Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND) condemns additional billions for Britain’s nuclear arsenal
https://cnduk.org/cnd-condemns-additional-billions-for-britains-nuclear-arsenal/ 19 Jul 23
CND condemns the multi-billion pound announcement for additional spending on Britain’s nuclear weapons, as outlined in the Defence Command Paper 2023 by the Defence Secretary on Tuesday.
It notes that further to the extra £3 billion over the next two years, already announced in this year’s budget, the MoD is receiving “a further £6 billion over the subsequent three years, which will be invested across the defence nuclear enterprise. This is in addition to our current levels of investment.”
CND has regularly highlighted that it is a political choice made by governments to possess nuclear weapons – and a political choice to deny crumbling public services vital funds while spending billions of pounds on maintaining and investing in these weapons of mass destruction.
CND General Secretary Kate Hudson said:
“A week ago, the Prime Minister was announcing a below-inflation pay rise for public sector workers, insisting it was their best and final offer. Now, the Defence Secretary is finding billions of pounds of new money for nuclear weapons seemingly without any pushback. They say there’s no magic money tree to fix the NHS, our schools, or the planet, but there always seem to be billions more pounds of tax payers’ money available for weapons of mass destruction that can destroy us all.”
Cuba condemns US deployment of nuclear submarine in its waters
https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/w/cuba-condemns-us-deployment-nuclear-submarine-its-waters
BEN CHACKO, SUNDAY, JULY 16, 2023
CUBA protested at the weekend over the US deployment of a nuclear-armed submarine to its waters.
The Cuban Foreign Ministry said a nuclear submarine equipped with Trident II ballistic missiles had entered waters around Guantanamo Bay, the illegal US military base imposed on occupied Cuban territory from 1903, at the start of July.
“The presence of a nuclear submarine forces one to question the military reason for its presence in this peaceful region of the world, against what objective it is directed, and what strategic purpose it is pursuing.”
The submarine’s presence in its waters for at least a week “constitutes a provocative escalation by the United States, whose political or strategic motives are unknown,” it added.
But US State Department spokesman Matthew Miller retorted that “the United States will continue to fly and sail as well as move its military forces where it deems appropriate.”
All 33 countries of Latin America and the Caribbean had signed the declaration of the region as a zone of peace in Havana in 2014, Cuba pointed out: but despite this “the United States has established more than 70 military bases in the region.”
The US has nine military bases in Panama, 12 in Puerto Rico, nine in Colombia and eight in Peru.
The country’s Congress — which overthrew elected socialist president Pedro Castillo in December and has waged a crackdown that has killed scores of democracy protesters since — authorised “the entry of naval units and foreign military personnel with weapons of war” in January. Earlier this month, US congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez introduced an amendment to the country’s military budget seeking to suspend funds for operations in Peru given their potential role in helping suppress the democracy movement.
The US claims to lease Guantanamo Bay from Cuba for a token rent of $4,085 (£3,120) a year, but Cuba has rejected the agreement since the revolution of 1959 and does not cash the cheques, which are still made out to the pre-revolutionary, now nonexistent post of “treasurer-general of the republic.” Cuban revolutionary leader Fidel Castro once showed journalists a desk in his office stuffed with the uncashed cheques.
Kenya has restated its commitment to ensuring nuclear energy and nuclear weapons are not used in the continent.
Kenya reiterates stand on nuclear weapons during exhibition
Ogola noted that Kenya recently enacted the Nuclear Regulatory Act 29 of 2019.
Star 16 July 23
In Summary
- The Treaty of Pelindaba is the international agreement that establishes Africa as a zone free of nuclear weapons.
- Hence contributing to peace and security in Africa.
Kenya has restated its commitment to ensuring nuclear energy and nuclear weapons are not used in the continent.
This was when stakeholders in the Energy sector convened on Saturday to commemorate the 14th Anniversary of the African Nuclear Weapon Free Zone treaty.
The treaty is called the Treaty of Pelindaba.
The Treaty of Pelindaba is the international agreement that establishes Africa as a zone free of nuclear weapons, hence contributing to peace and security in Africa.
The event took place at the Trademark Hotel in Nairobi under the auspices of the Kenyan government.
Former Prisons Commissioner Wycliffe Ogola, while speaking on behalf of Energy CS Davis Chirchir, reiterated Kenya’s stand against possession of nuclear weapons adding that Kenya recognises the pivotal role the treaty plays in protecting civilians against nuclear weapons.
Ogola noted that Kenya recently enacted the Nuclear Regulatory Act 29 of 2019.
“The Act has committed the country to exclusively exclude uses of nuclear technology, recognising the need to meet Kenya’s obligation under various international considerations and criminalised access to nuclear material and radiation sources,” Ogola said.
He called for more forums to allow for the exchange of ideas on how to ensure nuclear weapons and technology are not used in Africa. ………………………. more https://www.the-star.co.ke/news/realtime/2023-07-16-kenya-reiterates-stand-on-nuclear-weapons-during-exhibition/
Protests stopped nuclear waste dumping at Bradwell, and now will likely do so again
Bradwell Revisited – echoes of 1980s as Government looks for somewhere
to dump radioactive waste. Andrew Blowers records how protests stopped
nuclear dumping at Bradwell and would likely do so again in the June 2023. BANNG column for Regional Life.
Older readers will recollect the battle
that raged as mass protests saw off Government plans for a nuclear dump at
Bradwell in the 1980s. The Government is again looking at existing nuclear
sites in which to bury some of the nation’s nuclear wastes.
Bradwell may be in its sights but is wholly unsuitable and any attempt to develop a dump
here will once again be seen off by massive local protest and opposition.
In February, 1986, Bradwell, along with three other sites, in Humberside,
Lincolnshire and Bedfordshire, was identified by the Government’s agency,
Nirex, as a possible site for a shallow disposal facility to take the
nation’s short-lived intermediate level radioactive wastes (ILW). Over
the next two years there ensued what was dubbed the Four Site Saga, as the
communities, backed by their County Councils, worked together in opposition
to the whole project.
BANNG 8th June 2023
Boat arrives in Albany to raise awareness of dangers of nuclear weapons
by: Courtney Ward, Jul 12, 2023 more https://www.news10.com/news/albany-county/boat-arrives-in-albany-to-raise-awareness-of-dangers-of-nuclear-weapons/
ALBANY, N.Y. (NEWS10) — An historic ship that’s spreading a message of peace made a stop in Albany on Wednesday. The Golden Rule was first built in 1956 in Costa Rica and sailed around the Marshall Islands with the goal of preventing nuclear weapons testing.Get the latest, news, weather, sports and community events delivered right to your inbox!
The ship sank twice, most recently in 2010. It was restored and relaunched from California by a group of veterans, who said their message about nuclear disarmament still needs to be heard.
Their stop in Albany was part of a trip that started in Chicago last September.
Nuclear power is still an option at Comanche 3. These Pueblo activists want to change that
James Bartolo, The Pueblo Chieftain
Xcel Energy’s Comanche 3 power plant in Pueblo is slated to ditch coal by 2031, but what will replace the fossil fuel as the site’s energy source remains to be seen.
One of the the power generation options being considered by Xcel and the Pueblo Innovative Energy Solutions Advisory Committee (PIESAC) is nuclear energy. However, Nuclear-Free Pueblo, a coalition of local environmental activists that formed two years ago when the idea was first broached by Pueblo County commissioners, continues to fight against nuclear as a replacement.
The coalition believes a nuclear plant would pose a health risk to Pueblo County residents and siphon funds away from the county’s transition to renewable energy. Its members spent Saturday canvassing local neighborhoods before holding a rally outside the Pueblo County Courthouse during its “Day of Action.”
“As far as what can go wrong, it ranges from minor issues that can cause us to just be without power for a while to anything up to and including a meltdown situation like Chernobyl, Fukushima, or so many of these other nuclear reactors we have heard about melting down,” said Jamie Valdez, organizer for Mothers Out Front. “If we have a situation like that, Pueblo and surrounding areas could be rendered unlivable for generations to come.”
Radioactive waste and water usage among coalition’s concerns
In a “toolkit” distributed to community members in both English and Spanish, Nuclear-Free Pueblo lists its reasons for opposing nuclear energy in Pueblo.
Among them: the thousands of years that high-level nuclear waste remains reactive; the lack of a permanent disposal facility for high-level waste in the United States; and the average small modular reactor’s daily water use of 160 million to 390 million gallons.
The toolkit also sites a 2012 International Journal of Cancer study that indicated increased incidences of childhood cancer near nuclear plants.
What is Nuclear-Free Pueblo?………………………………….
Backlash builds as Japan prepares to release wastewater from Fukushima nuclear plant
July 9, 2023 The Associated Press
SEOUL, South Korea — South Korean opposition lawmakers sharply criticized the head of the United Nations’ nuclear watchdog on Sunday for its approval of Japanese plans to release treated wastewater from the damaged Fukushima nuclear power plant.
They met with Rafael Grossi in a tense meeting in Seoul that took place while protesters screamed outside the door.
Grossi, the International Atomic Energy Agency’s director general, arrived in South Korea over the weekend to engage with government officials and critics and help reduce public concerns about food safety……………………
“Our conclusion has been that this plan, if it is carried out in the way it has been presented, would be in line, would be in conformity with the international safety standards,” Grossi said.
The lawmakers responded by harshly criticizing IAEA’s review, which they say neglected long-term environmental and health impacts of the wastewater release and threatens to set a bad precedent that may encourage other countries to dispose nuclear waste into sea. They called for Japan to scrap the discharge plans and work with neighboring countries to find safer ways to handle the wastewater, including a possible pursuit of long-term storage on land.
The party has also criticized the government of South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol for putting people’s health at risk while trying to improve relations with Japan.
“If you think (the treated wastewater) is safe, I wonder whether you would be willing to suggest the Japanese government use that water for drinking or for industrial and agricultural purposes, rather than dumping it in the sea,” Woo Won-shik, a Democratic Party lawmaker who attended the meeting, told Grossi. The party said Woo has been on a hunger strike for the past 14 days to protest the Japanese discharge plans.
Further details from the meeting weren’t immediately available after reporters were asked to leave following opening statements. Closely watched by parliamentary security staff, dozens of protesters shouted near the lobby of the National Assembly’s main hall where the meeting was taking place, holding signs denouncing the IAEA and Japan.
Grossi was to fly to New Zealand later on Sunday and would then travel to the Cook Islands as he further tries to reassure countries in the region about the Japanese plans.
Hundreds of demonstrators had also marched in downtown Seoul on Saturday demanding that Japan scrap its plans………………..
In a statement released by state media on Sunday, North Korea also criticized the Japanese discharge plans, warning against “fatal adverse impact on the human lives and security and ecological environment.” The statement, which was attributed to an unidentified official in North Korea’s Ministry of Land and Environment Protection, also criticized Washington and Seoul for backing the Japanese plans.
“What matters is the unreasonable behavior of IAEA actively patronizing and facilitating Japan’s projected discharge of nuclear-polluted water, which is unimaginable,” it said. “Worse still, the U.S. and (South) Korea openly express unseemly ‘welcome’ to Japan’s discharge plan that deserves condemnation and rejection, provoking strong anger of the public.” https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.npr.org/2023/07/09/1186677021/japan-fukushima-nuclear-plant-wastewater-release&source=gmail&ust=1689045728026000&usg=AOvVaw0yQeOwHGuLqJqRrbIjNedx
Nagasaki to take shot at G-7 over its nuclear deterrence stance
THE ASAHI SHIMBUN
July 9, 2023
NAGASAKI–Nagasaki’s annual peace declaration this summer is expected to take issue with a nuclear disarmament document adopted at the Group of Seven summit held in Hiroshima in May for trying to maintain nuclear deterrence.
In doing so, it will reflect the critical voices of “hibakusha” atomic bomb survivors.
On July 8 the city presented a preliminary draft of the declaration to the third meeting of the drafting committee, which is comprised of 15 members, including scholars and hibakusha.
Mayor Shiro Suzuki will read the declaration during a ceremony on Aug. 9 to mark the 78th anniversary of the city’s 1945 atomic bombing.
The G-7 Leaders’ Hiroshima Vision on Nuclear Disarmament states: “Our security policies are based on the understanding that nuclear weapons, for as long as they exist, should serve defensive purposes, deter aggression and prevent war and coercion.”………………………………………
Shigemitsu Tanaka, 82, who heads the Nagasaki Atomic Bomb Survivors Council, said at the second meeting of the drafting committee on June 17 that the Hiroshima Vision “justified” the argument for nuclear deterrence.
He called on city authorities to revise an earlier draft to echo the low regard hibakusha atomic bomb survivors have for the G-7 document………………………………….’Nagasaki city expects to compile a draft outline of the peace declaration by the end of July after gauging opinions about the preliminary draft. https://www.asahi.com/ajw/articles/14952502
Huge protest against Rafael Grossi at Gimpo airport, Seoul, South Korea
Sung-Hee Choi , 7 July 23
Most western mainstream media says that the [right wing] South Korea government agrees with the IAEA draft that the Japanese government’s decision to discharge nuclear contaminated water into the ocean fits to standard.
However, it does seldom say that just last night(July 7/8), Grossi, the director-general of the IAEA was hugely unwelcomed, stranded for hours in the Gimpo airport, Seoul, thanks to protestors with the signs including the one which read, “Did you leak the draft for 1 million euroes?” Around 280 policemen were mobilized to fence Grossi from the righteously angry South Korean protesters.
See the photos
https://www.kukinews.com/newsView/kuk202307080001?skin=news
Please watch the videos
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20230708_04/. (English)
https://www.ytn.co.kr/_ln/0101_202307080504347351
“More than 80 percent of respondents in 11 countries in the Asia-Pacific region except for Japan said Japan’s plan of dumping nuclear-contaminated water into the sea is “irresponsible” and nearly 90 percent of respondents showed negative sentiments such as worries and shock toward the plan, and 94 percent of them deemed such move will have a negative effect not only on Japan and Pacific Rim countries but also the whole world, a survey conducted by the Global Times Research Center found.”
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20230630_20/?fbclid=IwAR3CNvbsTp_
Jeju islanders protest Japan’s radioactive water discharge
“Twelve fishing vessels helmed by members of local ship owners’ associations, female divers (“haenyeo” in Korean) and young locals set out from Jocheon near the popular Hamdeok Beach on the northern coast of the island. The charging ships ploughed through waves while national flags and yellow banners fluttered in the wind. The banners contained messages like “If the sea dies, Jeju dies as well,” “All Koreans disagree,” “Let’s protect Jeju’s waters” and “Oceans aren’t Japan’s dumping grounds for radioactive waste.”
Jeju islanders protest Japan’s radioactive water discharge (July 6, 2023)
https://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/nation/2023/07/113_354424.html
Suffolk campaigners vow to continue fighting Sizewell C
Campaigners have vowed to continue their fight against the “monstrous”
Sizewell C nuclear power station on the Suffolk coast despite losing a
legal challenge against the plans. The High Court announced on Thursday
that the judicial review brought by Together Against Sizewell C (TASC) had
been rejected as being ‘totally without merit’. TASC had launched the
review over the environmental impact of the project, particularly the
disposal of nuclear waste and the provision of a water supply to the
station.
East Anglian Daily Times 23rd June 2023
https://www.eadt.co.uk/news/23608074.suffolk-campaigners-vow-continue-fighting-sizewell-c/
A-bombed artist to distribute ‘war brooms’ in Hiroshima as he calls for nuclear abolition
June 11, 2023 (Mainichi Japan)
SHIKAOI, Hokkaido — A Hiroshima A-bomb survivor ink artist seeking to amplify his nuclear abolition message will hand out miniature brooms signifying the renunciation of war in front of Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum, coinciding with his art show opening in the city on June 24.
Miki Tsukishita, 82, a resident of the Hokkaido town of Shikaoi, was exposed to radiation from the atomic bombing in Hiroshima when he was 4 years old. He is upset that the recent Group of Seven (G7) summit held in the A-bombed city from May 19 to 21 recognized the deterrence of war through the possession of nuclear weapons.
The joint document, “G7 Leaders’ Hiroshima Vision on Nuclear Disarmament,” set forth the direction that the G7 would pursue to realize a world without nuclear weapons. At the same time, the document referred to nuclear deterrence. While it also pointed out the importance of nuclear nonproliferation, Tsukishita said emphatically, “What we are seeking is not nuclear nonproliferation, but nuclear abolition.”
After the summit, he wrote a letter of appeal to the participating leaders in his distinctive ink brush strokes, which was full of sarcasm, beginning with “Did the ‘okonomiyaki’ (savory pancakes that are a Hiroshima specialty) suit your palate?” It is lined with harsh phrases such as, “You left us with the continuation of nuclear nonproliferation,” “What was the purpose of your visit to Hiroshima?” “The tender ‘heart of Hiroshima’ has been trampled on by all of you.”
The feelings of the people of Hiroshima cannot be conveyed only by the appeal letter. So, in line with his already scheduled show in Hiroshima, Tsukishita decided to convey the wishes of A-bomb survivors for nuclear abolition by distributing miniature brooms, paper cranes and letters of appeal to foreign visitors to the Hiroshima museum……………………………………………..
The upcoming exhibition, titled “war brooms art exhibition,” will be held at Aster Plaza in the city of Hiroshima from June 24 to 29. In addition to Tsukishita’s ink artwork, pictures such as “The boy standing by the crematory” and a young A-bombed Chinese parasol tree will be on display. Seeds of the tree will also be handed out. https://mainichi.jp/english/articles/20230608/p2a/00m/0na/025000c
(Japanese original by Hitoshi Suzuki, Obihiro Bureau)
Mayors call for action against nuclear war
Beyond Nuclear, June 9, 2023
At the close of its 91st Annual Meeting in Columbus, Ohio, on June 5, 2023, the final business plenary of the United States Conference of Mayors (USCM) unanimously adopted a new resolution, titled, “Calling for Urgent Action to Avoid Nuclear War, Resolve the Ukraine Conflict, Lower Tensions with China, and Redirect Military Spending to Meet Human Needs.” This is the eighteenth consecutive year that the USCM has adopted a resolution submitted by U.S. members of Mayors for Peace.
The resolution’s lead sponsor, Mayor Frank Cownie of Des Moines, Iowa, (pictured) and U.S. Vice-President of Mayors for Peace, commented: “This resolution carries on the U.S. Conference of Mayors’ proud tradition for nearly two decades of standing for the non-use and global elimination of nuclear weapons.”
Jackie Cabasso, Mayors for Peace North American Coordinator, added: “For the first time, a U.S. Conference of Mayors resolution on nuclear disarmament lends the organization’s support to a specific legislative measure, H. Res. 77, ‘Embracing the Goals and Provisions of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons’.”
Res. 77, introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives by Rep. Jim McGovern (D-MA) and Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D-OR) on January 31, 2023, calls on the United States to adopt the Back from the Brink Campaign’s comprehensive policy prescriptions for reducing nuclear risks and preventing nuclear war. More than 70 cities, towns, counties and states have passed Back from the Brink resolutions, and more than 400 organizations have endorsed the Back from the Brink platform………………………………………………… more https://beyondnuclear.org/mayors-call-for-action-against-nuclear-war/
Plan to release Fukushima nuclear plant water into sea faces local opposition: “The sea is not a garbage dump”
CBS BY ELIZABETH PALMER, MAY 31, 2023
Japan’s government is asking for international backup as it prepares to release thousands of gallons of water from the Fukushima nuclear power plant into the sea. The plan has alarmed the public and outraged fishermen — even as the international energy agency looks inclined to back it.
………….The plant sits in what was a lush coastal part of Japan, famous for its seafood and delicious fruit. Today, there’s still no-go area around the power station where fields lie fallow and homes sit abandoned.
Inside a high security fence studded with warning signs, engineers are still working to remove radioactive fuel rods that melted inside the reactors. They’ll be at it for decades.
Another problem is piling up in hundreds of metal tanks on the site: they contain more than a million tons of contaminated water.
…………………………………….. “Piping water into the sea is an outrage,” said Haruo Ono, who has been fishing the ocean off the coast of Fukushima all his life.
“The sea is not a garbage dump,” he said. “The company says it’s safe, but the consequences could catch up with us 50 years down the road.”
………………………………..Haruo Ono, the fisherman, said the science is not the issue.
“People don’t understand it,” he said. “Mothers won’t choose Fukushima fish knowing it’s been swimming in radioactive water. Even if the experts say it’s safe.”
Under current rules, he can only take his fishing vessels out to sea a day or two a week, when he gets the OK from the government.
“This is the end of my livelihood,” he said.
……………. The Fukushima nuclear plant won’t be safely decommissioned for years to come. So far taxpayers have paid $90 billion to clean it up. https://www.cbsnews.com/news/fukushima-nuclear-plant-water-plan-release-into-sea-fear-controversy/
Protest Disrupts Opening of North America’s Largest Weapons Fair
Canada, Nonviolent Activism, By World BEYOND War, May 31, 2023
OTTAWA — Over a hundred people have disrupted the opening of CANSEC, North America’s largest military weapons convention in Ottawa, where 10,000 attendees were expected to gather.
Activists carrying 50 foot banners saying “Stop Profiting from War,” “Arms Dealers Not Welcome” and holding dozens of “War Crimes Start Here” signs blocked vehicle and pedestrian entrances as attendees attempted to register for and enter the convention centre, delaying Canadian Defense Minister Anita Anand’s opening keynote address for over an hour. In police efforts to remove the protesters, they grabbed banners, and handcuffed and arrested one protester, who was later released without charges.
The protest was convened to “oppose CANSEC and the profiteering from war and violence it is designed to support”, promising to “make it impossible for anyone to come anywhere near their weapons fair without confronting the violence and bloodshed these arms dealers are complicit in.”
“We’re here today in solidarity with everyone who has faced down the barrel of a weapon sold at CANSEC, everyone whose family member has been killed, whose communities were displaced and harmed by the weapons being peddled and on display here” said Rachel Small, organizer with World BEYOND War. “While more than eight million refugees have fled Ukraine since the start of 2022, while more than 400,000 civilians have been killed in eight years of war in Yemen, while at least 24 Palestinian children were killed by Israeli forces since the start of this year, the weapons companies sponsoring and exhibiting in CANSEC are raking in record billions in profits. They are the only people who win these wars.”
Lockheed Martin, one of the major sponsors of CANSEC, has seen its stocks soar 37% percent by the end of 2022, while Northrop Grumman’s share price increased 40%. Just prior to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Lockheed Martin Chief Executive Officer James Taiclet said on an earnings call that he predicted the conflict would lead to inflated military budgets and additional sales for the company. Greg Hayes, CEO of Raytheon, another CANSEC sponsor, told investors last year that the company expected to see “opportunities for international sales” amid the Russian threat. He added: “I fully expect we’re going to see some benefit from it.” Hayes received an annual compensation package of $23 million in 2021, an 11% increase over the previous year, and $22.6 million in 2022.
“CANSEC shows just how deeply private profiteering is embedded in Canada’s foreign and military policy” shared Shivangi M, international human rights lawyer and chairperson of ILPS in Canada. “This event highlights that plenty of people high up in the government and corporate worlds see war not as a devastating, destructive thing, but as a business opportunity. We are demonstrating today because the people at CANSEC are not acting in the interests of ordinary working people. The only way to stop them is by working people getting together and demanding an end to the arms trade.”
Canada has become one of the world’s top arms dealers globally, with Canadian arms exports totalling $2.73-billion in 2021. However most exports bound for the United States were not included in the government figures, despite the U.S. being a major importer of Canadian weapons, receiving more than half of all Canada’s weapons exports each year.
“The Government of Canada is slated to table its annual Exports of Military Goods report today,” said Kelsey Gallagher, researcher with Project Ploughshares. “As has been the trend in recent years, we expect huge volumes of arms to have been transferred around the world in 2022, including some to serial human rights abusers and authoritarian states.”
The promotional video for CANSEC 2023 features Peruvian, Mexican, Ecuadorean, and Israeli militaries and ministers attending the convention…………………………………………………………………………………….
BACKGROUND
10,000 people are expected to attend CANSEC this year. The weapons expo will bring together an estimated 280 exhibitors, including weapons manufacturers, military technology and supply companies, media outlets, and government agencies. 50 international delegations are also expected to attend. CANSEC promotes itself as “a one-stop shop for first responders, police, border and security entities and special operations units.” The weapons expo is organized by the Canadian Association of Defence and Security Industries (CADSI), the “industry voice” for more than 650 defense and security companies that generate $12.6 billion in annual revenues, roughly half of which come from exports.
Hundreds of lobbyists in Ottawa represent arms dealers not only competing for military contracts, but lobbying the government to shape the policy priorities to fit the military equipment they are hawking. Lockheed Martin, Boeing, Northrop Grumman, BAE, General Dynamics, L-3 Communications, Airbus, United Technologies and Raytheon all have offices in Ottawa to facilitate access to government officials, most of them within a few blocks from Parliament.
CANSEC and its predecessor, ARMX, have faced staunch opposition for over three decades. …………………………………………………
Among the 280+ exhibitors that will be at CANSEC:
Among the 280+ exhibitors that will be at CANSEC:
- Elbit Systems – supplies 85% of drones used by the Israeli military to monitor and attack Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza, and infamously the bullet used to murder Palestinian journalist Shireen Abu Akleh
- General Dynamics Land Systems-Canada – makes the billions of dollars of Light Armoured Vehicles (tanks) Canada exports to Saudi Arabia
- L3Harris Technologies – their drone technology is used for border surveillance and targeting laser guided missiles. Now bidding to sell armed drones to Canada to drop bombs overseas and surveil Canadian protests.
- Lockheed Martin – by far the largest weapons producer in the world, they brag about arming over 50 countries, including many of the most oppressive governments and dictatorships
- Colt Canada – sells guns to the RCMP, including C8 carbine rifles to the C-IRG, the militarized RCMP unit terrorizing Indigenous land defenders in service of oil and logging companies.
- Raytheon Technologies – builds the missiles that will arm Canada’s new Lockheed Martin F-35 warplanes
- BAE Systems – builds the Typhoon fighter jets Saudi Arabia uses to bomb Yemen
- Bell Textron – sold helicopters to the Philippines in 2018 even though its president once boasted he had thrown a man to his death from a helicopter and warned he would do the same to corrupt government workers
- Thales – weapon sales implicated in human rights violations in West Papua, Myanmar and Yemen.
- Palantir Technologies Inc (PTI) – provides Artificial Intelligence (AI) predictive system to Israeli security forces, to identify people in occupied Palestine. Provides the same mass surveillance tools to law enforcement agencies and police departments, circumventing warrant procedures. https://worldbeyondwar.org/protest-disrupts-opening-of-north-americas-largest-weapons-fair/
1 This Month
of the week – Shut Down Drone Warfare!
Tell the Ukrainian Government to Drop Prosecution of Peace Activist Yurii Sheliazhenko
Petition to revoke the licensing of the Near Surface Nuclear Disposal Facility (NSDF) at Chalk River. https://www.ourcommons.ca/petitions/en/Petition/Details?Petition=e-7247
To see nuclear-related stories in greater depth and intensity – go to https://nuclearinformation.wordpress.com
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