Tuesday, April 04, 2017

Private militias should never be allowed to transport weapons into any region.

The landmark Arms Trade Treaty (ATT), (click here) regulating the international trade in conventional arms – from small arms to battle tanks, combat aircraft and warships – entered into force on 24 December 2014.

If they are contracted by a government to assist with a justified conflict, the government needs to procure and distribute all arms into any region. These militias can cause ethnic wars for the sake of profit. It should never be allowed.

There is enough problem with sovereign countries that believe their moral obligation lies with the death of others.

MORALITY is not spelled d-e-a-t-h.

June 29, 2017
By Louis Charbonneau 

A U.N. Security Council committee (click here) has published a report on Iranian sanctions violations, including shipments of weapons to Syria in breach of a U.N. ban on weapons exports by the Islamic Republic.

The Security Council has imposed four rounds of sanctions on Iran for refusing to halt its nuclear enrichment program, which the United States, European Union and their allies suspect is at the heart of a weapons program. Iran rejects the allegation and refuses to halt what it says is a peaceful energy program.

The report appeared on the committee website on Thursday, diplomats told Reuters on Friday. The report, which Reuters reported on last month, said that Syria remains the top destination for Iranian arms shipments.

Iran, like Russia, is one of Syria's few allies as it presses ahead with a 16-month-old assault on opposition forces determined to oust Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

Western diplomats said they were pleased the report was made public. Initially they said they feared Russia would block it as it did last year's report on Iran, which has yet to be made public due to Russian objections....