This Week In Arms Trade Land

By Cernig

The old saw has it that one should "follow the money" to find the truth - and in foreign policy that too often means following the arms trade money. Here are a couple of interesting but under-reported stories from NewsNow's "arms trade" aggregator this week.

- The US Navy buys the gasoline it sells to squids and Marines at Navy Base Exchanges from a company owned by Hugo Chavez. Needless to say, the Heritage Warmongering Foundation isn't at all amused. "A designation by the Bush Administration of Venezuela as a terrorist-sponsoring state would allow the Navy to end this awkward situation", they say. So if the US goes to war with Venezuela, will it be all about more expensive gas at the pumps, again?

- NATO says it is near a deal with Russia to use Russian airspace and overland routes to resupply troops in Afghanistan. The obvious reason is to reduce the Afghan mission's reliance of Pakistani routes and thus shake Pakistan's conviction that they have the West by the short-and-curlies in the War on (Some) Terror. But has anyone given a thought to how the Afghans will feel watching replacement armoured vehicles or munitions roll into their nation from across the Russian border? Deja vu, or what?

- An un-named Indian Embassy employee was involved in a wide-ranging conspiracy to steal secret weapon and nuclear technology from American companies. from the U.S. Isn't it a bit of a double standard when some nations get a free pass, and even a deal for more nuclear knowledge, when they pull stuff like this - while others get sanctions and sabre-rattling?