Has War on Terror Fuelled Global Arms Trade?

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Since September 11th, the international arms trade has increased by leaps and bounds. At the same time the United States, long the world-s principal weapons supplier, began to drop restrictions. Yesterday-s Sunday Times of London carried the headline, "You Want Missiles? Pick up the Phone." Two reporters, using fake documentation, claimed to be working on behalf of the government of Rwanda. The undercover reporters got a British arms dealer to offer 200 surface-to-air missiles at 32,000 pounds each. The Sunday Times says the story shows how easily such weapons could fall into the hands of terrorists. We talk with a defense analyst, a spokesman for Oxfam USA, an international charity organization, the Vice President of Aerospace Industries Association, a senior fellow of a nonpartisan research and educational institute and the director of Research at the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies. Reporter's Notebook: Many Soldiers, Same Letter Hometown newspapers all over the country receive identical letters from different soldiers. Are they really the work of those who signed them? The Olympian received a letter from a soldier stationed in the Iraqi city of Kirkuk, which read, in part, "The quality of life and security for the citizens has been largely restored, and we are a large part of why that has happened." A second letter, from another soldier, had the identical wording. Ledyard King wrote about the letters in USA Today.
Since September 11th, the international arms trade has increased by leaps and bounds. At the same time the United States, long the world-s principal weapons supplier, began to drop restrictions. Yesterday-s Sunday Times of London carried the headline, "You Want Missiles? Pick up the Phone." Two reporters, using fake documentation, claimed to be working on behalf of the government of Rwanda. The undercover reporters got a British arms dealer to offer 200 surface-to-air missiles at 32,000 pounds each. The Sunday Times says the story shows how easily such weapons could fall into the hands of terrorists. We talk with a defense analyst, a spokesman for Oxfam USA, an international charity organization, the Vice President of Aerospace Industries Association, a senior fellow of a nonpartisan research and educational institute and the director of Research at the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies.
  • Reporter's Notebook: Many Soldiers, Same Letter
    Hometown newspapers all over the country receive identical letters from different soldiers. Are they really the work of those who signed them? The Olympian received a letter from a soldier stationed in the Iraqi city of Kirkuk, which read, in part, "The quality of life and security for the citizens has been largely restored, and we are a large part of why that has happened." A second letter, from another soldier, had the identical wording. Ledyard King wrote about the letters in USA Today.

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Warren Olney