Det danske Fredsakademi
Kronologi over fredssagen og international politik 15. september 2004 / Timeline September 15, 2004
Version 3.514. September 2004, 16. September 2004
09/15/2004
Canadian Bullets, Dead Iraqis
http://victoria.indymedia.org/news/2004/09/30644.php
By: Chris Spannos
With up to 13,802 Iraqi civilian deaths to date, Canadians will now
be providing one of the most basic necessities for the US
occupation forces in Iraq: bullets. The Canadian company SNC
Technologies Inc. (SNC TEC) is now part of a multinational
consortium of small-caliber ammunition producers whose purpose is
to supply between 300 million -500 million more bullets to
occupation forces per year, and potentially for at least five
years.
Beyond Canada, General Dynamics, the US defence contractor, also
awarded contracts to several small bullet suppliers - including
Winchester, a unit of Olin Corporation and Israel Military
Industries. Their also in discussion with several other
international producers, including General Dynamics Santa Barbara
Sistemas, Madrid, Spain in an effort to try to meet the ammunitions
demand. Michael S. Wilson, president of General Dynamics Ordnance
and Tactical Systems, said,"Our goal is to ensure maximum supply
support for the U.S. armed forces in their war against terror."
The high demand in bullets is in response to a recent U.S. Army
market survey for a "Small-Caliber Ammunition Systems Integrator".
The Financial Times reports that the US occupation forces "will
need 300m to 500m more bullets a year for at least five years, or
more than 1.5m a year for combat and training. And because the
single army-owned, small-calibre ammunition factory in Lake City,
Missouri, can produce only 1.2m bullets annually, the army is
suddenly scrambling to get private defence contractors to help fill
the gap."
"We're using so much ammunition in Iraq there isn't enough capacity
around," said Eric Hugel, a defence industry analyst at Sephens
Inc. "They have to go internationally."
The Financial Times also reports that the "bullet problem has its
roots in a Pentagon effort to restock its depleted war material
reserve. But it has been exacerbated by the ongoing operations in
Afghanistan and Iraq, where rearguard and supply units have been
thinly-stretched throughout the countryside, occasionally without
active duty combat soldiers to protect them."
Recently rejuvenated after the historic demonstrations in New York,
where half a million people were unified in saying "No to the Bush
agenda", a campaign focusing on these contracts could have a direct
effect on saving the lives of Iraqis, and give traction to an again
waking anti-war movement. For the international anti-war movement,
which is struggling to live up to it's reputation as "the other
super power", such contracts could provide important anti-war
campaigns in our own nations, raising the social costs for the US,
and other complicit countries, in waging war on Iraq. For Canada,
long in denial about it's active participation in the US war on
terror, the SNC Technologies contract should highlight the fact
that Canada has not only provided previous military and diplomatic
support for the war on terror, but is now literally, without doubt,
providing the ammunition to kill Iraqis.
As for the general structure of the contracts, General Dynamics
reports that they will serve as the systems integrator responsible
for supply chain management, with Winchester serving as a principal
supplier of all calibers of ammunition, including 5.56mm, 7.62mm
and Cal. 50 ammunitions. Israel Military Industries Ltd. currently
produces ammunition to U.S. military specifications for each of the
calibers being sought and will be relied upon to be a significant
production partner on the team. SNC will also be a critical
provider of select ammunition across all calibers being sought.
For Canadians interested in SNC Technologies Inc., they are a
developer and manufacturer of ammunitions and related defence
products. Headquartered in Le Gardeur, Québec, their web
site boasts of annual revenues of more than $ 266 million(CAD).
SNC TEC is the sole Canadian producer of military ammunition and
produces over 70% of conventional military ammunition used by the
Canadian Department of National Defence. In addition, the company
is also a current supplier to the Department of Defense of the
United States for both small and large caliber products.
Internationally, SNC TEC provides conventional ammunition, or
components, to a large number of other countries across Europe, the
Middle East, the Far East, as well as Australia and New Zealand
(according to their web site, these include Belgium, Denmark,
France, Holland, Greece, Italy, Sweden, the UK, UAE, Oman, Jordan
and Kuwait, Hong Kong, Singapore, Thailand and the
Philippines).
The company is wholly owned by the SNC-Lavalin Group. "The SNC
Group, which began as a small engineering consulting firm in 1911,
grew over the years into a leading group of engineering and
construction companies. In 1992, it merged Lavalin engineering firm
to form the SNC-Lavalin Group Inc."
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