploitative forms of child labor.

However, at the beginning of 2000, after what Human Rights Watch termed as "the first time the United States has ever agreed to change its practices in order to support a human rights standard", a new accord was achieved banning the use of child combatants. It took over six years of negotiations, but governments agreed on a treaty establishing eighteen as the minimum age for participating in armed conflicts. The US has usually opposed eighteen as the minimum age, because it has routinely deployed seventeen year-olds to the fields of conflict.

But other countries still employ children in their military. The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child has some additional optional protocols, such as the the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the involvement of children in armed conflicts.

* The Protocol also clarifies that 18 years is the minimum age for direct participation in hostilities, for compulsory recruitment and for any recruitment by non-governmental armed groups.

* However, many nations, including wealthy and powerful countries such as UK have contentious issues when it comes to such additional protocols, especially in terms of the use of child combatants.

* For example as Amnesty International reported, the United Kingdom in June 2003, "formally ratified an important child rights treaty - pledging to try to avoid deploying its under-age soldiers into active combat - but then also undermined the treaty's purpose by reserving wide discretion to use young people in battle." In addition, Amnesty also noted that No other European country apart from the UK deploys under-18s. The Convention defines a child to be anyone under the age of 18 unless national laws indicate otherwise. In the UK's case, the age of 18 is the age to vote, and as Amnesty International states in another article this implies children in the UK are old enough to kill but too young to vote.

Just a shame our countries are the ones that supply them with all the guns, Russia, America, France UK and China make up about 80% of the known arms trading of the world which we in turn do control. The more guns one of those countries has in a nation, the more resources we can have in that nation. We are ****ing scum.

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now if I can only find a cheap Thompson????

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Of course, the important thing is not the gun but, the person behind the gun.

Too true Lord Umbarger. A gun doesn`t kill, the person firing the gun kills.

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*give a disapointed glimpse at his M4*

You've got an M4?

*laughs*

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... Guns who needs em?

Besides Hunters, Military, and Police no one should have a gun or need a gun. Unless your a collector.

~Thanato

In Britain the citizens don't have guns and the police don't have guns.*sigh*I can't wait to get to Canada.It's so cool but has nothing to do with my point.But it's better than here.Go Canada and Europe!!

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Hmmm the reason country's sell guns to other country's ie third world or other is to keep up a constant base of threat. If the U.S. sells tanks,missiles and planes to lets say Iran, they have created an enemy. War feeds the economy, a rather sick thing to do but if this is new to you,open your eye's. Ya I'm Canadian and weapons should be strictly controlled,too many yahoo's out there pulling out there little pistol,put it back in your pants and let's all be friends. Really guns for all come on.

EDIT: Thanto right on !

Edited by The Silver Thong
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"War feeds the economy, a rather sick thing to do but if this is new to you,open your eye's"

sorry no, it isnt new to me, i just like to point out the inconsistencies with certain goverments policys on international diplomacy, hoping those that are ignorantly blinded by patriotism might see what a joke this all is really. Basically everything.

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Firearms.................are.....................FUN!!!!! :P

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now if I can only find a cheap Thompson????

:) If you do PM me the source :tu:

Lapi'che

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You have an AK?

*give a disapointed glimpse at his M4* :mellow:

Yeah a Romaian one. Wanna trade?

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... Guns who needs em?

Besides Hunters, Military, and Police no one should have a gun or need a gun. Unless your a collector.

~Thanato

:blink: Who will guard the guards?

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... Guns who needs em?

Besides Hunters, Military, and Police no one should have a gun or need a gun. Unless your a collector.

~Thanato

People who enjoy target shooting. I guess people who own guns offend you?

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People who enjoy target shooting. I guess people who own guns offend you?

And this is a must? You really need target shooting to enjoy your life?

You can do target shooting with airsoft ffs.

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