War Profiteers

Oil and minerals are two resources which the system consumes with a velocity and anxiety akin to that of an addiction, to such an extent that when these resources are in danger of becoming in short supply, either owing to their depletion or an increase in international prices, the system experiences a crisis, a ‘deliria tremens’, and becomes capable of killing, robbing, and committing armed assault, in order to restore the flow of these two resources into its economy. We saw in Iraq and in the Middle East what can happen because of oil; we saw in Conga Peru and in each of our so-called ‘mining’ countries the deaths that can come as a result of the pursuit of gold and other metals.

By Seungho

As the Seoul International Aerospace & Defense Exhibition 2013 (hereafter, "Seoul ADEX 2013") started on 28th October, 22 civil society organizations in South Korea engaged in a series of actions targeting the largest arms fair in the Asia-Pacific region. The coalition organized an alternative exhibition of their own in response to the Seoul ADEX 2013, and named it the Peace and Disarmament Exhibition. While Seoul ADEX 2013 focused on new technology or advancement of weapon systems, the Peace and Disarmament Exhibition put emphasis on the inevitable consequences of the arms trade and tried to unveil the naked face of the arms fair.

On Friday, 25 October, more than 100 police and military agencies from California and across the US were joined by their counterparts from Israel, Gaum, Bahrain and Brazil for a massive SWAT team training and weapons expo called "Urban Shield." WRL and the Facing Urban Shield Action Network, with more than 30 endorsers in the Bay Area, showed up to challenge this convergence and the militarization of the police.

Glencore Xstrata is a multinational commodity trading and mining company headquartered in Zug, a “tax heaven” canton of Switzerland. The company was created through a merger or better said a take over by Glencore of Xstrata on 2 May 2013. As of 2013, it ranked twelfth in the Fortune Global 500 list of the world's largest companies.

War Profiteers' News, No 40

Anand Mazgaonkar

Most current-day economists' guidebooks and blueprints would have us believe that growth trickles down and that is the way to eradicate poverty. Armed with such rationale, various governments fall over each other to attract investment from corporations, regardless of whether they have to re-order policy priorities, change local laws, defray huge public expenditures to provide infrastructure, or hand out massive subsidies to 'foreign investors'. While 'democratic' governments pretend to be accountable to 'people', i.e., common citizens, they unabashedly only serve the interests corporations. The definition of 'extractive industries' would therefore include not just mining corporations but:

European president Herman Van Rompuy has put military Europe high on the political agenda. Only three months after receiving the Nobel peace prize, he concluded a speech at the annual conference of the European Defence Agency (EDA) as follows: “Europe was born out of the ashes of a war. And built, at first, by pooling (and sharing!) the instruments of war: coal and steel […]. The European Union stands by those in pursuit of peace and human dignity. To fulfil such responsibilities, we should make sure we have the means at our disposal.”

Anne-Marie O'Reilly

A key event for the international arms trade took place in London from 9-13 Sept: the DSEi arms fair which hosted 1500 arms companies and 30,000 arms buyers and sellers.

The UK government’s invite list was a roll call of authoritarian regimes and human rights abusers. Unarmed protesters have been killed this year on the streets of Bahrain, Turkey, and Brazil. Yet not only were the companies which supplied the teargas used in this repression at DSEi, each of their militaries was there too - at the invitation of the UK government's arms sales unit.

5 - 12 October

The Drone Campaign Network’s Week of Action is part of International Keep Space for Peace Week. Here is a list of events so far - to let us know of an event not listed here please email us info@dronecampaignnetwork.org.uk.

Please consider organising an event in your area focusing on the use of drones.

Week of Action Details so far:

On October 7th, activists from Vredesactie and Agir pour la Paix were taking action against the European Commission. Posing as arms dealers they hosted a Thank You EU reception in a pool of blood. “The arms dealers thank the EU for its generous support”, was the message. With the action Vredesactie and Agir pour la Paix draw attention to the growing militarisation of the European Union. They also denounce the grip of the arm industry on EU policy.

Video of webinar by Anand Mazgaonkar

[video:https://vimeo.com/75318540 width:400 height:300]

Anand Mazgaonkar makes the case of the huge impact of extractive industries in India and the nonviolent resitance to it.

This webinar was part of WRI's eCouncil

Wendela de Vries

The second biggest arms company of Europe, EADS, has its headquarters in the Netherlands. Although these headquarters are not much more than a mailbox – EADS has the same tax policies as Starbucks – it means the company falls under Dutch law and has to have an annual shareholders meeting in Amsterdam. It has become a good Dutch tradition to welcome the EADS shareholders with banners and loud noise.

War Profiteers' News, No 39

Martin Smedjeback, a nonviolence trainer, active in the antimilitarist network Ofog, was arrested on the evening of July 14th in Malmö, in the south of Sweden. He climbed the fence of the weapons factory Aimpoint, which manufacturers redpoint laser sights used by the US Army and many other military forces around the world. At the interrogation at the police station that same night, he was informed that he would probably be charged with illegal trespass or severe illegal trespass: crimes that have a maximum sentence of six months and two years in prison respectively.