weapon

French aviation company congratulates 'brother and leader of the Libyan revolution' Gaddafi

Sophie Team Observers — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 17:19:45 +0200

It's not unusual for companies in Libya to publicly well-wish "Brother and leader of the Revolution", Colonel Muammar Gaddafi. Except when it's... French military aviation company Dassault Aviation.

"Dassault Aviation sends to 'Brother and leader of the revolution', as well as to the people of Libya, its best wishes on the occasion of the 40^th anniversary of the glorious September 1 revolution". It's this indulgent splurge that greets both Libyans and foreigners alike when they drive into the popular Souk al-Thulatha commercial zone in Tripoli.

Contacted by FRANCE 24, the French aviation company confirmed that it had sent its compliments to the Libyan leader, but gave no further details about who produced the poster. The company's communication service however, told us that the poster was created in the run-up to the 2009 Libyan Aviation Exhibition (Lavex) in October. It also coincided with a project to repair a number of Libyan-owned Dassault Aviation planes, which have received no maintenance since 1992, when a 12-year embargo was placed on the country following the 1988 Lockerbie bombing.

On December 10, 2007, Dassault Aviation signed a protocol of agreement with Libya, which launched the negotiation of 14 fighter planes, 35 helicopters, and other military equipment, for the grand total of 4.5 billion euros.

Children in hunting ads - shocking?

Sophie Team Observers — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 18:01:20 +0200

Our Observer Alberto Celani alerted us to this PR campaign from Italian hunting association Federcaccia. Not everyone is delighted with the idea - should we be encouraging children to hunt, and even worse, use guns?

Obama boosts joystick funding for war on terror

Sophie Team Observers — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 18:13:32 +0200

The Obama administration has just handed over five billion dollars to the armed forces to buy more robots. The country's ongoing "War on Terror" employs more unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) for its operations in Pakistan and Afghanistan than it does manned planes. Our Observer and expert in robotics tells us that the ethical concerns behind the programme have gone unnoticed.

Below, videos of two of the planes in question. The first is an MQ-9 Reaper, capable of carrying 14 hellfire missiles. The second, its predecessor, is the MQ-1 Predator, which can take only two missiles onboard.

Exclusive raw video: through the wardrobe… into Gaza

Sophie Team Observers — Fri, 09 Jan 2009 15:02:13 +0100

This exclusive video shows one of the famous tunnels linking the Gaza Strip to Egypt. The underground passage begins...inside the wardrobe of a Rafah bedroom. This document was sent to us by one of our Observers there, who got it from an Egyptian police officer.

Destroying the tunnels that run between Egypt and Gaza is one of the main objectives of Israel's operation "Cast Lead". According to the Israeli Defence Force (IDF), all sorts of articles are smuggled through the Hamas-controlled tunnels, including the rockets that are then fired into Israeli territory.

Sci-fi tanks meet prehistoric rockets in Gaza

Sophie Team Observers — Tue, 30 Dec 2008 17:29:17 +0100

While Hamas is throwing rockets by hand, the Israeli military is unveiling high-tech weaponry like the new "Iron Fist", capable of exploding a missile before it's even reached its target. Will technology make all the difference in Gaza?

Israel's reputation as a mighty military force was left shaken in 2006 after its bloody conflict with Hezbollah in Lebanon. The war began with a missile attack on Israeli tanks, a strategy that Hezbollah then continued to use successfully throughout the 33-day fight. In response, the Jewish state has spent the past two years developing state-of-the-art equipment designed to prevent missiles by neutralising them with an interceptor before they make contact. Christened the "Iron Fist", the system has been tried and tested in production, but is yet to see real combat. As the promotional video states, "this age of asymmetric warfare poses a neat challenge to the survivability of armoured fighting vehicles".

When we tried to contact the IDF (Israeli Defense Forces), they refused to comment on the potential uses and impacts of this type of equipment.

Yet another student brags on YouTube before going on a killing spree

Sophie Team Observers — Tue, 23 Sep 2008 16:04:46 +0200

These videos were posted on YouTube by a student who killed ten people in a shooting spree in a school in Finland this morning.

Matti Juhani Saari, 22, got his arms license in August. The police questioned him about these videos, which show the young student making threats and practicing firing.

He was released without charge - there was no charge the police were able to bring against him. This morning, Matti Juhani Saari walked into school classroom and opened fire before turning the weapon on himself.

Already in November 2007 an 18-year-old filmed himself and posted the video online before taking a gun to his classmates, killing eight people. The incidents are reminiscent of the Virginia Tech massacre in the US in April 2007, when 32 people were found dead. In that case too, the student made a video before carrying out the act.

WARNING, YOU MAY FIND THESE VIDEOS UPSETTING.

McKenzie, the 11-year-old who can field strip and reassemble a rifle in 53 secs

Sophie Team Observers — Thu, 04 Sep 2008 17:05:16 +0200

This video may prove shocking if you're not accustomed to seeing children handling guns. On the American blogosphere however, 11-year-old McKenzie has attracted great admiration.

The video of an eleven-year-old girl assembling a rifle in record time is causing a stir on the web. Largely admired in the US, the video has attracted such comments as "beware terrorists", "don't break her heart or she'll murder your whole family" and "this girl is awesome". However, in places where learning to use a gun at a tender age is not exactly commonplace the video has raised concern over children's access to guns - particularly since it involves a country infamous for its school shootings. Despite 1989 Child Access Prevention laws in place in many states, nearly 12 times more under-14-year-olds die from firearms incidents in the US compared with 25 other developed countries combined [according to the anti-gun violence Brady Campaign]. Nonetheless, owning a gun is a fundamental right in the US, and protected by the Second Amendment. Our Observers explain why.

Eleven-year-old McKenzie's record. Posted 12 January 08 by "gixxerguy811".

On patrol with the sheriff's "Peacemaker"

Sophie Team Observers — Thu, 04 Sep 2008 11:45:41 +0200

Patrol cars weren't adequate in keeping order in the land, Sheriff Leon Lott decided. So off to the army he went, to ask for an armoured vehicle fitted out with a machine gun. "It shall be called The Peacemaker," he thought.

The Peacemaker is now part of the official convoy of Richland County (South Carolina). With a speed of 30 mph, the vehicle is fitted with a machine gun that, in general, says the US Army, would not be aimed at a person, but rather, another armoured vehicle.

Durra - the world’s largest illegal firearms market

Julien — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 17:36:07 +0200

Gunfire echoes in the streets of Durra, Pakistan. Test firing a 9mm handgun or a Kalachnikov AK-47 rifle in the village’s main market is an every day sight.

Durra or Darra Adamkhel, a village in the country’s northwestern tribal zone, is renowned for its weapon-making expertise and is the world’s largest illegal market. Gunsmiths in the village manufacture replicas of ammunition and popular guns, which are then sold to arms dealers across Pakistan and neighbouring Afghanistan.

Durra is part of Pakistan’s Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA). The Pakistani central government does not directly control this region, known for harbouring Islamist insurgents. Al Qaeda and Taliban fighters are said to be active in the region. While manufacturing arms within the FATA is legal, supplying them outside the tribal zone is prohibited. Durra’s weapons industry has existed for more than a century but the Soviet- Afghan war in the late seventies helped boost it.

Chinese ship endeavours to get weapons to Zimbabwe

Julien — Tue, 22 Apr 2008 11:46:16 +0200

The An Yue Jiang in a Japanese port. Photo: niraikanai.sakura.ne (We couldn't find a recent amateur photo of the boat).

Refused in South Africa and turned away from Mozambique, 77 tons of weaponry bound for Zimbabwe are now heading towards Angola in hope of access to land. Will the Chinese vessel succeed in reaching its final destination? Unions, lawyers and anti-arms activists hope not.

Shortly after Zimbabwe's doomed elections more than three weeks ago, desperate and unpopular president Robert Mugabe ordered three million rounds of AK-47 ammunition, 1,500 rocket-propelled and over 3,000 mortar rounds and mortar tubes from China. Last week, the An Yue Jiang arrived on the continent in Durban. But in the face of a 300,000-strong African union and refusal to transfer the goods from the country's high court, the ship fled on Friday. Its plan to offload in Mozambique was also rebutted and the vessel is now gambling on Angola, where it is thought to be headed. While Zambia's president urged everybody in the region to prevent the Cosco ship from docking on Monday, reports that it will offload to another vessel in the area have started circulating. Surrounding countries worry that the weapons will fuel escalating police brutality reported in Zimbabwe.