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TITLE: Making a Killing on Weapons Sales to the Destitute |
AUTHOR: Cesar Chelala |
DATE: February 15, 2001 |
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In recent public statements, Pope John Paul II, former President Bill Clinton and the World Bank president James Wolfensohn, have called attention to the urgent need to end world poverty. Lost among their proposals to remedy the situation is the need to curb arms sales, particularly those by leading industrialized nations to heavily indebted developing countries. Curbing those sales to developing countries is not only a critical move toward peace but also a very practical way to diminish poverty. Global arms sales in 1999 rose to $30.3 billion. According to figures from the U.S. Congressional Research Service, the United States strengthened its position as the biggest arms dealer. In 1999, U.S. contractors sold nearly $11.8 billion in weapons. .That figure represents more than a third of the world's total, and more than all European countries combined. Since 1990 the United States has exported more than $133 billion worth of weapons to countries around the world. .In 1999, Russia's arms sales amounted to $4.8 billion, Germany's to $4 billion and France and Britain's to almost $900 million. Russia was the country which had increased its sales most dramatically, from $2.6 billion in 1998. .Russia has begun a major effort to increase its sales to more countries in Asia, Africa and the Middle East. It is estimated that two-thirds of global arms sales go to developing countries. In that regard, the United States and Russia were the leading arms selling countries. Although in recent years the biggest buyers have been in the Middle East, many developing countries, some of them with anti-democratic regimes, have been important buyers. They have purchased arms instead of supporting health and social programs aimed at the poorest sectors of their populations. Pakistan has received missile-related technical assistance from China, which has also provided such technology to Iran, North Korea and Libya. The unrestrained proliferation of arms sales to underdeveloped countries not only has hindered their economic development but has also fueled humanitarian crises, particularly in such African countries as Sudan, Rwanda, Burundi, Angola and Sierra Leone. While weapons are recycled regionally, significant new shipments continue to reach some of those countries, particularly from China and countries of the former Warsaw Pact. All supplier countries become accomplices in the human rights violations committed with these weapons, as countries which supplied weapons to the Serbs well know. .Another example of arms sales increasing the possibility of conflict is the case of Greece and Turkey. Although the two countries have for decades threatened to go to war over Cyprus, in 1997 the United States sold more than $270 million worth of weapons to Greece and almost $750 million worth to Turkey. There is increased pressure for an international code of conduct on arms transfers, with 17 Nobel Peace Prize laureates leading the effort. .In 1999 the European Union passed a voluntary code that commits member countries to increased consultations regarding arms sales. .The World Bank has applied important measures of debt relief aimed at the poorest, most indebted countries in the world. In Africa, debt repayments consume annually one-third of export earnings. Debt relief, however, is not the only way to combat poverty. Education is one of the most effective measures to diminish it and improve the health status of the poorest sectors of the population. In addition to debt relief measures and providing support to education programs, the World Bank should require that all recipients of aid devote no more than a small percentage of their GNP to arms purchases, and that only for self-defense. The writer, an international medical consultant, contributed this comment to the International Herald Tribune. END |