IT may be unusual to raise a subject of this nature in our local paper, but nevertheless it is of considerable import.
Is not the manufacture and sale of arms by countries of the western world, particularly the USA and UK, one of the worst evils man can perpetrate on his own kind?
Do not our present troubles worldwide results from 50 years of this ongoing trade?
Wherever there is war, our governments will have sold arms, directly or indirectly, to that country; they will have promoted the manufacture of this weaponry, turning out eight million small arms annually (quote — Amnesty).
The effect is obvious — as in Africa; internecine wars, devastation of the land, disease, starvation and a flood of displaced persons and our present influx of refugees.
Why should aid agencies such as the Red Cross, Save the Children, Oxfam and UNICEF, be expected to clear up the mess caused by our own governments? It is a heart-breaking task, especially when there are enough problems to cope with in more normal times.
In 1997 a campaign for arms control was begun by 18 Nobel prizewinners. Across 90 countries more than 500 organisations are now calling for an arms trade treaty.
This is a hopeful sign, for have we not flooded the world with armaments and are we not currently 'reaping the whirlwind' of man's greed?
A Crampton
Oaklands Park
Okehampton