War Profiteers News

Editorial

The financial institutions that invest in weapons producers are major players in the arms trade. Not only do financial institutions directly benefit from the arms trade, but they also reduce the risks that companies take in their deals. Furthermore, because banks and pension funds are "looking after" money from the civilian population, they can be subject to pressure.

Cluster bomb survivors and campaigners welcomed the formal adoption of the Cluster Munitions Convention by over 100 countries. This historic treaty bans the use, production, stockpiling and transfer of all existing and future cluster bombs. To keep pressure on governments and to ensure that the treaty enters into force, campaigners today launched the People’s Treaty.

“The adoption of this treaty has intensified the stigma attached to cluster bombs.

En un período de apenas 10 años, comprendidos entre 1998 y 2007, Venezuela subió del lugar 56 al puesto 24 en el ranking mundial de mayores compradores de armamento convencional. Estos datos fueron recientemente difundidos por el Instituto Internacional de Estudios para la Paz de Estocolmo (SIPRI), cuya base de datos acerca de la transferencia de armas en el planeta se ha convertido en una referencia para monitorear los procesos de militarización global.

On the 29th of May Clarion Events announced the acquisition of Defence Systems and Equipment International (DSEi), Latin American Aerospace and Defence Exhibition (LAAD) and ITEC.

DSEi - The largest arms fair in the world takes place in London every two years. The previous owners of DSEi and the other two exhibitions, Reed Elsevier,which is a major publisher of scientific publications, had to sell DSEi after a high profile campaign against it.

By Tikiri

From the 12th to19th of June the peace action camp Disarm08 took place in Kalskoga, the heart of the Swedish weapons indsutry. Karlskoga is the home of the two big companies BAE Systems Bofors and Saab Bofors Dynamics (together known as "Bofors").

BBVA

New resources

Bank Secrets - new web-page

New website with resources on banks and their bad policies. You can find out what your bank is doing. It also comes with good ideas for campaigning.

http://bankgeheimen.be/

Bite the Bullet updated web-page

The US network against war profiteering has updated their website, with many good resources on war profiteers in the US.

http://bitethebullet.us

KBR, Inc. (formerly Kellogg Brown & Root) is an American engineering and construction company, formerly a subsidiary of Halliburton, based in Houston. After Halliburton acquired Dresser Industries in 1998, Dresser's engineering subsidiary, The M. W. Kellogg Co., was merged with Halliburton's construction subsidiary, Brown & Root, to form Kellogg Brown & Root. KBR and its predecessors have won many contracts with the U.S.

War on Want is an anti-poverty charity based in London, England, which highlights the needs of poverty-stricken areas around the world, lobbying governments and international agencies to tackle problems, as well as raising public awareness of the concerns of developing nations while supporting organisations throughout the third world.

European Peace Action at the European Social Forum

Malmo: 17 - 21 of September

For more information:

http://europeanpeaceaction.org/

International Day of Action: War starts from Europe

Europe: 14-15 November, European day of action against military globalisation.

For more information contact:

info@wri-irg.org