 
The arms trade: crippling the poor
Trillions of dollars are pumped into the arms trade every year. Western economies are literally dependent on the development and sale of munitions. And as the sale of armaments brings wealth to the West, it also brings war, poverty and untold misery to nations least able to bear the burden.
 
 Children bear the brunt of unexploded landmines
The so called 'Coalition of the Willing' has left massive numbers of landmines, cluster bombs and other munitions in Iraq. Since the war ended on April 9, at least 15 people have lost limbs, eyesight and sustained other injuries - and most of them are children.– Ruth Gidley, Reuters
Uganda wins UN praise
A UN body for action on small arms and light weapons (SALW) has hailed Uganda for her fight
against the proliferation of illicit firearms.– Steven Candia, Kampala
Iraqi salary woes: US soldiers = $4000 Iraqi teachers = $0-20 per month
In this 'living cartoon', members of the Christian Peacemaker Team illustrate the unjust remuneration of teachers as against the pay rates of US soldiers now engaged in guarding the Iraqi Oil Ministry.– electronicIraq.net
 
From Landmines to Toys in the Ukraine
Yulia Lednova only works in a factory, but she has a really great job - she removes the detonators from landmines and recycles the weapons into toys for children. The Nato-sponsored project in the Ukraine is hoped to be a pilot for the biggest arms destruction programme in the world.–Arie Farnam, Christian Science Monitor
 
Unite the world against germ warfare
For half a century the world has lived with the threat of weapons of mass destruction. But the equally deadly threat of biological weapons now demands urgent attention from every country in the world.– Naila Bolus, Executive Director of the Ploughshares Fund, and Ian Davis, of the BioWeapons Prevention Project
 
 Adopt-a-minefield
Every 22 minutes, somewhere in the world, someone is killed or injured by a landmine. It's easy to feel overwhelmed by the scale of the landmine problem - what can you do? Well, one thing you can do is to join Sir Paul McCartney and 'adopt a minefield' ... ...Also visit http://www.cbc.umn.edu/~mwd/landmines.html which is a good summary of landmine web pages
 
"Hatred never ceases by hatred but by love alone is healed.
When we begin to make peace we begin with
silence and prayer.
Peace making requires wisdom. Peace is a path that is chosen consciously.
It is not an
aimless wandering, but a step by step journey.
It means compassion without concession and peace without
bowing to injustice.
Loving kindness is the only way of peace."– Amputee Ambassador Tun Channareth, quoting Buddhist monk Maha Ghosananda
 
Warhorse: Beast for Heroes SBS TV Thursday 24 July, 1.30pm
Humankind misuses technology when we create weapons of war. This four part series looks at the way in which humans also misused the horse by turning him into a 'weapon of war'.
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