British government gives arms industry extra tens of millions of pounds during Covid-19 pandemic

Joshua Stein in Byline Times reveals how arms monopolies are booming while the rest of the British economy suffers from the impact of the Coronavirus crisis

The fourth Astute-class nuclear-powered submarine, HMS Audacious, outside its indoor ship building complex at BAE Systems in 2017 | Owen Humphreys/PA Archive/PA Images

The Ministry of Defence has forked out hundreds of millions of pounds to its favoured clients in 2020, in the face of the economic ruin caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

The US of A(rms)

The United States dominates the global arms trade in a historic fashion and nowhere is that domination more complete than in the Middle East | WILLIAM D. HARTUNG

Infrastructure of US bases in the Middle East | David Vine

The United States has the dubious distinction of being the world’s leading arms dealer. It dominates the global trade in a historic fashion and nowhere is that domination more complete than in the endlessly war-torn Middle East. There, believe it or not, the U.S. controls nearly half the arms market. From Yemen to Libya to Egypt, sales by this country and its allies are playing a significant role in fuelling some of the world’s most devastating conflicts. But Donald Trump, even before he was felled by Covid-19 and sent to Walter Reed Medical Center, could not have cared less, as long as he thought such trafficking in the tools of death and destruction would help his political prospects.

Russia, Turkey agree to deliver second shipment of S-400 missile system

Moscow, Aug 23 (Prensa Latina) – Russia and Turkey signed a contract for the delivery of a second regiment of S-400 air defense systems to Turkey, Russian state arms exporter Rosoboronexport said today.
Rosoboronexport CEO Alexander Mikheev did not reveal more details when he talked to RIA Novosti news agency.

In 2017, Russia and Turkey concluded an agreement worth approximately $2.5 billion to supply Ankara with the S-400 missile system, with delivery completed in 2019. Turkey is the first member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization to purchase this air defence system from Russia.

The S-400 is considered the most advanced of its kind in Russia, capable of destroying targets at a distance of up to 400 kilometres and at up to 30 kilometres high.

British export of rubber bullets condemned

There has been a surge of pressure for an end to Britain’s trade in plastic and rubber bullets following disturbing scenes of serious injuries to Black Lives Matters protestors in the United States.

The global arms trade

Merchants of Death – Lithograph by Mabel Dwight

Worldwide total military spending amounts to some $1.69 trillion per year. Of this, about $375 billion goes to buying arms.

The volume of international transfers of major arms in the period 2014-18 was 7.8 per cent higher than in 2009-13 and 23 per cent higher than in 2004-2008, according to data on arms transfers published in March by Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI).

War profiteers not welcome in Canada! Opposition organized to Ottawa weapons fair

By NICK LIN

The annual CANSEC weapons fair is being held in Ottawa May 29 and 30. Anti-war activists are holding a protest during the opening speech by Minister of Defence Harjit Sajjan on May 29. Two other federal ministers – Navdeep Bains, Minister of Innovation, Science and Economic Development and Carla Qualtrough, Minister of Public Services and Procurement – and Lieutenant-General Paul Wynnyk, Vice Chief of the Defence Staff will also deliver keyote addresses. The “weapons fair” is organized by the Canadian Association of Defence and Security Industries (CADSI), involving some 900 corporations. It  has been hosted annually in Ottawa since 1998 and just as often opposed by the people of that city.

Picket Arms Manufacturers’ Trade Show — May 29

Make Canada a Zone for Peace!

Ottawa
No Weapons for Saudi Arabia! No New Nuclear Arms Race!
Yes to Peace!
Wednesday, May 29 – 7:00 am
EY Centre, 4899 Uplands Drive, Ottawa
Facebook

The largest war profiteer/arms manufacturer trade show in Canada (Cansec) is happening in Ottawa on May 29-30. Multinational corporations making billions in profit off nuclear weapons manufacturing and violence overseas — including Canada’s weapons sales to Saudi Arabia — will be there. The U.S. military is the single largest contributor to global warming, while Canadian Forces overseas operations are exempt from Canada’s greenhouse gas emissions inventory. Minister of Defence Harjit Sajjan will speak on the morning of May 29 at the EY Centre.

Americans and other mercenaries charged with conspiracy in wake of Haitian protests

Arrested men told Haitian police “they were on a mission, and they didn’t have to speak to [the police]… They said they were on a government mission” | “US officials deny any active covert operation on the ground in Haiti.” [1]

Cache of weapons seized in central Port-au-Prince, Haiti on February 17, 2019.

Air America: Venezuelan officials find large cache of weapons at airport delivered from Miami

Venezuela’s Deputy Minister of Public Security, Endes Palencia (first from left), reveals the shocking discovery of a cache of weapons that was delivered on by a commercial cargo plane from Miami on Sunday. February 3rd | CUENTA DE TWITTER DEL GENERAL ENDES PALENCIA ORTIZ

 

By TONY SEED

(February 10, updated February 14) – It was inevitable. On Sunday, February 3, the day before the Lima Group countries met in Ottawa to fraudulently call for a “peaceful transition of power” in Venezuela and  demand it allow a puppet parallel government to accept its “humanitarian aid”, a Boeing 767 took off from Miami International Airport loaded with warfare equipment. It landed at the Arturo Michelena International Airport in the northern city of Valencia, Venezuela’s third-largest city, and some 170 kilometres directly west of the capital, Caracas.

An Army of the Europeans

BERLIN (german-foreign-policy.com) – The program of the Berlin Security Conference, which ended yesterday, included discussions on new steps toward creating an “army of the Europeans,” concerns over the possible erosion of the West’s “margin in defence capabilities” vis à vis Russia and China, as well as the role of artificial intelligence in future wars. Unlike the Munich Security Conference, this conference is not oriented on foreign policy but specifically on military policy and the arms industry, with more than a thousand military and business representatives, state officials, and politicians participating.

Gaza ‘laboratory’ boosts profits of Israel’s war industry

Gaza functions as a live testing area for Israeli weapons manufacturers | GABRIEL SCHIVONE*

Mohammed Zaanoun. ActiveStills

(October 5) – After exploring the vast surveillance regime along the US-Mexico border and finding Israeli systems installed at every turn, the author Todd Miller and I were drawn to investigate Israel as the largest homeland security industry in the world. Israel’s arms industry is twice the size of its US counterpart in exports per capita and employs a percentage of the national workforce double that of the US or France, two of the top global arms exporters.

Second anniversary of Brexit Referendum: Hysteria and division surround Brexit votes and negotiations

June 23 marked the second anniversary of the referendum called by then Prime Minister David Cameron on the issue of whether to Remain in or Leave the European Union. June 8 was also the first anniversary of the snap election called by current Prime Minister Theresa May that was supposed to provide strong and stable government after Cameron resigned following the Leave result in the referendum.

War on Syria: CIA program supplied money, weaponry and training to terrorist forces

Introduction

Timber Sycamore was a classified weapons supply and training program run by the United States Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and supported by various Arab intelligence services, most notably that of Saudi Arabia. The program is the proverbial tip of the iceberg. It is further evidence that the United States and/or any of its collaborators and accessories including the Canadian government, with its proxy support, training and arms programs in Kurdistan, Jordan, Israel and Saudi Arabia, are guilty of crimes against humanity through aggression against the Syrian Arab Republic, a sovereign country. The use of proxy mercenary armies camouflaged by a fictitious “civil war,” according to the Obama Doctrine, masks the identities of their sponsors. It cannot hide them however, nor their aggression, from the light of day nor the reaches of international law.

No harbour for war: Spanish activists organize to kick out Saudi death ship loading weapons for Yemen war

The port of Santander in Cantabria, Spain, where the Saudi ship loading weapons for the Yemeni war is docked | Frobles, Wikimedia Commons

The Bahri Hofuf was kicked out of the port of Bilbao, then sneaked into Santander

(April 1) – In the first days of March, a Saudi cargo ship docked in the Spanish port of Santander to load weapons with Yemen as its final destination. Anti-war activists are trying to expel it from the harbour.

Selling the Canada-Ukraine-Saudi arms deal

By TONY SEED

Demonstration against 2016 CANSEC arms show in Ottawa

(Aug. 2) – On August 1, the state broadcaster invited the Ukrainian ambassador  to Canada, Andriy Shevchenko, to grace its Power & Politics program and celebrate the coming into force of a free trade agreement between the two countries. Five minutes of bashing Russia as the justification for military intervention – Canadian Forces training of Ukrainian troops, now at some 4,200 – followed. Finally, CBC host Terry Milewski asked this diplomat* to explain how the free trade agreement will “affect the lives of our viewers.” 

Canada-Ukraine Defence Agreement – An arms agreement for war

By TONY SEED

On April 3, Canadian Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan and Ukrainian Defence Minister Stepan Poltorak announced the signing of the Canada-Ukraine Defence Cooperation Arrangement. The agreement reportedly increases mutual co-operation in the areas of military policy, education, military research and development, as well as arms production.

Sajjan stated that the signing “shows Canada’s steadfast commitment to Ukraine and the Ukrainian people. It strengthens the ties between our two nations and helps us continue to develop our rich, mutually beneficial relationships. Canada remains fully committed to providing assistance to Ukraine, helping to preserve and protect its sovereignty through Operation UNIFIER, and to supporting the implementation of key reforms.”

Background on Canada-Ukraine defence agreement: A ‘rich, mutually beneficial’ arms trade

“It could scarcely be clearer. On top of laying the groundwork for increased arming of the Ukrainian armed forces, the Canada-Ukraine Defence Cooperation Agreement constitutes another means to expand arms sales from Canada to the Saudi Arabia dictatorship for war and aggression in the Middle East using Ukraine as a transit, as well as to potentially increase the share of the global arms trade by Pratt & Whitney, Esterline GMC Electronics and other private arms monopolies” | An exposé by TONY SEED

Merchants of Death – Lithograph by Mabel Dwight

(May 20, Revised August 25) – One of the main features of the Defence Agreement between Canada and Ukraine signed on April 3 are neo-liberal arrangements regarding arms production and the global arms trade. These arrangements are taking place within the conditions of intensified inter-imperialist rivalry to monopolize the global arms trade and the expansion of the theatre of operations of the U.S.-NATO bloc not only in Eastern Europe but also in the Middle East.

The AFP news agency reports that Canadian Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan “also said [the Defence Agreement] was a step toward liberalizing arms sales to Ukraine, which are currently restricted. The accord is ‘a very important step before [we] get to that,’ he said.” In a Department of National Defence (DND) release, he stated it “helps us continue to develop our rich, mutually beneficial relationships.”

The agreement codifies, legitimizes and opens the door to government funding of private arms deals that have already been negotiated between giant arms monopolies of Canada and Ukraine. It marks the latest stage in the accelerated rapprochement between the two countries’ military and security establishments in recent years. This relationship, with typically overt and covert features, is undertaking increasing strategic significance with a number of important partnerships forged in the military-industrial and educational sectors.

Annual weapons fair held in Ottawa: Militant picket opposes militarization and war

Canadians from all walks of life held a militant picket on the morning of May 31 against the annual CANSEC weapons fair sponsored by the Trudeau war government and the biggest U.S. arms monopolies. Warmongering Minister of National Defence Harjit Sajjan, who was scheduled to speak at a breakfast event shortly after 7:00 am was delayed in entering, along with representatives of General Dynamics, the producer of light armoured vehicles sold to Saudi Arabia, Raytheon, the world’s largest guided missile producer and many other arms monopolies. Protestors denounced Canada’s participation in escalating war preparations and the use of the CANSEC event to pay the rich weapons monopolies and secure arms for war criminals such as the U.S., Israel, Saudi Arabia, Turkey and others.

Saudi arms deal: The foreign minister must resign!

No to the arms sales to Saudi Arabia! No to the “new doctrine” called “responsible conviction!”

(April 13) – The Marxist-Leninist Party of Canada condemns Canada’s sale of arms to Saudi Arabia for which this government signed export permits on April 8. No matter what the pretext, these arms sales are unacceptable. By no stretch of the imagination can Saudi Arabia be considered a peaceful or a democratic country as the ministry and Trudeau government claim. Nor can Canada’s mission in the Middle East be considered a peaceful one. This is simply not true.

The example of the arms deal to Saudi Arabia was given by the Foreign Minister in a speech at the University of Ottawa on March 29, to vindicate the new government doctrine called “responsible conviction.” On that occasion, the Minister created the impression that the arms sale was a done deal by the previous Harper government. He said it would not be right for Canada to go back on its signature due to harmful consequences. He repeated that Canada’s aim is to bring stability to the region and advanced various other pragmatic excuses to justify aggression and war.

Now it turns out that Dion signed the papers himself on April 8. He has to be held to account for trying to mislead Canadians on this matter since the beginning of January and again on March 29.

‘Responsible conviction’ – Dion announces new foreign affairs doctrine

Trudeau government moves to criminalize the right to conscience

(April 9) – Canada’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Stéphane Dion spoke at an international conference at the University of Ottawa on March 29, entitled “Canada in Global Affairs, New Challenges, New Ways.”[1] Dion continued the practice of prior governments of making important announcements about Canada’s foreign policy in an offhand manner. Dion used a speech to a university audience to announce a new foreign affairs doctrine for Canada he calls “responsible conviction.” Dion says “responsible conviction” will be the “guiding principle” the government will follow in implementing foreign policy.

American lethal military aid to Ukraine is a throwback to Iran-Contra days

By WAYNE MADSEN*

Antonov AN 124 heavy lift cargo plane

(February 3) – It was inevitable. As calls increased by U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and NATO military commander General Philip Breedlove, among others, for lethal military equipment to be shipped by the United States to the putschist regime of Ukraine, a flurry of Ukrainian cargo transports landing at military supply airports in the United States and Europe hearkened back to the days when non-descript transports plied the world’s air routes clandestinely and simultaneously delivering weapons to Iran and Nicaraguan rebel forces.

INCO willingly helped Nazi German aggression

Supplier of nickel to the Third Reich, propagandist against the Third Reich

By Tony Seed with Albert Noden

On November 21, 2014 the Harper government joined the United States and Ukraine as the only three countries voting against the annual United Nations anti-Nazi resolution, initiated in 2005. Proposed by Russia, the resolution condemns attempts to glorify Nazi ideology and to deny German Nazi war crimes, including the Holocaust. Harper is actually following in the footsteps of his predecessors, as we document further in this post.

On the eve of the Second World War, during the height of the collusion between Britain and Nazi Germany known as appeasement for a war against the Soviet Union, King George VI and Queen Elizabeth made a 44-day state visit in 1939 to Canada. The prime minister, William Lyon Mackenzie King, had himself met with Hitler and other top Nazi leaders in Berlin in 1937 and expressed his frank admiration for the leader of the Third Reich and its fascist program.

Middle East: Harper’s ‘anticipation of future missions’

By TONY SEED*

THE Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has been paralysed by its latest succession crisis, even as it has considerably stretched its own immediate military resources, urgently needed (especially right now) for repressing its own people, by sending a force under partly U.S. command to quell a year-long uprising in the Persian Gulf emirate of Bahrain. Meanwhile, a newly-released Congressional report advocates the United States boost the forces it already has encamped in Kuwait. Fifteen thousand U.S. troops are already stationed in the tiny Gulf kingdom.