Can France identify, reveal where arms used in terrorist attack came from?

By Nandini Oza*
Shakespeare in his play Romeo and Juliet wrote the famous lines: “A rose by any other name would smell as sweet.” Similarly, to me, violence by any other name is violence. Therefore I am against any act of violence called by any other name- war, war on terror, terror on war, collateral damage, so on and so forth. I also strongly condemn all violence that kills people no matter what their nationality, race, religion or colour. I wish to also express deep anguish at the recent loss of lives across the world including in the recent attacks on unarmed people in a hospital run by Doctors Without Borders in Afghanistan and the innocent people who lost their lives in Paris.
Having said this I would also like to add my voice to the chorus of hard questions being asked. My first question is, while France has been quick in identifying those involved in the recent attack in Paris and their nationalities, can it also identify and reveal where the arms that were used in the attack came from? Who sold them? Who were they sold to? At what price? How did they end up in the attacks on civilians? What is the arms trail? Can the arms route/trail also be identified just as the drugs route/trail? Why is selling of drugs considered an act of crime and selling of arms not?
The reason for raising these questions particularly in the context of Paris attacks is because the French Government is one of the largest arms sellers in the whole world today. France, even though relatively small in size and population is thriving on arms trade. A report inNewsweek dated 13 August 2015 says that France has been the most prolific arms seller in Europe in the year 2015.[1] A report in Defense News dated 3 June 2015 reveals, “…The figures put France “solidly” in fourth place in terms of global arms exports…behind the United States, Russia and China.”[2] What is disturbing is the fact that France’s main market for the sale of its arms is the Middle East.It is no rocket science why these deadly weapons are being sold, bought and ultimately used. It is also no rocket science that more the conflict more is the sale and demand for arms. And it is no rocket science which economies are booming with the sale of arms and which countries are paying the price.[3]
Naturally voices of dissent against countries involved in export of arms are getting louder. Recently, Amnesty international has urged the USA and other States selling weapons to stop exporting to Saudi Arabia.[4] The popular labour leader of UK, Jeremy Corbyn has asked hard hitting questions after the Paris attack as follows: “Who is arming Isis, who is providing safe havens for Isis? To get there you have to ask questions about the arms everyone’s sold in the region…I think there are some very big questions and we have to be careful.”[5]
Although it may be said that it is not the time to raise these questions, I feel it is not the time to mince words, as it is global peace which is at stake. I wish therefore to remind all those profiteering from sale of arms of an old saying: “As you sow, so shall you reap.” I also wish to remind that the origin of the first two World Wars was Europe. Increasingly it seems we are heading towards a third world war. If we do not wish yet another World war, we will have to collectively call upon the heads of States of those countries (one of them is France) profiteering/thriving from sale of arms to stop selling arms/ammunition. In order to stop this mindless violence, we will have to declare the trade in arms illegal just as we call the trade in drugs illegal. But most of all, I urge the democratic citizens of the top arm selling countries to urge their elected (“civilized”) Governments to stop boosting their respective economies through sale of deadly weapons.
Notes:
[1] http://europe.newsweek.com/bombs-oui-french-arms-sales-continue-soar-despite-mistral-deal-collapse-331529
[2] http://www.defensenews.com/story/defense/policy-budget/industry/2015/06/02/french-arms-exports-best-years/28367351/
[3] http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-22906965
[4] https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2015/10/yemen-call-for-suspension-of-arms-transfers-to-coalition-and-accountability-for-war-crimes/
[5] http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/jeremy-corbyn-says-a-military-response-in-syria-could-cause-yet-more-mayhem-and-loss-a6735916.html
—
*Full time activist for 12 years with the Narmada Bachao Andolan (NBA), now independent researcher and writer. Source: http://nandinioza.blogspot.in/

Comments

Plastic burning in homes threatens food, water and air across Global South: Study

By Jag Jivan In a groundbreaking study spanning 26 countries across the Global South , researchers have uncovered the widespread and concerning practice of households burning plastic waste as a fuel for cooking, heating, and other domestic needs. The research, published in Nature Communications , reveals that this hazardous method of managing both waste and energy poverty is driven by systemic failures in municipal services and the unaffordability of clean alternatives, posing severe risks to human health and the environment.

From protest to proof: Why civil society must rethink environmental resistance

By Shankar Sharma* As concerned environmentalists and informed citizens, many of us share deep unease about the way environmental governance in our country is being managed—or mismanaged. Our complaints range across sectors and regions, and most of them are legitimate. Yet a hard question confronts us: are complaints, by themselves, effective? Experience suggests they are not.

Economic superpower’s social failure? Inequality, malnutrition and crisis of India's democracy

By Vikas Meshram India may be celebrated as one of the world’s fastest-growing economies, but a closer look at who benefits from that growth tells a starkly different story. The recently released World Inequality Report 2026 lays bare a country sharply divided by wealth, privilege and power. According to the report, nearly 65 percent of India’s total wealth is owned by the richest 10 percent of its population, while the bottom half of the country controls barely 6.4 percent. The top one percent—around 14 million people—holds more than 40 percent, the highest concentration since 1961. Meanwhile, the female labour force participation rate is a dismal 15.7 percent.

Kolkata event marks 100 years since first Communist conference in India

By Harsh Thakor* A public assembly was held in Kolkata on December 24, 2025, to mark the centenary of the First Communist Conference in India , originally convened in Kanpur from December 26 to 28, 1925. The programme was organised by CPI (ML) New Democracy at Subodh Mallik Square on Lenin Sarani. According to the organisers, around 2,000 people attended the assembly.

From colonial mercantilism to Hindutva: New book on the making of power in Gujarat

By Rajiv Shah Professor Ghanshyam Shah ’s latest book, “ Caste-Class Hegemony and State Power: A Study of Gujarat Politics ”, published by Routledge , is penned by one of Gujarat ’s most respected chroniclers, drawing on decades of fieldwork in the state. It seeks to dissect how caste and class factors overlap to perpetuate the hegemony of upper strata in an ostensibly democratic polity. The book probes the dominance of two main political parties in Gujarat—the Indian National Congress and the BJP—arguing that both have sustained capitalist growth while reinforcing Brahmanic hierarchies.

Urgent need to study cause of large number of natural deaths in Gulf countries

By Venkatesh Nayak* According to data tabled in Parliament in April 2018, there are 87.76 lakh (8.77 million) Indians in six Gulf countries, namely Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE). While replying to an Unstarred Question (#6091) raised in the Lok Sabha, the Union Minister of State for External Affairs said, during the first half of this financial year alone (between April-September 2018), blue-collared Indian workers in these countries had remitted USD 33.47 Billion back home. Not much is known about the human cost of such earnings which swell up the country’s forex reserves quietly. My recent RTI intervention and research of proceedings in Parliament has revealed that between 2012 and mid-2018 more than 24,570 Indian Workers died in these Gulf countries. This works out to an average of more than 10 deaths per day. For every US$ 1 Billion they remitted to India during the same period there were at least 117 deaths of Indian Workers in Gulf ...

The greatest threat to our food system: The aggressive push for GM crops

By Bharat Dogra Thanks to the courageous resistance of several leading scientists who continue to speak the truth despite increasing pressures from the powerful GM crop and GM food lobby , the many-sided and in some contexts irreversible environmental and health impacts of GM foods and crops, as well as the highly disruptive effects of this technology on farmers, are widely known today.

History, culture and literature of Fatehpur, UP, from where Maulana Hasrat Mohani hailed

By Vidya Bhushan Rawat* Maulana Hasrat Mohani was a member of the Constituent Assembly and an extremely important leader of our freedom movement. Born in Unnao district of Uttar Pradesh, Hasrat Mohani's relationship with nearby district of Fatehpur is interesting and not explored much by biographers and historians. Dr Mohammad Ismail Azad Fatehpuri has written a book on Maulana Hasrat Mohani and Fatehpur. The book is in Urdu. He has just come out with another important book, 'Hindi kee Pratham Rachna: Chandayan' authored by Mulla Daud Dalmai.' During my recent visit to Fatehpur town, I had an opportunity to meet Dr Mohammad Ismail Azad Fatehpuri and recorded a conversation with him on issues of history, culture and literature of Fatehpur. Sharing this conversation here with you. Kindly click this link. --- *Human rights defender. Facebook https://www.facebook.com/vbrawat , X @freetohumanity, Skype @vbrawat

Transgender Bill testimony of Govt of India's ‘contempt’ for marginalized community

Counterview Desk India’s civil society network, National Alliance of People’s Movements (NAPM)* has said that the controversial transgender Bill, passed in the Rajya Sabha on November 26, which happened to be the 70th anniversary of the Indian Constitution, is a reflection on the way the Government of India looks at the marginalized community with utter contempt.

Search This Blog