Arms for Southeast Asia<\/p>\n
In this decade of ethnic warfare, international legal and
\nillegal arms sales and trafficking is on the increase and has
\nbecome a multi-billion dollar business with plenty of room for
\ngrowth.<\/p>\n
It has been reported that the legal sales of arms, both used,
\nlike the 101 M-60 A-3 model tanks Thailand is thinking about
\npurchasing, and those off the assembly line like the Patriot
\nmissile interceptors sold to Taiwan and South Korea, is the
\nworld's second largest industry, a $250 billion business.<\/p>\n
It is second only to the much-heralded oil industry which
\ntakes in no less than $430 billion.<\/p>\n
Can the West afford to ignore this money spinner?<\/p>\n
\"The American market share of new arms deals in developing
\nThird World countries, especially in Southeast and East Asia,
\nsoared to 73 percent in 1993, up from 56 percent in 1992,\" said
\nthe New York Times in a recent editorial.<\/p>\n
By the 1980s the U.S. was committed to the largest peacetime
\nmilitary build-up in its history. At the same time, it cut
\nexpenditures for domestic education, health and other social
\nprograms.<\/p>\n
At a time when the U.S. was losing ground to competitors in
\nthe global markets, they invested the people's savings in the
\nmilitary buildup.<\/p>\n
The U.S. arms buildup made it look stronger, but in fact, this
\nwas only an illusion. By pushing people deeper into debt, it
\nundermined the health of its economy.<\/p>\n
By spending a bigger share of its scarce resources on
\nresearch, it further impaired its competitiveness. By absorbing
\nfunds that might have gone into education, it limited its future.<\/p>\n
After eight years of building up the military, the world's
\nlargest economy was really much economically weaker.<\/p>\n
By 1989, it favored sharp cuts in defense spending. But it was
\ntoo late as the recession had set in.<\/p>\n
With Western economies still in low gear and unemployment on
\nthe rise, arms manufacturers are competing, not only by
\nundercutting each other but also by sowing the seeds of disunity,
\nsuspicion and fear within the region, triggering an unprecedented
\narms procurement race among the ASEAN states.<\/p>\n
It is an irony that Southeast Asian leaders have not taken a
\nmoral lesson from what happened in other parts of Asia,
\nespecially in the Middle-East.<\/p>\n
It would be a tragedy, at this stage of determination to
\ndevelop our region, if those guiding the destinies of Asia fail
\nto observe and realize the hypocritical designs of the Western
\npowers and their move to divert considerable resources, which
\ncould be put to better use for the benefit of the ordinary people
\nof this region, to keep Western arms manufacturing industries
\nworking overtime.<\/p>\n
-- Thailand Times, Bangkok<\/p>", "url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/arms-for-southeast-asia-1447893297", "image": "" }, "sponsor": "Okusi Associates", "sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com" }