Good quote from someone on mtv's page "What good is Wikileaks when the arms trade hides in plain sight!?"

Iran creating 'nuclear weapons' is a created narrative by the GOP and warhawks in Washington.

When the Iraq war was at its worst, the blame was not laid at the Whitehouse burdening the military with unrealistic political objectives while not providing the necessary manpower.

No the blame was laid at insurgents, Al Qaeda but most of all at the influence of Iran and it's Revolutionary Guard. Everything from providing arms to training.

So much so that a resolution was passed declaring the Revolutionary Guards as 'terrorist' organization, weak links were pulled claiming Iran's president was involved in the American embassy hostage crisis back in the 80s.

This narrative was present on and off for several years, because who better to blame for the quagmire of Iraq then America hating Iran? But the story wasn't solid because there was hardly any proof, the EFPs found bearing Iranian marking are only indicative of lucrative arms trade that is occurring now in Iraq not of a policy of sabotaging America by Iran's government.

But this was not enough so the case for Iran creating Nuclear weapons was pushed forward, "Surely" the Neocons thought "It worked with Iraq 'smoking-gun-mushroom-cloud' it will probably work here".

The reason being such a narrative would facilitate expansion of the war into another sovereign nation that happens to possess oil reserves and more importantly lie in a strategic location that would allow oil and gas pipelines to run from Central Asia (one of the last untapped through Afghanistan to the Persian Gulf).

Not because it would benefit America as a whole but because it would benefit the interests of those who possess power, politically it would justify scaling and prolonging the war as much they wish, it would also allow for long term control of strategic reserves and routes for years to come not because its a good idea but because people who are Neocons are already playing a fantasy military standoff between the US, Russia and China some 50 years ahead.

Not to mention it would be to Israeli wishes.

Remember a few months ago they tried to pull a Gulf of Tonkin scenario in the Persian Gulf. Notice how that story got promptly buried.

Iran is not stupid, its military and army cannot handle an American air assault, they will be destroyed. They know the Bush Administration wants them to make a stupid move to justify and invasion or rather a air strike assault, why else would they just isolate them and not even talk to them in diplomatic terms. The carrier groups are ready stationed in the Persian Gulf to strike at any time.

This policy is disastrous, because the current sanctions and political isolation is only worsening the situation in Iran, justifying the centralization of power under the current president due to the possibility of war. It also solidifies Arab distrust of the US and plays right into the hands of groups like Al Qaeda.

Margolis is often right on ME issues, but he's otherwise very conservative. He hangs out with a lot of insiders in the arms trade and the intelligence community. (His crowd enjoys drinking single malt and firing mortars and rockets together.) Despite being completely repugnant to me economically I had to woop a little when he basically accused a high-level US State Dept. functionary of being directly complicit in the murder of a friend of Margolis; so-and-so had apparently intentionally blown his friend's cover. It was an unforgetable evening of television to watch Margolis directly expose the toady. It was almost a spectacle.

Other than that the company he owns used to manufacture the best gawd-damned water filters I've ever used. Unfortunately crappy Brita ate them out of their share.

*politics - this was part of Amnesty International's campaign against the arms trade and how easy it is to buy arms

'In this disturbing programme presented by Mark Thomas, schoolchildren using simple letterheads, a mobile phone, an email address and a little money show how you can flout the rules and get tooled up to a dangerous degree.

After setting up two companies they arranged arms deals to destinations covered by British and other national trade embargoes - South African rifles to Israel, Pakistani grenade launchers to Syria and Turkish guns to Mali.

The film demonstrates that although governments say they're opposed to the arms trade, the controls they have in place don't do enough to prevent it.'

The amazing intro to Lord Of War which shows the manufacture, trade and use of a single AK-47 round. I highly recommend this movie to everyone interested in the illegal arms trade.

OH NO! Guns are so nasty and evil. In fact, why doesnt the government ban gun ownership like the UK did? Oh yeah, that annoying Constitution thing. Damn it, always getting in the way. Well, enjoy the video about the mannequin getting its lungs punctured by that nasty AK-47. Also, it argues that its apparently too easy to use and is to blame for child soldiers around the world. Arms running will always exist and signing a treaty will not fix the already illegal arms trade. Of coure Amnesty International should be declared an enemy of the U.S. and destroyed like the rest of the terrorists they support. Who knows how many U.S. soldiers they have gotten killed.