Selling arms to unstable regims/country in war Right or wrong?

[Skywalker[TSG]]

Just stumbled across this while reading the news

"Swedish arms maker Bofors is confident it will win a billion dollar order from India for up to 400 new howitzers. The company also said Wednesday it is confident it will receive government permission to export the weapons.

Swedish Foreign Minister Anna Lindh said in June that Sweden is unlikely to issue an export permit due to the escalating tensions between India and Pakistan. It is against Swedish policy to permimt arms sales to countries in conflict regions.

But Bofors says the deal should be classified as a follow-up order to a 1986 sale, and cannot be stopped because of a treaty between Sweden and India"

Should it be allowed to sell weapons to unstable regims or to a country involved in a war in a unstable region.

Both India and Pakistan have nuclear and other types of WMD
wouldn't selling arms to them just fuel the situation and perhaps
set off a nuclear war against an already poor and suffering population .

[CERuppel]

I thought fire fighters used water not gasoline...

The idea of foriegn arms sales is to me stupid. Regardless of treaties today the future of relations between nations is unpredictable. Therefore any arms sales could be arming the enemy...

Also there is the troublesome fact that arms sold to "X" tend to end up in "Y". Or used against the goverment you are trying to support (military coup anyone?).

The fact that this is a "follow up" to a nearly twenty year old sale, and based on a treaty that is older than that... Enron accountants need to learn from this...

Meanwhile, the needed agricultural and construction machinery remains unfunded for both Pakistan and India. How can either claim to have the money for purchases like this when they can't afford tractors and cement trucks?

[Knothead]

Looks like "business as usual" and devil take the hindmost...

[ClubMed]

I think the fact that unstable countries like India and Pakistan having WMD's is scary enough, they don't need more arms (trouble).

I think it would be better if they spent these $ billions on improving the living standards of their people first.

Bofors bribery scandals of the 1990's where they paid hundreds of millions of $$ to Indian politicians, including the former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi, are still very much in public memory.

From a political point of view, no way will India buy more guns from Bofors as it will open up the controversy once again.

As I recall, the former President of Bofors/Nobel Martin Ardbo was assassinated during the scandal by the people at Nobel who wanted to silence him.

Most of the moneys paid as bribes continues to be frozen in Swiss banks on request by the Indian Government/Interpol and the issue is so messy that I doubt Bofors can ever do any business in India. Incidentally, the Bofors bribery scandal was exposed by Swedish Radio,

http://www.rediff.com/news/1998/jan/19uf.htm
http://www.blonnet.com/businessline/...s/251655l1.htm
http://newsarchives.indiainfo.com/sp...s/12ardbo.html
http://www.flonnet.com/fl1624/16240100.htm
http://www.comebackkid.com/sid113.html

[Skywalker[TSG]]

They have sold more guns to india since the scandal was exposed

They shipped 75 155mm guns to india last year or was it 2000.

[Epidemic]

If you do not sell them arms how will they fight.

They make guns/ammo/planes on their own now. They learn fast. They also make it cheap, like in software, and sell back to their masters at a hefty profit.

Life is tough.