I'm sure that the punishment will be severe (right?)

Boeing Corporation is once again facing charges of defrauding America's taxpayers in it's ever so friendly dealings with the Pentagon. Of course this tiny and insignificant matter cannot be allowed to stand in the way of their having another shot at that refueling plane contract.

So long to bad rubbish

British merchants of death BAE Systems, recently protected from prosecution for corrupt practices in the name of "national security" by our right wing Labour government, has now delivered an unveiled threat to quit the UK if military spending should ever fall below a "reasonable level". BAE's retiring CEO Mike Turner told the Financial Times that failure to give "the priority to defence that is needed" would mean that the UK would lose its "say in the world".

Nice, eh? Well personally I think you should just fuck off then. Perhaps you can find an empty office campus in Dubai next to that company so beloved of American Vice President and evil incarnate "I'm a Big" Dick Cheney, Halliburton.

"Psst. Hey buddy, wanna buy a Eurofighter?"

Eat our dust America!We're number one! The United Kingdom catapulted to the top of the world league table of merchants of death with a record £10 billion of overseas arm sales. And Britain is not picky either. The sales include weaponry destined for such beacons of freedom as Saudi Arabia, Israel, Colombia, China, and Russia.

And after everything we've done for them!

Let's face it Blackwater USA has gotten a pretty good deal from the American taxpayer. They have received tens of millions of US dollars in contracts for supplying mercenaries for Iraq and Afghanistan and the US government has seen to it that said mercenaries are exempt from all Iraqi, American and international law should they be naughty. And how do they pay us back for this largesse? By buying a fighter jet from Brazil rather than from America.

I also have this nagging question in the back of my head as to why Blackwater needs only one fighter jet. Won't they need more than one when we outsource (illegal) attacks against Iran to them?

Maybe, just maybe, the illegal invasion of Iraq wasn't about "blood for oil"

Maybe it was about "blood for blood" as US based merchants of death are doing a booming business selling weapons to the Iraqi government. Key quote: "Give it another five, six or eight years and you could be talking about deals that put the Saudis to shame".

Yank's question of the day

Is it possible to be an ethical merchant of death arms dealer?

My answer would be "NO"!

Good idea, very bad reason

Like a junkie scoring "one last fix" on his way the The Priory Congressional Democrats are threatening to scupper OPEC arms deals unless they pump more oil. If only they would threaten to scupper arms deals to repressive regimes but then how would these poor politicians raise funds?

In the meantime OPEC is expected to counter this "offer" by threating to pump less oil unless they get more weapons!

Any port in a storm

The Chinese ship An Yue Jiang, carrying weapons from China to the government of Robert Mugabe in Zimbabwe has left South African waters and and is believed headed for Mozambique where it may meet less resistance. South African longshoremen had refused to unload the ship and a human rights organisation had received a court order prohibiting transhipment of the armaments on to Zimbabwe.

Of Arms and the Mugabe

Surely even the thuggish government of China is smart enough to understand that four days after a highly contested, and probably soon to be stolen, election in Zimbabwe is not the best time to send off a load of weapons to the Zimbabwean government. With a little luck the shipment made be prevented for reaching its destination by one of those evil trade unions. Just in time for May Day.

Gordo makes some new friends

Gordon Brown may have to rely on Tory support to resist reopening the SFO inquiry into the fraudulent arms deal between merchants of death, BAE Systems, and the Saudi government. Many Labour backbenchers and the Lib Dems are calling for the investigation to move forward following the High Court ruling that the cancellation of the inquiry was not legal.

Will all roads lead to Bandar?

The British High Court has ruled that the Serious Fraud Office (and the government of Tony Blair) was negligent in halting a corruption inquiry into dealings between British merchant of death BAE Systems and the Saudis. Gordon Brown is now under heavy pressure to re-institute the investigation in which Captain Codpiece's good buddy Saudi Prince Bandar is likely to figure prominently. Let's hope it gets underway soon. In the meantime BAE's shares are taking a pounding.

This could prove tricky

Russian arms merchant Viktor Bout has been arrested in Thailand where they intend to try him on local charges before possibly extraditing him to the US. I really wonder if the US will go through with extradition of this "merchant of death" as he has done business with the US government recently, as part of the Eternal Global War on Terra, and may know some things that he might use in his defence that the US would prefer not to get out.

It ain't necessarily so

Is it possible that St. Tony lied to us (once again)? When the government quashed an investigation into BAE Systems and allegations of widespread bribery and corruption in its dealings with the Saudi government they swore to us that this was done for security purposes and not for commercial reasons. Now a previously unreleased letter between then Prime Minister St. Tony Blair and the Attorney General Lord Goldsmith rather explicitly shows that statement to be a complete and utter falsehood. And he seemed like such a nice boy.

We're number 1!!

The hard work of dozens of merchants of death has ensured that the United States is still the number one seller of weapons to the developing world. Well done everyone! I am certain that every purchasing country (Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, Israel et al) will use these weapons responsibly.