Iraq Army to receive 16 helicopters and 4,000 armoured vehicles
Azzaman, January 8, 2007
Iraq has signed contracts for the purchase of armoured vehicles and other weapons with European and U.S. weapons companies, a statement by the Defence Ministry said.
The statement did not say how much the contracts were worth but a defence spokesman said the value of Iraqi weapons purchases was conditional to budget allocations which he did not specify.
But the statement said most of the weaponry will come from the United States and will be a gift to the troops as part of U.S. moves to strengthen Iraqi forces.
It said the U.S. has pledged to supply the army with 4,000 armoured vehicles and 1,800 Humvees and 16 helicopter gun ships.
The statement said the weapons were to arrive in March.
It said the ministry was doing all in its power to obtain the kind of weapons that will give the army an edge over “the terrorists.”
It’s disgusting to see how these incompetent criminals that rule Iraq from the inside and from the Bush’s team outside are so assured of themselves that they can continue the same failed death path of managing Iraq without any hesitation at all.
Iraqis dying in thousands each month the last three years, a totally destroyed country and refuges in millions is apparently not enough for them to realize that military attacks will not bring peace to Iraq.
No the problem the Iraq defence minister and his US advisors think is lack of weapons???????? What the hell?????? The most well equipped army in the world is running around all over Iraq and they are not stopping anything just making things worse. These imported weapons will be used to kill more Iraqis and take away some more millions of the budget to products which only use is to kill people.
Are you proud of yourself European and US weapon companies? I bet you are high on conflicts in Iraq and elsewhere in the world today – getting more orders – getting richer. I mean no politician would dare stop you from your deals – you give employment to thousands of people in the west, your deals give billions in cash for the stock market in the west, right into the pockets of western people investing in them… “democracies are peace loving countries” is the biggest lie we live.
Am I angry? YES
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Below update 11 January
My reader Redfox left a very important comment on my blog today.
in our western oh so democratic "democracies" people's protests don't count. Our "democracies" have been taken over by the corporations, and the only value they know is money. Their capitalist greed is infinite, and if we, the people, don't stop them, they will complete Hitler's design for our planet.
This reminds me of Canad’s most successful documentary named THE CORPORATION. The film is based on the book The Corporation: The Pathological Pursuit of Profit and Power by Joel Bakan.
THE CORPORATION documentary puts the corporation on the psychiatrist's couch to ask "What kind of person is it?" It's a very ugly picture that is reviled I can tell you.
I have seen it when it was shown on Swedish TV a couple of years a go. My suggestion to all of you is that it’s a must see! Some interviews are so shocking; how open these executives are about their views about the future – where corporations will be above governments in the world. We are already there today : (
A war for oil in Iraq where oil deals benefiting the west goes before life of hundreds of thousands of Iraqis. Even thousands of US soldiers life don’t count. This war says volumes about western oil companies influence over international politics. Corporation rules and if they don’t get as they want well then the stock market collapse or our way of life will be threaded one way or another – as a reminder to how they control every fibre of our life nowadays.
Go here to learn more about the documentary: The Corporation
So what did Redfox say one more time:
in our western oh so democratic "democracies" people's protests don't count. Our "democracies" have been taken over by the corporations, and the only value they know is money. Their capitalist greed is infinite, and if we, the people, don't stop them, they will complete Hitler's design for our planet.
I agree with Redfox comment 100%. I had a post before about Sweden’s weapons being sold the US army in Iraq.
Even though the Swedish government told us the people that the war was illegal and even though it’s against Swedish law to sell weapons to countries in war these weapon corporations get away with it.
I have talked to Swedish Peace and was told that their experience during many years is as if there is a system put in place that stops all legal actions taken by the people against these corporations and politicians approving the deals.
Army Corporations are known to put themselves above the law in other democratic countries too. Does anyone have an update what is happening with the Saudi Arabian weapons deal/scandal in the UK? Has Blair stopped the “inquiry”? Will the dictatorship of Saudi Arabia still be sold British weapons as it has been the last 20 years? Is it still the same story that in “our western oh so democratic “democracies”” we still choose to helping suppress other nations people if it’s good for our corporations and our peoples way of life?
The dictatorship in Saudi Arabia who have been buying weapons from the UK the last 20 years giving jobs to more then 10 000 people is good for business – value of money speaks louder then those who are against supporting dictatorships. This behaviour is now imported to Sweden – some argue not so strange since many of the weapon companies in Sweden have a big British ownership…My reader Bruno from South Africa said it’s the same in South Africa. The government was against the war in Iraq but still you have weapon companies selling stuff to the US army over there…I wonder what sort of ownership its there? What laws do South Africa have regarding selling weapons to countries in war or dictatorships?
In the end of the month I am off to the capital Stockholm to a meeting with the Swedish Peace organisation and I hope I will be part of a team that will this time succeed in changing history! By:
- Stopping the sell of arms to the US army in Iraq – no more weapons to kill Iraqis
- Stopping the military business between Sweden and the dictatorship of Saudi Arabia
- Stopping the military business between Sweden and the dictatorship of Pakistan
- Stopping ALL EU weapon deals with undemocratic countries
- Stopping ALL world weapon deals period
I remember some parts of a Swedish short film – a Swedish father is on the verge of getting sacked from his job. The only way it will not happen is if a huge weapon deal goes ahead. The film ends with the father celebrating with his family for not loosing his job and at the same time a family in another country gets a Swedish missile hit on its house.
