Welcome to Bennett's Study

From the Author of No Land an Island and Unconscionable

Pondering Alphabetic SOLUTIONS: Peace, Politics, Public Affairs, People Relations

http://www.bennettponderingpeacepoliticssolutions.com/

http://www.bennettponderingpeacepoliticssolutions.com/author/

http://www.bennettponderingpeacepoliticssolutions.com/buy/

UNCONSCIONABLE: http://www.unconscionableusforeignrelations.com/ http://www.unconscionableusforeignrelations.com/author/ http://www.unconscionableusforeignrelations.com/book/ http://www.unconscionableusforeignrelations.com/excerpt/ http://www.unconscionableusforeignrelations.com/contact/ http://www.unconscionableusforeignrelations.com/buy/ SearchTerm=Carolyn+LaDelle+Bennett http://www2.xlibris.com/books/webimages/wd/113472/buy.htm http://www.prweb.com/releases/2014/08UNCONSCIONABLE/prweb12131656.htm http://bookstore.xlibris.com/AdvancedSearch/Default.aspx? http://bookstore.xlibris.com/Products/SKU-000757788/UNCONSCIONABLE.aspx

http://todaysinsight.blogspot.com

Monday, April 30, 2012

Crimes not crimes when clandestine — rights abusers, mass marketers conspire in dodging culpability


Criminals justify their crimes, purging themselves in prime time broadcasts, on powerful print pages
By Carolyn Bennett (editing, commentary)

I’m CIA, Bobby. Officially I don’t exist.…  My profit’s my reward— for selfless service to god and country.” [Before drilling 7 gun shots into two gagged, tied up internal affairs FBI officials]

“This isn’t about sides, this is about confusion. This is about creating enemies where there aren’t any. …   [Film “White Sands”]
Art imitates life


This week’s notorious” author spy (retired)

Democracy Now! pushed a clip from CBS’s 60 Minutes with former CIA clandestine operations and lead interrogator Jose Rodriguez headlined: “Ex-CIA Interrogator says [U.S. President Barack] Obama’s Policy is to ‘Kill All Prisoners.’”

TARGETED ASSASSINATION (execution without arrest, charge or trial)

U.S. CIA assassination drone
Commenting on a system he was part of and from which he retired and wrote his book, Rodriguez said: “‘We don’t capture anybody any more … the default option of this Administration has been to kill all prisoners. Take no prisoners.…  How could it be more ethical to kill people rather than capture them? I never understood that one.’”

A Wikipedia profile says Jose A. Rodriguez Jr. is known for being the Director of the National Clandestine Service (D/NCS) of the United States Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) — the top Human Intelligence operations post in the United States government.  Rodriguez was the last CIA Deputy Director for Operations (DDO) before that position was expanded to D/NCS in December 2004, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jose_Rodriguez_(intelligence_officer
Former U.S. President (#37)
Richard M. Nixon

Daily Beast reported WATERBOARDING, yes, and lie about it and cover it up

Former CIA official Jose Rodriguez “defends the waterboarding program and says he was right in 2005 to order the destruction of videotapes of the harsh interrogation sessions, in which suspected Al Qaeda terrorists were held down and subjected to a simulated drowning.”


U.S. Presidents 43 and 44
George W. Bush
Barack H. Obama
Criminals’ CONFLICTING STORIES
When Congress member claims deniability, call her a liar

While a ranking member of the House intelligence committee after September 11, 2001, she was fully informed about the use of waterboarding, says the Ex-CIA employee. “‘[House Democratic leader Nancy] Pelosi said that we only briefly mentioned waterboarding and left the impression that it had not been used [but] … I know she got it.’”




Former Speaker of
U.S.. House of Representatives
How many more atrocities 
DRONES yes/no (having it both ways)

“‘Drones can be a highly effective way of dealing with high-priority targets,’ Rodriguez writes, ‘But they should not become the drug of choice for an administration that is afraid to use successful, legal and safe tactics of the past. … There is no opportunity to interrogate or learn anything from a suspect who is vaporized by a missile launched by a keystroke executed thousands of miles away.’”

Committing crime is okay
Legacy:
Nixon government
Obama government
If clandestine
If government officials can claim to have gotten what you wanted by committing the crime

Christian Science Monitor (2011) reports former intelligence officials’ saying, “‘We are concerned about the suggestion by some that the use of waterboarding and other enhanced interrogation techniques led U.S. forces to Osama bin Laden’s compound.’”

Retired Army Col. Stuart Herrington, a military intelligence specialist who interrogated generals under the command of Saddam Hussein and evaluated U.S. detention operations at Guantánamo, reportedly said Osama bin Laden “could have wrapped himself in an American flag and had a white flag in both hands” but “if [special operators] were told to go in and kill this guy — and they clearly understood the marching orders — he would have “still been killed.”

A group of former intelligence officials, including Herrington, released a statement in 2011 disagreeing with former George W. Bush officials’ (among them Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld’s television assertion that anyone saying waterboarding does not produce enormous valuable intelligence is not facing the truth) crediting themselves with criminal methods effecting the Obama government’s hunt down and assassination of Osama bin Laden.

Targeted Assassination
EVEN WHEN THE COVER SLIPS and barbarity of soldiers, embracing the pattern set by their masters, reaches sunlight, U.S. officialdom (government and mass media) denies wrongdoing and culpability, and no court holds higher ups to account for their crimes.

On the World Socialist Web Site David Walsh ended an article published on April 19, 2012:

How many individual atrocities have to take place before it becomes clear that an entire operation is criminal to its core?

Greenpeace image
“After the exposure of each U.S. atrocity—including the slaughter of civilians, the abuse and torture of prisoners, the mutilation of corpses for trophies, Marines urinating on the Afghan dead, the desecration of the Koran—American officials express dismay and describe the incidents as the actions of ‘individuals’ who have perverted a righteous cause. This is a lie. 
First, considering the unprecedented level of censorship of the war in Afghanistan, the episodes that come to light are undoubtedly only the tip of the iceberg. It can be asserted without hesitation that these sorts of crimes occur on virtually a daily basis. The exposure of the Qalat desecrations depended entirely on one soldier’s courageous act.

Second, the incidents that have been publicized make clear a pattern of barbaric behavior on the part of U.S. and allied troops. This flows inevitably from the predatory character of the war and the situation in which American and other occupying forces find themselves: resented and hated by the Afghan population (the brigade lost 35 members during the year-long deployment, 23 of them to homemade bombs or suicide bombers), the soldiers’ increasing demoralization finds expression in acts of brutality.

How many individual atrocities have to take place before it becomes clear that an entire operation is criminal to its core?

Hang legal and moral questions

The “asserted” end (often itself untrue) justifies the means. Right and wrong are no more than “colored bubbles.”

As defined by a clever Clinton on matters of less import, crime and punishment, law and order, right and wrong all depend who does the crime and how, whose political party or what individual (backed by what private interest) holds the seat of power when crimes are committed; and or whether a criminal is in office committing the crime or out of office writing a book about having committed a crime.


This collective failure to call a crime a crime and to prosecute it as such results from the fact that there are powerful conspirators in the act and cover up of high crimes: from government officials to “educators” to book writers to mass communications industries (newspapers, broadcasters, hard copy and electronic publishing, web makers and masters) promoting purgative tomes of “truths,” half-truths, cover-ups, and protracted lies.


Sources and notes

Transcription from ending scenes of “White Sands” film, a speech by Gorman Lennox (Mickey Rourke)

“White Sands” [not what it seems] is a 1992 Roger Donaldson-directed film starring Willem Dafoe as New Mexico Deputy Sheriff Ray Dolezal; Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio as well-heeled finder of money for any “causes” for her kickback on front or back end, whichever is more profitable; and Mickey Rourke as “I’m C [BLINKING] I A…” arms trafficker mayhem-maker, murdered for profit
White Sands at http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0105813/; and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_Sands_(film)

Democracy Noq headlines April 30. 21012, http://www.democracynow.org/2012/4/30/headlines#43011

“CIA Veteran Jose Rodriguez Defends Waterboarding in New Book,” April 29, 2012,
CIA veteran Jose Rodriguez answers critics of the agency’s harsh interrogation techniques—and defends his decision to destroy the tapes. Philip Shenon on his explosive new book
©2011 The Newsweek/Daily Beast Company LLC
http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2012/04/29/cia-veteran-jose-rodriguez-defends-waterboarding-in-new-book.html

Wikipedia Jose A. Rodriguez, Jr.  profile Being the Director of the CIA/National Clandestine Service.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jose_Rodriguez_(intelligence_officer)

“Military interrogators: Waterboarding didn’t yield tips that led to bin Laden — Several former military interrogators refute assertions that waterboarding and other ‘enhanced’ methods provided intelligence that led the U.S. to bin Laden. Some lament lost opportunity to grill Al Qaeda's leader” (Anna Mulrine, CSM Staff writer),/ May 5, 2011, http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Military/2011/0505/Military-interrogators-Waterboarding-didn-t-yield-tips-that-led-to-bin-Laden

“Photos of U.S. troops defiling corpses expose Afghan war’s savagery” (David Walsh), April  
19, 2012, http://www.wsws.org/articles/2012/apr2012/afgh-a19.shtml

Images

“High Crimes” was 2002 film (starring Ashley Judd and Morgan Freeman) portraying an case of U.S. military massacre of Latin American villagers, http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0257756/

Nancy Pelosi image at http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/mediarepublic/category/politics/

When the president does it, Nixon-Obama
http://fullmetalpatriotblog.com/2011/10/government-accountability-office-reports-executive-office-of-the-president-violated-federal-law/

File:Waterboarding From The Inquisition To Guantanamo.jpg
commons.wikimedia.org
stoptorture.png
blogs.law.harvard.edu
DoNoHarm.jpg
flashreport.org
no_war.jpg
greenpeace.org.uk
_____________________________________

Bennett's books are available in New York State independent bookstores: Lift Bridge Bookshop: www.liftbridgebooks.com [Brockport, NY]; Sundance Books: http://www.sundancebooks.com/main.html [Geneseo, NY]; Mood Makers Books: www.moodmakersbooks.com [City of Rochester, NY]; Dog Ears Bookstore and Literary Arts Center: www.enlightenthedog.org/ [Buffalo, NY]; Burlingham Books – ‘Your Local Chapter’: http://burlinghambooks.com/ [Perry, NY 14530]; The Bookworm: http://www.eabookworm.com/ [East Aurora, NY] • See also: World Pulse: Global Issues through the eyes of Women: http://www.worldpulse.com/ http://www.worldpulse.com/pulsewire http://www.facebook.com/#!/bennetts2ndstudy
_____________________________________

Saturday, April 28, 2012

This is about chaos—selling weapons, seizing Syria (Sunday U.S./Iran update)

Syria today
AFP photo at Al Jazeera
“This isn’t about sides, this is about confusion. This is about creating enemies where there aren’t any. …
Compiled and edited
By Carolyn Bennett

“… How are we going to keep the military industrial complex chugging forward without clear-cut … pit-faced scum-sucking evil breathing down out neck — threatening our very shores?

“My job is to make sure the other side keeps on fighting, whatever side … whatever side we’re officially not on this year.” [film White Sands"]


SELLING WEAPONS
U.S. in Asia

The Stockholm International Peace Research Institute early this year reported, “The volume of worldwide arms transfers in 2007–2011 was 24 percent higher than in 2002–2006 and the five largest arms importers in 2007–2011 were all Asian states.”

Reported on February 27, 2012, “Sales of arms and military services by the largest arms-producing companies continued to increase in 2010 to reach $411.1 billion. The global arms industry continues to be highly concentrated, with the top 10 arms-producing companies accounting for 56 percent ($230 billion) of total Top 100 arms sales.

“Arms-producing and military services companies from North America and Western Europe once again dominated the list (data excludes China-based companies).

Sales by the 44 U.S.-based companies accounted for over 60 per cent of all arms sales by the Top 100 arms-producing companies in 2010.  The 30 companies based in Western Europe accounted for a further 29 per cent.

SIPRI's Top 10 [excerpted from SIPRI’s top 100] arms-producing and military services companies, 2010

Company names and structures are listed as they were on December 31, 2010. For subsidiaries and operational companies owned by a holding or investment company, the name of the parent company is given in parentheses along with its country, where it differs. Figures for arms sales, total sales and total profit are in millions of U.S. dollars.

Rank




Company




Country




Sectors
Arms sales
(US$ m.)

Total sales,
2010
(US$ m.)

Arms sales
as share of
total sales,
2010 (%)

Total
profit,
2010
(US$ m.)

Total
employ-
ment, 2010
2010
2009
2010
2009
1
1
Lockheed Martin
United StatesU.S.
Aircraft, Electronics, Missiles, Space
35 730
33 430
45 803
78
2 926
132 000
2
2
BAE Systems
United KingdomUK
Aircraft, Artillery, Electronics, Missiles, Military vehicles, Small arms/ammunition, Ships
32 880
32 540
34 609
95
1 671
98 200
3
3
Boeing
United StatesU.S.
Aircraft, Electronics, Missiles, Space
31 360
32 300
64 306
49
3 307
160 500
4
4
Northrop Grumman
United StatesU.S.
Aircraft, Electronics, Missiles, Ships, Space
28 150
27 000
34 757
81
2 053
117 100
5
5
General Dynamics
United StatesU.S.
Artillery, Electronics, Military vehicles, Small arms/ammunition, Ships
23 940
23 380
32 466
74
2 624
90 000
6
6
Raytheon
United StatesU.S.
Electronics, Missiles
22 980
23 080
25 183
91
1 879
72 400
S
S
BAE Systems Inc. (BAE Systems, UK)
United StatesU.S.
Artillery, Electronics, Military vehicles, Small arms/ammunition
17 900
19 280
17 903
100
1 966
46 900
7
7
EADS
Trans-EuropeanNetherlands
Aircraft, Electronics, Missiles, Space
16 360
15 930
60 599
27
732
121 690
8
8
Finmeccanica
ItalyItaly
Aircraft, Artillery, Electronics, Missiles, Military vehicles, Small arms/ammunition
14 410
13 280
24 762
58
738
75 200
9
9
L-3 Communications
United StatesU.S.
Electronics, Services
13 070
13 010
15 680
83
955
63 000
10
10
United Technologies
United StatesU.S.
Aircraft, Electronics, Engines
11 410
11 110
54 326
21
4 711
208 220
http://www.sipri.org/research/armaments/production/Top100

Flag of Iran

Apropos April 28’s insight news entry (an update)
Iran, Arabia, Persian Gulf
Turkey, Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan
Critical waterways north/south
Gateways
North to Russia
Northeast to China


Tehran— April 29, 2012 (Press TV report)  — Senior Iranian military commander, Deputy Head of the Armed Forces Joint Chiefs of Staff Brigadier General Masoud Jazayeri, says the United States and its allies’ “causing a broad array of conspiracies …  seek to promote division and discord between Iran and its neighboring states.” The Iranian commander suggested that —

… Arab rulers who make baseless claims about the ownership of the three Iranian islands are playing into the hands of the U.S. and other hegemonic powers. Experience has shown [he said] that such scenarios written by arrogant powers, have failed to accomplish their objectives [“U.S. interests lie in creating tension in Persian Gulf region: Cmdr,” Sunday April 29, 2012, http://www.presstv.ir/detail/238747.html]


KILLLING, CREATING CHAOS, CONFLICT (now under foreign invasion: Syria)

Flag of Syria
U.S.-allied Turkey
April 28, 2012

Syrian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Jihad Makdisi says —

‘It is disturbing that Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has threatened to bring in NATO to protect its borders with Syria.

‘This demonstrates a lack of a genuine commitment to the terms of the (Kofi) Annan plan and policies of good neighborliness.…’
U.S. in Middle East, Asia, Africa
Turkey sits in Europe and Asia

“On April 12, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Turkey has ‘several options’ in response to possible spillover effects of the conflict in Syria over the Syrian-Turkish border.

‘First of all, there is an option of invoking Article 5 of the NATO treaty,’ Erdogan said, referring to a NATO clause which stipulates that an attack against a NATO member state is considered an attack against all members.

On April 26, the Turkish foreign minister also said that Ankara is considering ‘all possibilities in order to protect national security’ regarding the situation in Syria.

The Syrian Foreign Ministry representative continued the reaction saying “Turkey seeks to aggravate the situation in Syria and damage bilateral ties between Damascus and Ankara by making ‘provocative statements’ [and supporting] armed groups that ‘do not believe in [Syria’s] political process….’”

The UN Security Council in mid April approved Resolution 2042 sending 300 UN observers to Syria. These observers have arrived in Damascus.


U.S. anti-Syrian government
April 25, 2012

U.S. assassination drone
An American analyst says the United States has brought death squads into Syria to work as armed gangs and target population groups before Washington attacks the country, Press TV reports.

The U.S. author and historian Webster Griffin Tarpley told Press TV that the “‘main force of what’s causing the trouble in Syria is these death squads’ —  recruited from many parts of the world.” It is a pattern, Tarpley explained, that was used in Iraq:  “Washington sent death squads to Iraq in 2006 and 2007 and caused a civil war in order to maintain its presence in the country.

Syria was regarded as a unit with Iraq; they were setting the basis at that time [and] merely needed to develop it further.’ … The current situation in Syria shows that NATO powers are seeking an ‘armed intervention’ in the country, attempting ‘to create a civil war from the outside.’”

Syria has been experiencing unrest since mid-March 2011 and many people, including members of the security forces, have been killed in the turmoil. The West and the Syrian opposition accuse the government of killing protesters. Damascus, blames ‘outlaws, saboteurs, and armed terrorist groups’ for the unrest, asserting that it is being orchestrated from abroad.


U.S.-allied Qatar
April 24, 2012,

“Qatar-backed armed gangs have resorted to increased violence in Syria despite the peace agreement,” Syrian Ambassador to Tehran Hamed Hassan told Press TV.

The ambassador said in Tuesday’s press conference,

When the United Nations adopted this new peace deal brought about by Syrian Envoy Kofi Annan, the Qatari sheikh was against this strategy of ending violence and stopping the foreign-backed armed gangs and terrorists in our country.

Despite the UN-backed truce, part of a six-point peace plan proposed in March by Kofi Annan, armed groups have been carrying out attacks. Ambassador Hassan said “we’re looking forward to this new peace deal to bring calm and an end to the violence in the country” and added that “strong unity between Iran and Syria will have a positive influence on regional countries.”

US.-allied Saudi Arabia and Qatar
April 28

Saudi King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Al Saud reportedly has discussed with Qatari Crown Prince Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani “support for armed terrorist gangs operating in Syria.”

The Saudi Kingdom “has launched a worldwide campaign against the government of President Bashar al-Assad, especially by exercising pressure on Damascus through the Arab League. Qatar has called for supplying anti-Assad groups with arms and financial support. Qatar’s Foreign Minister Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim Al Thani in late February called for the creation of an Arab force to ‘open humanitarian corridors to provide security to the Syrian people.’

“Armed groups in Syria, which are supported by Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Turkey and some Western countries,” reportedly disagree with the peace plan proposed by Envoy Kofi Annan and “continue violence against Syrian security forces and civilians.”

U.S.-allied Israel
Occupying, threatening Lebanon
April 28, 2012

On a daily basis, “Israel violates Lebanon’s airspace.”

In violation of a UN Security Council resolution, “Israeli unmanned aerial vehicles crossed into Lebanon’s airspace over the southern border village of Rmeish and carried out surveillance flights over several areas in southern Lebanon including the Bekaa valley on Thursday evening.  Earlier that day, an Israeli drone violated the Lebanese airspace over Alma al-Shaab town and conducted several sorties over various sectors of Lebanon. The Lebanese military reported to the press on Friday.

Lebanon’s government, the Hezbollah resistance movement and the UN Interim Force in Lebanon known as UNIFIL have repeatedly condemned these violations, which are in breach of UN Resolution 1701 and Lebanon’s sovereignty. In 2009, Lebanon filed a complaint with the United Nations presenting over 7,000 documents pertaining to Israeli violation of the Lebanese territory. UN Security Council Resolution 1701, which brokered a ceasefire in the war Israel launched against Lebanon in 2006, calls on Tel Aviv to respect Beirut’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.
Flag of Lebanon

Syria-allied Lebanon
April 28, 2012

“Lebanon stops ship with Syria-bound weapons” 

Al Jazeera reports today that the Lebanese navy reportedly “intercepted a ship loaded with three containers of weapons destined for Syrian opposition forces.

The cargo vessel had originated in Libya and contained heavy machine guns, artillery shells, rockets, rocket launchers and other explosives. Eleven crew members were being questioned by Lebanese military police. Military prosecutor Saqr Saqr said an investigation was under way.

Another security official said Sierra Leone-flagged Lutfallah II “was bound for members of the Free Syrian Army, an umbrella group of fighters trying to overthrow the government of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. Also on Saturday, Syrian state media reported gunmen in inflatable boats attacked a military unit on Syria’s Mediterranean coast.


Russia allied against U.S.-allied forces in Syria
April 28, 2012

“‘All domestic and outside players need to prevent any support’ from reaching the armed gangs, the Russian Federation Foreign Ministry said in a statement on Saturday.

Russia’s statement followed yesterday’s bomb explosion near a mosque and school in the central Damascus neighborhood of al-Midan that left 11 people dead and dozens injured.

“‘We are convinced,” the Russian representative is reported saying, “‘that the terrorists operating in Syria need a decisive rebuff.’”

“Officially I don’t exist, I can’t. My profit’s my reward— for selfless service to god and country.”




Sources and notes


Transcription from ending scenes of “White Sands” film, a speech by Gorman Lennox (Mickey Rourke)

 “White Sands” [not what it seems] is a 1992 Roger Donaldson-directed film starring Willem Dafoe as New Mexico Deputy Sheriff Ray Dolezal; Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio as well-heeled finder of money for any “causes” for her kickback on front or back end, whichever is more profitable; and Mickey Rourke as “I’m C [BLINKING] I A…” arms trafficker mayhem-maker, murdered for profit
White Sands at http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0105813/; and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_Sands_(film)

“Turkey aggravating situation: Syria Foreign Ministry,” April 28, 2012,  http://www.presstv.ir/detail/238564.html

“‘U.S. sent death squads into Syria,’” April 25, 2012, http://www.presstv.ir/detail/238083.html

“‘Armed gangs increase attacks in Syria,’” April 24, 2012, http://edition.presstv.ir/detail/237928.html

“‘U.S. sent death squads into Syria,’” April 25, 2012, http://edition.presstv.ir/detail/2

Also: “Bomb goes off near Iran office in Syria,” April 24, 2012, http://edition.presstv.ir/detail/237826.html

“KSA [Kingdom of Saudi Arabia], Qatar supporting terrorism in Syria,” April 28, 2012, http://edition.presstv.ir/detail/238530.html

“Israeli drones violate Lebanese airspace,” April 28, 2012, http://edition.presstv.ir/detail/238457.html

“Lebanon stops ship with Syria-bound weapons — Vessel originally from Libya, loaded with arms reportedly destined for Syrian opposition, is stopped by Lebanese navy,” April 28, 2012, http://www.aljazeera.com/news/middleeast/2012/04/201242813737244536.html

“Russia backs rebuff to terrorists in Syria,” April 28, 2012,
http://edition.presstv.ir/detail/238540.html

Also
“Romanian govt. falls over EU debt crisis — The 78-day-old Romanian government has collapsed after it lost a no-confidence vote over its adoption of stinging austerity measures” April 28, 2012,

“Romania ‘to host U.S. missile shield’ — Bucharest defense body approves plan to deploy interceptor missiles on its territory… The U.S. military facilities, which would become operational by 2015, still require parliamentary approval before they can go ahead,” February 5, 2012, http://www.aljazeera.com/news/europe/2010/02/201024173236190795.html
2009

“Putin warns U.S. over missile defense — Russian PM says Moscow must develop new offensive weapons to counter U.S. plans  …  The U.S. dropped plans for missile defense bases in the Czech Republic and Poland earlier this year but said it would develop other defensive systems, December 30, 2009, http://www.aljazeera.com/news/europe/2009/12/20091229134142350297.html

INTERNATIONAL ARMS TRANSFERS Stockholm International Peace Research Institute reports

Asia and Oceania accounted for 44 per cent of global arms imports, followed by Europe (19 percent), the Middle East (17 percent), the Americas (11 percent) and Africa (9 percent).

India was the world’s largest recipient of arms (10 percent of global arms imports). The four next largest recipients of arms in 2007–2011 were South Korea (6 percent of arms transfers), Pakistan (5 percent), China (5 percent) and Singapore (4 percent).


Established in 1966, the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) is an independent international institute dedicated to research into conflict, armaments, arms control and disarmament. SIPRI provides data, analysis and recommendations, based on open sources, to policymakers, researchers, media and the interested public. SIPRI is based in Stockholm and has offices in Beijing and Washington, D.C.

WEAPONS SALES

The Stockholm International Peace Research Institute early this year reported, “The volume of worldwide arms transfers in 2007–2011 was 24 percent higher than in 2002–2006 and the five largest arms importers in 2007–2011 were all Asian states.”

Reported on February 27, 2012, “Sales of arms and military services by the largest arms-producing companies continued to increase in 2010 to reach $411.1 billion. The global arms industry continues to be highly concentrated, with the top 10 arms-producing companies accounting for 56 percent ($230 billion) of total Top 100 arms sales.

“Arms-producing and military services companies from North America and Western Europe once again dominated the list (data excludes China-based companies).

Sales by the 44 U.S.-based companies accounted for over 60 per cent of all arms sales by the Top 100 arms-producing companies in 2010.  The 30 companies based in Western Europe accounted for a further 29 per cent.

http://www.sipri.org/media/pressreleases/rise-in-international-arms-transfers-is-driven-by-asian-demand-says-sipri


SIPRI
Top 10 [excerpted from SIPRI’s top 100] arms-producing and military services companies, 2010

Company names and structures are listed as they were on December 31, 2010. For subsidiaries and operational companies owned by a holding or investment company, the name of the parent company is given in parentheses along with its country, where it differs.

Figures for arms sales, total sales and total profit are in millions of U.S. dollars.

Rank




Company




Country




Sectors
Arms sales
(US$ m.)

Total sales,
2010
(US$ m.)

Arms sales
as share of
total sales,
2010 (%)

Total
profit,
2010
(US$ m.)

Total
employ-
ment, 2010
2010
2009
2010
2009
1
1
Lockheed Martin
United States
Aircraft, Electronics, Missiles, Space
35 730
33 430
45 803
78
2 926
132 000
2
2
BAE Systems
United Kingdom
Aircraft, Artillery, Electronics, Missiles, Military vehicles, Small arms/ammunition, Ships
32 880
32 540
34 609
95
1 671
98 200
3
3
Boeing
United States
Aircraft, Electronics, Missiles, Space
31 360
32 300
64 306
49
3 307
160 500
4
4
Northrop Grumman
United States
Aircraft, Electronics, Missiles, Ships, Space
28 150
27 000
34 757
81
2 053
117 100
5
5
General Dynamics
United States
Artillery, Electronics, Military vehicles, Small arms/ammunition, Ships
23 940
23 380
32 466
74
2 624
90 000
6
6
Raytheon
United States
Electronics, Missiles
22 980
23 080
25 183
91
1 879
72 400
S
S
BAE Systems Inc. (BAE Systems, UK)
United States
Artillery, Electronics, Military vehicles, Small arms/ammunition
17 900
19 280
17 903
100
1 966
46 900
7
7
EADS
Trans-European
Aircraft, Electronics, Missiles, Space
16 360
15 930
60 599
27
732
121 690
8
8
Finmeccanica
Italy
Aircraft, Artillery, Electronics, Missiles, Military vehicles, Small arms/ammunition
14 410
13 280
24 762
58
738
75 200
9
9
L-3 Communications
United States
Electronics, Services
13 070
13 010
15 680
83
955
63 000
10
10
United Technologies
United States
Aircraft, Electronics, Engines
11 410
11 110
54 326
21
4 711
208 220

http://www.sipri.org/research/armaments/production/Top100
http://www.sipri.org/media/pressreleases/rise-in-international-arms-transfers-is-driven-by-asian-demand-says-sipri


Images
Syria, AFP image: Syrian state media said 16 people died in the blast in a house used as a bomb factory by "armed terrorist groups" [AFP], http://www.aljazeera.com/news/middleeast/2012/04/20124275240299142.html

White Sands moviesoftheday.com
5158588-word-cloud-concept-illustration-of-cia-central-intelligence-agency

__________________________________

Bennett's books are available in New York State independent bookstores: Lift Bridge Bookshop: www.liftbridgebooks.com [Brockport, NY]; Sundance Books: http://www.sundancebooks.com/main.html [Geneseo, NY]; Mood Makers Books: www.moodmakersbooks.com [City of Rochester, NY]; Dog Ears Bookstore and Literary Arts Center: www.enlightenthedog.org/ [Buffalo, NY]; Burlingham Books – ‘Your Local Chapter’: http://burlinghambooks.com/ [Perry, NY 14530]; The Bookworm: http://www.eabookworm.com/ [East Aurora, NY] • See also: World Pulse: Global Issues through the eyes of Women: http://www.worldpulse.com/ http://www.worldpulse.com/pulsewire http://www.facebook.com/#!/bennetts2ndstudy