BS: US & Allies selling (?) weapons to Evil Axis

Subject: RE: BS: US & Allies selling (?) weapons to Evil Axis
From: Bobert
Date: 19 Oct 02 - 06:42 PM

Well, danged! Them Blue Angels getting around these days. I heard that they were gonna do a fly over at the local KKK meeting tomorrow. Puts a lump in the throat of this ol' hillbilly's butt just thinkin' about it...

Excuse me, gotta go check on that big 2 foot flag decal that's dryin' on the tailgate of my "heartbeat of America" Chevy pick truck.

I'm back... It fried just fine and really looks good with all the other flag decals...

Opps, this thread is about arms. Well, Kat, I love ya' gal but *this is Amercia* and America builds guns and lots and lots and lots of 'em and that's what makes America great. Ahhhh, guns and bigger guins and guns bigger than the bigger guns. LIke my grand-daddy once said, "Good fir the economy." Plus real good on that little population problem the earth has...

When you all gonna get with the program? Right, Dougie?

Bobert

Subject: RE: BS: US & Allies selling (?) weapons to Evil Axis
From: katlaughing
Date: 19 Oct 02 - 06:25 PM

Hey, Peter! That's maligning reptiles, if you ask me.:-)

Subject: RE: BS: US & Allies selling (?) weapons to Evil Axis
From: Peter T.
Date: 19 Oct 02 - 04:04 PM

This is not exactly STOP PRESS news. America is by far the biggest arms merchant worldwide. Meanwhile, France and Russia are worried that their new oilfield contracts with Saddam Hussein might be voided if Haliburton and Bechtel -- sorry America -- takes over Iraq. This month's Harper's magazine has a cruel expose of the battle over water infrastructure between the French and the Americans and whoever else is in town over the bodies of dead Iraqi children. As I have said elsewhere, this is a writhing ball of disgusting reptiles.

yours, Peter T.

Subject: RE: BS: US & Allies selling (?) weapons to Evil Axis
From: katlaughing
Date: 19 Oct 02 - 03:44 PM

That's not going to stop them from selling...After all, we have an embargo placed on Iraq, although Cheney was able to
evade it when he headed Halliburton by trading through a foreign
subsidiary.

The Blue Angels were here a month or so ago. Local boy was their head mechanic. Something 12 million or more to keep them in spare parts and machinery to keep them running, just for the air shows. Priorities are all fucked up in this country.

Mets! "KlanMart?" Never heard than one before!

kat

Subject: RE: BS: US & Allies selling (?) weapons to Evil Ax
From: Amos
Date: 19 Oct 02 - 03:35 PM

As I write the Blue Angels are performing their ferats of derring-do at the Miramar airfield, not many miles from here. Several million dollars worth of hardware and fuel doing incredible ballets in the sky with machines weighing tons.

At the SOFEX site there are pictures of plump comfortably-dressed (houndstooth sports jacket) salesmen demonstrating the assembly of rockets to interested well-to-do men in burnooses.

My stomach turns at the thought. But if it is any reassurance, however slight, there is a big difference between showdcasing the machinery of war and actually exporting it to possible adversaries -- different laws apply to the two things.

Pretty dismaying and disgusting though, I agree.

A

Subject: RE: BS: US & Allies selling (?) weapons to Evil Axis
From: Metchosin
Date: 19 Oct 02 - 03:31 PM

hmmmm.........ambition.

Metchosin (still throwing snowballs for Queen and Country)

Subject: RE: BS: US & Allies selling (?) weapons to Evil Axis
From: Metchosin
Date: 19 Oct 02 - 03:25 PM

Rule 127 worked well for the US during WW II. Dwight D. (good old Republican that he was) knew full well of what he warned, but then again, he was a little confused regarding his amition to turn swords into ploughshares though. He thought digging the St. Lawrence Seaway with nuclear bombs was a swell idea.

And only in Canada can you manufacture Gumby and Pokey in the same Hand Chemical Factory as landmines....Pity......Gee maybe Disney can build a few rocket launchers at Disneyworld. Christ, maybe they do already!!! Signing off now........have to go to KlanMart......speaking of incendiary devices, I laugh to keep from crying.

Subject: RE: BS: US & Allies selling (?) weapons to Evil Axis
From: Don Firth
Date: 19 Oct 02 - 02:15 PM

Welcome to the Ferengi home world, folks!

From Rules of Acqusition:—
Rule 162: Even in the worst of times, someone turns a profit.
Rule 177: Know your enemies . . . but do business with them always.
Rule 189: Let others keep their reputation. You keep their money.
Rule 261: A wealthy man can afford anything except a conscience.

Lately we've gotten a little shaky on
Rule 127: Stay neutral in conflict so you can sell supplies to both sides.

But we're working very hard on
Rule 095: Expand or die.

Here's a wild and crazy idea we might just try sometime
Rule 76: Every once in a while, declare peace. It confuses the hell out of your enemies.

Don Firth
(Cynical? Who? Me?)

Subject: RE: BS: US & Allies selling (?) weapons to Evil Axis
From: Crane Driver
Date: 19 Oct 02 - 01:14 PM

Apparently 80% of the weapons used in the most unstable conflict zones of the world are manufactured and sold by the five permanent members of the UN Security Council. It does make you think. Is this what the UN was set up to achieve? The usual argumant is that "if we didn't sell them, someone else would", but that seems like an excuse for doing anything you like and ignoring the consequences. Write to someone about it!!

Andrew

Subject: RE: BS: US & Allies selling (?) weapons to Evil Axis
From: Hrothgar
Date: 19 Oct 02 - 08:00 AM

It's perfectly safe, kat - if you're doing the selling.

Subject: BS: US & Allies selling weapons to Evil Axis
From: katlaughing
Date: 18 Oct 02 - 10:48 AM

It's enough to make one give up hope or become incredibly radical, one of the other, IMO.

Thanks to an email from another Mudcatter, I went to this site: SOFEX which stands for Special Operations Exhibition, in Jordan, where arms companies from around the world, including the US, Great Britain and others are "displaying" their wares to most of the countries whom Bush has been calling the "Evil Axis" except North Korea. Take a look, sponsors, exhibitors, etc. are all listed.

While I am fairly sure this has been an annual event, it seems totally outrageous that we and our allies should participate at this time, imo.

So, while BuCheFeld ratchet up the War pressure, we can rest assured it will be a "fair" fight since the "enemy" will have a chance to arm themselves as well as our own military. Here's an editorial, with specific links at the SOFEX site:

       BUZZFLASH REPORT

       As Bush Marshals America for War Against the Axis of Evil,
American and British Arms
Companies are Showing Them Our Weapons

      
Yes, as Bush continues to use fear as a political tool, he's
allowing American arms merchants to hawk their wares at a weapons of war "trade show" in Amman, Jordan, as we write this editorial.

And who might be among the delegations attending this military
weapons bazaar? Get ready for this: Iraq, Iran, Libya, Sudan, Syria, Canada, the U.S. and delegations from more than 40 other countries. According to one of our readers, 10 U.S. firms and 14 from the United Kingdom are, as you read this, polishing and shining their weapons of war for an eager audience of Bush's axis of evil terrorist states. For a full list of countries kicking the tires of the latest in weaponry (from October 14th - 17th) go to:
sofex-delegations

Who are the British and American merchants of war trying to
make a buck in hard times by demonstrating their wares to the axis of evil nations (minus North Korea)? The full list of the exhibitors is available at: sofex-exlist

One of our favorite exhibitors is an American company, Environmental Tectonics,demonstrating -- and we assume selling -- "Simulators /Military Automation Pilot Training." The UK division of Lockheed Martin is listed as being there, and Raytheon and Pratt Whitney from the US of A.

Want to see a "photo album" of some of the weapons available at
past SOFEX exhibitions? Go to this URL: sofex album

BuzzFlash can only hope that the UK and American arms merchants
aren't actually SELLINGtheir weapons of war to the military delegations from Iraq, Iran,Libya, Sudan and Syria, although with this administration, you never know. There are a lot of Bush/Cheney contributors -- not to mention Halliburton and the Carlyle Group -- who stand to make a big chunk of change off of the permanent war. So why shouldn't the companies exhibiting at SOFEX get in on the action?

After all, it was the U.S., under Reagan/Bush I, who armed Al aeda and who helped arm addam Hussein -- with both dual use military weapons and biological gents to make biological eapons.

If the military-industrial complex companies can't sell to the
so-called "terrorist" ations, they can, as one wag noted in a recent Guardian article, how them what we are about to drop on them. After all, we have an embargo placed on Iraq, although Cheney was able to
evade it when he headed Halliburton by trading through a foreign
subsidiary.

Okay, we'll give even the Bush Administration the benefit of
the doubt. Our companies require special permits to sell arms to countries that harbor terrorists, don't they? So what's a little business among enemies?

      A BUZZFLASH EDITORIAL

       Also see:
Observer.co.uk