Arms will change the Heaven into a Hell

By: Zakir Qadir Shams

By the time the human mind got sharper and sharper with the efforts of inventing new invention and discovering discoveries. The wholesome efforts bestowed man felicity in life as he originated computer and television to become au fait with the four corners of the earth sitting inside the air-conditioned room. He invented airplane via that millions of miles are traveled in minutes which human would not be capable to step on for years. Meanwhile, some other inventions glommed the comforts as the weapons of destruction, in fact, were invented to comfort, defend and stabilize peace around man, but all got in vain.

Photo: Wp

The world countries have need of more stabilization as they get the threats from the pace of clashes between them. They are importing more and more arms for defense purposes and are spending more budgets on their militaries.  

It is estimated that yearly, over 1.5 trillion dollars are spent on military expenditures world wide. In 2009, the combined military expenditure was 1.5 trillion dollars and in 2008 an amount of 1.464 trillion dollars was spent.

Attributed to the demands for more weapons, the arm industry is producing an overwhelming quantity of weapons day by day. The countries like The United States, Russia, United Kingdom, China, Germany, Italy, France, and some other European countries manufacturing and selling arms to get economic stability - or to promote peace in the world?

The combined arms sales of the top 100 largest arms producing companies amounted to an estimated 315 billion dollars in 2006.

United States sold 166.278 billion dollars worth of arms. Russia (73.965 billion), France (35.175 billion), United Kingdom (29.379 billion), Germany (19.742 billion), China (13.652 billion), Italy (12.531 billion) and some other European countries sold 43.752 billion dollars worth of arms to different countries from 2002 to 2009.(Stockholm International Peace Research Institute)

Between 2000 and 2009, South Africa has sold weapons to 58 countries. She sold R1.883 billion worth of sensitive weapon equipments to India, R1.419 billion to United Arab Emirates and R1.21 to Algeria. Colombia received R1.085 billion worth of equipments while Nigeria got R84 billion worth of weapon equipments. (The Ceasefire Campaign)     

According to a report of NSOI (Nuclear Smuggling Outreach Institute), fourteen countries in the world are involved in nuclear smuggling, including America, Australia, Belgium, China, Germany, Japan, Malaysia, Holland, Russia, South Africa, Spain, Switzerland, and South Korea.

The former American president Jorge W Bush, addressing in Defense National University on 11^th February 2004, said, “European and American companies are spreading arms around the world which are mostly linked up with the underworld. Nuclear underworld comprises of 158 companies and 78 of them have been cognized so far, 24 in America, 3 in China, 8 in France, 17 in UK, 6 in Russia, 5 in Japan, 3 in Holland, 7 in Belgium, 3 in Spain and 2 are in Sweden.”

International Action on Small Arms, estimated in 2003 that over 639 million small arms were in circulation, and over 1,135 companies based in more than 98 different countries manufacture small arms from those many fall into the hands of rebel forces and terrorists.

The militant groups are easily getting control of the arms and it is a big threat for the peace in world. Arms are getting into the wrong hands through weak controls on firearm ownership and weapons management.

Major general Yusuf Hussein Osman, who served as the Chief of Staff of Somalia's Military in 2009, in an exclusive interview with Africa News said “The Somali soldiers are not being paid their $100 monthly wage a long period; consequently they offered to sell their guns and ammunition, they get money from rebels and then hand to their arms.”

While international attention is focused on the need to control weapons of mass destruction to stabilize the peace of the world and the arms trade continues.

The U.S. politician, Richard Perle says, “Arms control so easily becomes an incantation rather than policy.” (March 1987)

His assumption has today come true. The countries that talk the words of peace and arms control are today the top traders of highly dangerous weapons and supplying them to the countries they call rouge countries and the homes of the 9/11 hijackers.   

The United Nations Security Council desires to enforce peace in the world but the top five countries profiting from the arms trade are the five permanent members of it, the USA, UK, France, Russia, and China. Together, they are responsible for eighty eight per cent of reported conventional arms exports.