Preview

The Arms Trade

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
419 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
The Arms Trade
The Arms Trade is one of the world's biggest industries employing many hundreds of thousands worldwide. It involves large, rich, prosperous countries such as the United Kingdom, the USA, France and Russia selling weapons to other countries. Over 75% of the weapons sold by the UK in 1989 were sold to poor, developing countries such as South Korea, Sierra Leone and Liberia. At first, there may seem to be nothing wrong with this common practice but a closer look reveals the brutality and horror behind this industry.

As I previously said the majority of the weapons are sold to impoverished countries. In most cases these countries have a crumbling infrastructure, extremely poor public services such as health and education and in many instances the countries' inhabitants have a lack food, water, housing and basic sanitation. The many billions spent annually on these instruments of war could easily take care and provide for the many starving populations worldwide. A particularly good example of this is in Pakistan, where the government spends 34% of its money on the military every year and 1% on healthcare. These are tragic circumstances where millions of lives could be saved instead of the buying of these evil machines.

This trade also makes war possible. The only reason that these weapons of destruction are bought is to kill. They destroy whole communities and maim and murder millions of innocent civilians throughout the world. If these sales were to stop taking place the world would be a much safer and more peaceful place for everyone. A perfect example of this savage brutality is the deaths of over 30 million people in 120 wars in the 55 years since the Second World War came to an end – mostly in the Third World.

In many cases, poor countries have heavy debts to repay to rich countries. These amount to hundreds of billions all over the world. It is no coincidence that it is these same rich countries that sell the weapons. They have no qualms about the

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    War brings death and destruction, merciless slaughter and butchery, disease and starvation, poverty and ruin in its wake. Although war may not always be the first answer or the most beneficial, it is an inescapable evil because war has brought the world peace and prosperity while banding people together to fight for a cause. It leads to national growth and solves domestic problems between countries; Injustice and tyranny can be quelled as the aftereffect of war. On the contrary, war includes loss of human life, spreads of diseases, and induces a feeling of anxiety and dismay among communities. The brutal sacrifices that innocent people undergo may not be worth the outcome.…

    • 510 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Best Essays

    Simkin, John. “Military Industrial Congressional Intelligence Complex.” The Education Forum http://educationforum.ipbhost.com/index.php?showtopic=6116 (accessed Apr. 18, 2012)…

    • 3193 Words
    • 13 Pages
    Best Essays
  • Good Essays

    War Of 1812 Dbq Outline

    • 737 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Having no weapons for your soldiers to combat with is bad. Not being able to purchase weapons because of national debt is even…

    • 737 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    hi guys

    • 275 Words
    • 2 Pages

    The trade is hard to stop because they are illegally smuggled and passed off as real when they get over to the us.a handful of diamonds can be enough money to fund a terrorist group.…

    • 275 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    The article Canadian firm shipped armoured cars to lawless Libya despite UN warning depicts how fragile Canada’s trading relationship is with African countries. Many African countries are war torn and have consistent conflict outbreaks occurring. Thus making it very difficult for Canada to import or export goods to a country such as Libya. The article goes in depth about how the streit group, which is a canadian owned company sent over 70 armoured vehicles to Libya, south sudan and other war ridden countries. This went against the existing embargo on arms the united nations had already placed. Organizations such as the Amnesty international Canada are appalled by the streit group’s actions. The secretary general of Amnesty International Canada, Alex Neve is very worried about the repercussions that are a result of sending weapons to a country that has no functioning government, for example the inflammation in libya’s civil war.…

    • 532 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    French makes millions off West Africa, the United States benefits from oil tapped in from wars in the Middle East, the British still running India, South Africa, Australia and the West Indies, Spain from their past colonies in Latin America, and Portugal benefiting from Brazil and countries in Africa. Even though wars and conflicts between humans have been going on for centuries, I can only agree to an extent. Conflicts between rival & local nations happen a lot, even though I disagree with war. Global invasion and exploitation is too far beyond, and really can’t even be justified.…

    • 1409 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Did it occur to you once why do weapons even exist? Have you ever asked yourself what mass destruction weapons are used for? Or what good are they doing for humanity? Weapons of mass destruction are as useless as a roasted pork in Mecca completely and utterly useless, in fact, as it is obvious in the word “mass destruction”, it is only used to kills hundreds of thousands of people and do damage worth millions and millions of pounds.…

    • 641 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    They are bought by civilians for collecting just as a child would buy baseball cards to collect, it’s a hobby. This is perfectly fine. Handguns purchased just for novelty and just to be shot properly at a firing range are also perfectly fine. Also, a handgun kept in a safe place in a house, to keep as protection only when a trespasser or intruder enters the house or property with means of harm, is also ok. If handguns were purchased just for those reasons and used properly and legally, the gun laws and guns themselves wouldn’t have to be altered, but many people abuse the laws and harm people and this makes it harder for a person who is completely innocent to buy a gun just for a…

    • 1450 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Goose, Stephen D. in Frank Smyth. 1994. Arming Genocide in Rwanda. Foreign Affairs 73 (5). Dostopno prek: http://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/50333/stephen-d-goose-and-frank-smyth/arming-genocide-in-rwanda-the-high-cost-of-small-arms-transfers (9. december 2013).…

    • 3465 Words
    • 14 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    The Americans are named as firearm lovers of guns, and are thought to be utilizing guns as toys or as equipment during sports yet what individuals appear not to know is that these have an exceptionally incredible risk to the coming generations (Squires, 2012). Nations, for example, Mexico which run by drug cartels and high murder rates are less equipped than the United States. This brings up the issue in the matter of why Americans want to have more weapons than nations that are braced by war and high murder rates. The US government has put resources into an exceptionally solid civilian army and which is sufficiently capable of shielding Americans from both outside and inside attacks.…

    • 898 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    The Profession Of Arms

    • 522 Words
    • 2 Pages

    If one spends enough time in the Army they will hear the term “Profession of Arms” at some point. This is a term that is commonly used to describe the work that is required of soldiers in the US Army. All who serve are considered to be part of the profession whether they are enlisted, commissioned, or even a civilian contractor. It means many things to those who serve, but this is what it means to me.…

    • 522 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Some people believe that weapons must be accessible for all citizens so they can exercise their right to protect themselves, while others suggest it can cause a larger breakdown for the safety of the Mexican people. According to a report made by the Mexican government, a total of “7,724 drug war-related deaths in 2009” resulted from the impartiality and the continuous violence generated by the exchange of guns with the United States. President Obama had previously declared that “90% of the weapons seized in operations in Mexico could be traced back to the United States.” Opponents argue that only 17% of arms seized in Mexico could be actually traced back to the country and claim that the production of guns is beneficial to the American economy…

    • 315 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Gun Control

    • 1015 Words
    • 5 Pages

    In the article " The Accessibility of guns protects lives" it describes the term gun control. Gun control means "any law, policy, practice, or proposal designed to define, restrict, or limit the possession, production or modification, importation, shipment, sale, and/or use of Firearms." Gun control is used throughout our world today." Many countries have inflicted gun control laws which attempt to help with all the gun crimes and violence. With any type of laws or polices, countries won't always be able to prevent one hundred percent of the problem, but they may be able to prevent certain situations from happening. The definition of a gun is “a weapon incorporating a metal tube from which bullets, shells, or other missiles are propelled by explosive force, typically making a characteristic loud, sharp noise”(Google). Guns are a weapon, just like knives, axes, swords, bombs, rockets, missiles, grenades, assault rifles, sniper rifles, shotguns, hand guns, and flamethrowers. A weapon is “a thing designed or used for inflicting bodily harm or physical damage” (Google). Needless to say we use objects everyday that could be considered weapons. Some examples are: pencils, pens, butter knives, scissors, bats, and many more items. Certain objects can be more deadly than others depending on the operator and not the object. People always blame the object for doing the crime when really it was the person that committed a crime. Objects cannot commit crimes but the people can use the object for doing wrong.…

    • 1015 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Gun Control

    • 832 Words
    • 4 Pages

    America is the most well armed nation in the world, with American citizens owning about 270…

    • 832 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    American Gun Laws

    • 1168 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Ammunition for guns can be purchased at nearly every store around the United States including Kmart and even in a barbers shop. Not only are you able to buy ammunition for very powerful guns but you are also legally allowed to buy as many sets of ammunition as you desire. Seventeen cents is all you need to purchase one bullet in America. If Americans wanted fewer people dying from guns every year they would change the price and the fact that guns are so easy to access dramatically. If bullets were 7,000 dollars each they would be used more carefully. This would influence a massive change in people dying per year from…

    • 1168 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays