{"id":244417,"date":"2023-09-18T12:00:39","date_gmt":"2023-09-18T11:00:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/?p=244417"},"modified":"2025-01-10T15:06:00","modified_gmt":"2025-01-10T15:06:00","slug":"war-is-good-for-business-declares-executive-at-londons-global-arms-fair","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/2023\/09\/war-is-good-for-business-declares-executive-at-londons-global-arms-fair\/","title":{"rendered":"&#8216;War Is Good for Business,&#8217; Declares Executive at London&#8217;s Global Arms Fair"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"attachment_244418\" style=\"width: 710px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/lockheed-martin-missile-display-at-2023-dsei-arms-fair-in-london.webp\" ><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-244418\" class=\"wp-image-244418\" src=\"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/lockheed-martin-missile-display-at-2023-dsei-arms-fair-in-london-1024x341.webp\" alt=\"\" width=\"700\" height=\"233\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/lockheed-martin-missile-display-at-2023-dsei-arms-fair-in-london-1024x341.webp 1024w, https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/lockheed-martin-missile-display-at-2023-dsei-arms-fair-in-london-300x100.webp 300w, https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/lockheed-martin-missile-display-at-2023-dsei-arms-fair-in-london-768x256.webp 768w, https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/lockheed-martin-missile-display-at-2023-dsei-arms-fair-in-london.webp 1200w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 700px) 100vw, 700px\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-244418\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Visitors look at the BARAK (top), PAC-3 MSE (middle), and THAAD (bottom) missiles from Lockheed Martin on day one of the Defence and Security Equipment International (DSEI) fair at ExCel on September 12, 2023 in London. (Photo: Leon Neal\/Getty Images)<\/p><\/div>\n<blockquote><p><em>&#8220;Deals done at DSEI will cause misery across the world, causing global instability, and devastate people&#8217;s lives,&#8221; one peace activist lamented.<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><em>15 Sep 2023<\/em> &#8211; Military-industrial complex players big and small gathered in London this week, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.defensenews.com\/digital-show-dailies\/dsei\/2023\/09\/12\/see-the-weapons-on-display-at-dsei-golden-gun-included\/\" class=\"rm-stats-tracked\"  target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">hawking everything<\/a> from long-range missiles to gold-plated pistols to arms fair attendees\u2014including representatives of horrific human rights violators\u2014as weapon-makers and other merchants of the machinery of death reap record profits.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;War is good for business,&#8221; one defense executive attending the biennial Defense and Security Equipment International (DSEI) conference at ExCel London <a href=\"https:\/\/www.reuters.com\/world\/uk\/london-arms-fair-global-war-fears-good-business-2023-09-15\/\" class=\"rm-stats-tracked\"  target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">flat-out told<\/a><em>Reuters<\/em>. &#8220;We are extremely busy,&#8221; Michael Elmore, head of sales at the U.K.-based armored steelmaker MTL Advanced, told the media agency.<\/p>\n<p>Russia&#8217;s ongoing invasion of Ukraine and the West&#8217;s scramble to arm Ukrainian homeland defenders have been a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.commondreams.org\/news\/2022\/03\/15\/war-ukraine-windfall-weapons-industry\" class=\"rm-stats-tracked\"  target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">bonanza<\/a> for arms-makers.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Ukraine is a very interesting combination of First and Second World War technologies and very modern technology,&#8221; Kuldar Vaarsi, CEO of the Estonian unmanned ground vehicle firm MILREM, told <em>Reuters<\/em>.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"500\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Shiny missiles for the shiny promise of world peace. <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/DSEI23?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" >#DSEI23<\/a> <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/czUXg3Al9o\" >pic.twitter.com\/czUXg3Al9o<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Dr Iain Overton (@iainoverton) <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/iainoverton\/status\/1701578894195761261?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" >September 12, 2023<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>Saber-rattling and fearmongering by government, media, and business figures amid rising tensions between the U.S. and its allies on one side, and a fast-rising China on the other, have also spurred military spending, including Japan&#8217;s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.commondreams.org\/news\/2022\/12\/16\/us-weapons-makers-set-profit-japan-readies-320-billion-military-buildup\" class=\"rm-stats-tracked\"  target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">$320 billion buildup<\/a> announced last December.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;We think this is a longer-term essentially &#8216;sea change&#8217; in national defense strategy for the U.S. and for our Western allies,&#8221; Jim Taiclet, CEO of U.S. arms giant Lockheed Martin, <a href=\"https:\/\/finance.yahoo.com\/news\/lockheed-martin-raises-full-forecast-113119573.html\" class=\"rm-stats-tracked\"  target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">told investors<\/a> during a call earlier this summer announcing higher-than-expected sales and profit outlooks.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.commondreams.org\/news\/arms-trade\" class=\"rm-stats-tracked\"  target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">According to<\/a> the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, the United States, Russia, France, China, and Germany were the world&#8217;s top arms exporters from 2018-22, with the five nations accounting for 76% of all weapons exports during that period. The U.S. accounted for nearly 40% of such exports during those five years, while increasing its dominance in the arms trade. The U.S. also remains by far the world&#8217;s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.commondreams.org\/news\/four-house-dems-join-gop-to-pass-886-billion-military-bill-packed-with-right-wing-amendments\" class=\"rm-stats-tracked\"  target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">biggest<\/a> military spender.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"500\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\"><a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/DSEi?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" >#DSEi<\/a> is London\u2019s bi-annual weapons supermarket. It starts TODAY<\/p>\n<p>As one of the world\u2019s largest arm fairs, regimes with horrifying human rights records can browse on latest tools of torture<\/p>\n<p>What does it have to do with the right to protest in the UK &amp; across the world?<\/p>\n<p>\ud83e\uddf5 <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/0bbPOd29Mg\" >pic.twitter.com\/0bbPOd29Mg<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Amnesty UK (@AmnestyUK) <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/AmnestyUK\/status\/1701505934772625801?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" >September 12, 2023<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>In addition to major corporations, middlemen like Marc Morales have also been <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2023\/09\/09\/world\/europe\/ukraine-military-arms-dealer-pentagon.html\" class=\"rm-stats-tracked\"  target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">profiting handsomely<\/a> from wars in countries including Ukraine. Morales happened to have a warehouse full of ammunition in Bulgaria that the Pentagon originally intended for Afghanistan when Russia invaded its neighbor, and he has been richly rewarded as the U.S. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.commondreams.org\/news\/2022\/05\/19\/peace-advocates-sound-warnings-progressive-lawmakers-go-all-40-billion-ukraine-war\" class=\"rm-stats-tracked\"  target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">spends<\/a> tens of billions of dollars arming Ukrainian forces. He named his new $10 million yacht <em>Trigger Happy<\/em>.<\/p>\n<p>Outside the sprawling ExCel convention center in London&#8217;s Docklands, anti-war protesters rallied against the global arms trade and the death and destruction it fuels. <em>The Guardian<\/em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/world\/2023\/sep\/12\/record-numbers-expected-biggest-arms-fair-london-dsei\" class=\"rm-stats-tracked\"  target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">reported<\/a> that at least a dozen demonstrators were arrested during the course of the conference, including nine on Thursday for blocking a road outside the venue.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"500\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Protesters are taking their message to the streets and blocking roads around the ExCeL centre. Say no to killing. Say no to the arms fair. <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/StopDSEI?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" >#StopDSEI<\/a> <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/DSEI23?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" >#DSEI23<\/a> <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/AwJIDfMXCE\" >pic.twitter.com\/AwJIDfMXCE<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; CAAT (@CAATuk) <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/CAATuk\/status\/1701596089185701902?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" >September 12, 2023<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>Sam Perlo-Freeman, a researcher at the Campaign Against Arms Trade (CAAT), told <em>The Guardian<\/em> that &#8220;a lot of countries that are being talked about as new arms export markets are ones we would be concerned about.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Egypt is a repressive regime and Vietnam an absolute dictatorship,&#8221; Perlo-Freeman added. &#8220;Indonesia is involved in brutality in West Papua.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Emily Apple, also of CAAT, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.peoplesworld.org\/article\/london-peace-activists-tell-arms-dealers-they-arent-welcome\/\" class=\"rm-stats-tracked\"  target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">told<\/a><em>People&#8217;s World<\/em> that &#8220;the companies exhibiting read as a who&#8217;s-who of the world&#8217;s worst arms dealers.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Israel is an apartheid state, and it is disgusting that the U.K. is not only selling weapons to Israel but encouraging Israeli arms companies to sell their weapons in London,&#8221; she continued. &#8220;Representatives from regimes such as Saudi Arabia, who have used U.K.-made weapons to commit war crimes in Yemen, will be wined and dined and encouraged to buy yet more arms.&#8221;<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"500\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Israel&#39;s Ministry of Defence has been welcomed to London to flog its arms. <\/p>\n<p>Here&#39;s its stand inside the <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/DSEI23?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" >#DSEI23<\/a> arms fair, which is sponsored by the UK Ministry of Defence. <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/5hiU35z9Wh\" >pic.twitter.com\/5hiU35z9Wh<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Declassified UK (@declassifiedUK) <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/declassifiedUK\/status\/1701550745466675293?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" >September 12, 2023<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Deals done at DSEI will cause misery across the world, causing global instability, and devastate people&#8217;s lives,&#8221; Apple added.<\/p>\n<p>Inside ExCel, it was business as usual. <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/declassifiedUK\/status\/1701909668782653602\" class=\"rm-stats-tracked\"  target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Pressed<\/a> by<em> Declassified U.K.<\/em> chief reporter Phil Miller on why Britain&#8217;s right-wing government supports &#8220;selling arms to the Saudi dictatorship that sentences someone to death for tweeting,&#8221; Minister of State for the Armed Forces James Heappey deflected.<\/p>\n<p>Private sector leaders, however, have been more forthcoming. As Raytheon CEO Greg Hayes <a href=\"https:\/\/www.commondreams.org\/news\/2021\/01\/28\/saying-peace-not-going-break-out-anytime-soon-raytheon-ceo-sees-solid-growth-middle\" class=\"rm-stats-tracked\"  target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">opined<\/a> during a 2021 investor call touting the company&#8217;s &#8220;solid&#8221; growth: &#8220;Peace is not going to break out in the Middle East anytime soon.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"western\" style=\"margin-bottom: 10.1pt; line-height: normal;\">______________________________________________<\/p>\n<p class=\"western\" style=\"line-height: normal; margin: 13.7pt 0in; padding-left: 40px;\"><i><a href=\"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/brett-wilkins-200x200-1-e1665030373963.jpg\" ><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft size-full wp-image-221407\" src=\"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/brett-wilkins-200x200-1-e1665030373963.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"80\" height=\"80\" \/><\/a><\/i><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p class=\"western\" style=\"line-height: normal; margin: 13.7pt 0in; padding-left: 40px;\"><i>Brett Wilkins is a staff writer for<\/i> Common Dreams.\u00a0\u00a0 <span style=\"color: navy;\"><a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.commondreams.org\/author\/brett-wilkins\" ><i><span style=\"text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;\">Full Bio &gt;<\/span><\/i><\/a><\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p class=\"western\" style=\"line-height: normal; margin: 13.7pt 0in 13.7pt 0in;\"><a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.commondreams.org\/news\/dsei-2023-london\" >Go to Original &#8211; commondreams.org<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>15 Sep 2023 &#8211; &#8220;Deals done at DSEI will cause misery across the world, causing global instability, and devastate people&#8217;s lives,&#8221; one peace activist lamented. Russia&#8217;s ongoing invasion of Ukraine and the West&#8217;s scramble to arm Ukrainian homeland defenders have been a bonanza for arms-makers.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":45461,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2999],"tags":[1161,1188,1104,232,550,555,1268,562,626,1966,610,112,2198,2060,1714,278,1213,961,70,1160],"class_list":["post-244417","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-war-racket-destruction-capitalism","tag-arms-industry","tag-arms-race","tag-arms-trade","tag-capitalism","tag-corruption","tag-elites","tag-european-union","tag-finance","tag-greed","tag-hunger","tag-inequality","tag-pentagon","tag-post-capitalism","tag-profits","tag-right-to-food","tag-russia","tag-super-rich","tag-ukraine","tag-usa","tag-world-order"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/244417","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=244417"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/244417\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":244419,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/244417\/revisions\/244419"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/45461"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=244417"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=244417"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=244417"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}