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London arms fair: weapons galore, but don't fear, they're only for governments London arms fair: weapons galore, but don't fear, they're only for governments
(4 days later)
Have we been trained this way by Hollywood, or is there something innate in the human condition that makes weapons … I don't want to say thrilling. I can't take the complaints.Have we been trained this way by Hollywood, or is there something innate in the human condition that makes weapons … I don't want to say thrilling. I can't take the complaints.
But I went to the DSEI arms fair at ExCel in the London docklands and saw the armoured personnel carriers with wheels that reached my shoulder, and a flatbed lorry that was wider than my house (it turned out to be a mobile bridge), unmanned flying bots that whirred, guns, of course, and sinister knives and non-lethal gas canisters, cameras that seemed to creep up on you – I saw it all, and the theatre of war was much more real.But I went to the DSEI arms fair at ExCel in the London docklands and saw the armoured personnel carriers with wheels that reached my shoulder, and a flatbed lorry that was wider than my house (it turned out to be a mobile bridge), unmanned flying bots that whirred, guns, of course, and sinister knives and non-lethal gas canisters, cameras that seemed to creep up on you – I saw it all, and the theatre of war was much more real.
All the stories you hear about what it does to a town, to a psyche, when a convoy of US ground troops goes past, suddenly make sense. These tanks are like moving fortresses. It must be like being invaded by aliens.All the stories you hear about what it does to a town, to a psyche, when a convoy of US ground troops goes past, suddenly make sense. These tanks are like moving fortresses. It must be like being invaded by aliens.
Yet all the tools and paraphernalia made war seem more theatrical, too, not in the sense of being fake, but in the drama, the magnetism. I can't account for it, it's like a fetish. And the one thing you want to ask everyone: "Don't you feel bad about devising all these ways to kill people? Real people?" You can't ask. It's asinine. If they felt bad, they wouldn't do it.Yet all the tools and paraphernalia made war seem more theatrical, too, not in the sense of being fake, but in the drama, the magnetism. I can't account for it, it's like a fetish. And the one thing you want to ask everyone: "Don't you feel bad about devising all these ways to kill people? Real people?" You can't ask. It's asinine. If they felt bad, they wouldn't do it.
Well, because I am a newspaperwoman (reference to His Girl Friday intended as self-parody), I did ask, in as roundabout a way as I could without exhausting my vocabulary: to Al Lockwood, DSEI spokesman, I said "Does nobody have any qualms about the possibility that if this industry were smaller, then fewer people would be killed?"Well, because I am a newspaperwoman (reference to His Girl Friday intended as self-parody), I did ask, in as roundabout a way as I could without exhausting my vocabulary: to Al Lockwood, DSEI spokesman, I said "Does nobody have any qualms about the possibility that if this industry were smaller, then fewer people would be killed?"
He was far too polite to mind: "I think it's idealistic. When you consider that the majority of people killed these days are killed with hand weapons. They're killed with homemade weapons. You can pick up techniques for making weapons on the internet. This is stuff bought by governments. Entirely governments. We don't sell to terrorists or freelancers."He was far too polite to mind: "I think it's idealistic. When you consider that the majority of people killed these days are killed with hand weapons. They're killed with homemade weapons. You can pick up techniques for making weapons on the internet. This is stuff bought by governments. Entirely governments. We don't sell to terrorists or freelancers."
Lockwood was in the armed forces for thirty years, and has a soldier's slightly cartoonish way of describing acts of war; nobody bleeds, they just see stars. "We're about to smack Assad round the ear with a cruise missile, make sure he doesn't do that again." That kind of thing. Anyway, he continues: "Have you ever been to the Middle East? They have a gun like we'd have a cocker spaniel." It strikes him that not everybody has a cocker spaniel, and he moves to clarify: "Like we have knives and forks."Lockwood was in the armed forces for thirty years, and has a soldier's slightly cartoonish way of describing acts of war; nobody bleeds, they just see stars. "We're about to smack Assad round the ear with a cruise missile, make sure he doesn't do that again." That kind of thing. Anyway, he continues: "Have you ever been to the Middle East? They have a gun like we'd have a cocker spaniel." It strikes him that not everybody has a cocker spaniel, and he moves to clarify: "Like we have knives and forks."
That's one argument, that precision weaponry like this doesn't make a dent in the world death tally. Another, related point is it's all so much deterrent, we're just constantly updating our ways to deter other people from killing us. That seems Sisyphean and self-perpetuating and incredibly expensive. But not dangerous. There's the commerce argument, that this is the one thing that Britain's still good at. Howard Wheeldon, independent defence analyst, says that this industry is worth £22bn: others put it at £11bn, the discrepancy being that £11bn is exports and the rest is what we buy from ourselves. Saudi Arabia, he says, is our largest market, by some margin. Lockwood and Wheeldon both stress how regulated the exports are, that weapons would only ever be sold to other governments, and then only if the UK government is satisfied that they won't be used for "internal repression".That's one argument, that precision weaponry like this doesn't make a dent in the world death tally. Another, related point is it's all so much deterrent, we're just constantly updating our ways to deter other people from killing us. That seems Sisyphean and self-perpetuating and incredibly expensive. But not dangerous. There's the commerce argument, that this is the one thing that Britain's still good at. Howard Wheeldon, independent defence analyst, says that this industry is worth £22bn: others put it at £11bn, the discrepancy being that £11bn is exports and the rest is what we buy from ourselves. Saudi Arabia, he says, is our largest market, by some margin. Lockwood and Wheeldon both stress how regulated the exports are, that weapons would only ever be sold to other governments, and then only if the UK government is satisfied that they won't be used for "internal repression".
And here I really part company with it, since a) Saudi Arabia is a dictatorship – maybe it's not internally repressing its people, but presumably it doesn't need to, because it has this huge cache of deterrents; and b) "internal repression" is a matter of opinion, isn't it? To use an obvious example, when an Israeli soldier kills a Palestinian, is that internal repression? We'd better hope not, because Israel has a massive DSEI pavilion.And here I really part company with it, since a) Saudi Arabia is a dictatorship – maybe it's not internally repressing its people, but presumably it doesn't need to, because it has this huge cache of deterrents; and b) "internal repression" is a matter of opinion, isn't it? To use an obvious example, when an Israeli soldier kills a Palestinian, is that internal repression? We'd better hope not, because Israel has a massive DSEI pavilion.
Mainly, though, people operate not in death, but in death support, or death aftercare, or death avoidance. So you hear a lot of genuinely heartwarming stories: Lizzie Fone, from the charity Rally for Heroes (trying to rally five miles for every British soldier killed since the war in Afghanistan began; now at 2600 miles) has a brother who's an agricultural adviser. "You have people advising Pashtun villagers on what they can grow so they don't have to grow poppies, and they don't have to be under the Taliban." Fiona Turner, from Oculus, sells a UAV (unmanned aerial vehicle), but "it's just for situational awareness. Nobody's dropping anything on anybody." And this tips the theatre into surrealism, the buzz of decent human energy, in the shadow of these savage tanks, frilly with brand-new camouflage, spiky with gun-shafts.Mainly, though, people operate not in death, but in death support, or death aftercare, or death avoidance. So you hear a lot of genuinely heartwarming stories: Lizzie Fone, from the charity Rally for Heroes (trying to rally five miles for every British soldier killed since the war in Afghanistan began; now at 2600 miles) has a brother who's an agricultural adviser. "You have people advising Pashtun villagers on what they can grow so they don't have to grow poppies, and they don't have to be under the Taliban." Fiona Turner, from Oculus, sells a UAV (unmanned aerial vehicle), but "it's just for situational awareness. Nobody's dropping anything on anybody." And this tips the theatre into surrealism, the buzz of decent human energy, in the shadow of these savage tanks, frilly with brand-new camouflage, spiky with gun-shafts.
As if from the 70s, there was one small enterprise with the word "war" in the title: Drash: the Warfighter's Choice, manufacturers of rapid assembly shelter. Finally, someone whose stated purpose was (at least ancillary to) waging war. "You're not going to tell me that it's really for refugees, are you?" I asked Bryan Wright, a former US soldier. "It depends on the budget of the refugee, I guess," he replied, equably.As if from the 70s, there was one small enterprise with the word "war" in the title: Drash: the Warfighter's Choice, manufacturers of rapid assembly shelter. Finally, someone whose stated purpose was (at least ancillary to) waging war. "You're not going to tell me that it's really for refugees, are you?" I asked Bryan Wright, a former US soldier. "It depends on the budget of the refugee, I guess," he replied, equably.
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