Mining as a fuel for war

Together with this Appeal Letter you will find enclosed the latest issue of The Broken Rifle on "Mining as a fuel for war". With this issue we want take a new step in our work on war profiteering by looking at the connections between the mining industry and the arms trade. The relationship between both industries has a long history, documented in Felix Padel 's article.

Aluminium has become the most important single bulk material of modern warfare. No fighting is possible, and no war can be carried to a successful conclusion today, without using and destroying vast quantities of aluminium... Aluminium is needed in atomic weapons, both in their manufacture and in their delivery.

In our work against war industry, WRI sees itself as an ally of local groups struggling against these mines, as in Orissa, India.

The mining industry also plays an important role in fuelling local conflicts and provoking the displacement of huge amounts of people all over the world. The continent of Africa is one of the most affected by this industry as Jan Van Criekinge tells us:

When mining contracts are given, the immediate threat to local communities is displacement and land alienation (loss of property rights). These are inevitable features of large-scale mining. In Botswana, the displacement of the San people from the Central Kalahari Game Reserve, to open the park to large-scale diamond mining, was one such recent example.

War and the military industrial complex are responsible for many of the biggest crimes and injustices in our society. Our struggle against war profiteering - and generally to remove the causes of war - is vital if we want to live in a better and juster world.

We would like to ask you to give generously to War Resisters' International to make it possible to continue working against war profiteers and for a world without war!

Thank you,

Javier Gárate ( Nonviolence Programme Coordinator)

Please give generously to War Resisters’ International. Thank You!

Click here to make an online donation for WRI's programme work.