Re: It would be easy to take the Belgian way out, Waffling and covering one's tail and running....
LOL... Why bite the hand that feeds you? Clue:
Belgium to supply arms to Nepal [a friend of Israel*]
A Belgian cabinet minister resigned Monday in protest against a coalition government's controversial sale of 5,500 machine guns to Nepal, AFP said quoting her office in Brussels.
Health and Environment Minister Magda Aelvoet, an ecologist from the Dutch speaking Flemish community, quit because of "serious doubts", her spokeswoman said.
Prime Minister Guy Verhofstadt and Foreign Minister Louis Michael voiced their regret at the resignation, the Belga agency reported.
Earlier Monday, the Belgian Foreign Minister again sought to justify the sale which he said was "ethical." By opposing such a sale, Belgium would be failing in its duty to help "a young democracy that deserves a chance" against "Maoist terrorists," he told a news conference following talks with Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba.
Deuba also met with European Commission president Romano Prodi, AFP reported. Prodi meanwhile said the European Union is to give 15 million euros per year in aid to Nepal over the next five years to support democracy and to help refugees.
"Even with a difficult situation, Nepal is working in the correct direction," he said, while adding: "We urge the prime minister to be transparent as possible for the new elections." nepalnews.com br Aug. 27
nepalnews.com.np
Associated Press December 17, 2003
Israel's army phases out country's iconic Uzi submachine gun
By Jason Keyser
Israel's military is phasing out the legendary Uzi submachine gun, calling it antiquated and replacing it with more sophisticated, electronics-outfitted weaponry, an army spokesman said Wednesday.
But the Uzi, a national icon and the country's most famous contribution to the arms industry, will still be produced and exported, to the presumable delight of drug dealers, secret service agents and Hollywood action heroes alike.
Israel's military took the simply constructed, half-century-old weapon out of frontline units two decades ago, but continued to issue it to some elite units and soldiers carrying heavy gear who needed a light weapon for self-defense.
Now the army says it will dump it altogether.
As of this week, "we're no longer training soldiers on the Uzi," said army spokesman Capt. Jacob Dallal. "Basically, it's antiquated," he said of the 9-mm weapon.
State-owned Israel Military Industries has made over 1.5 million Uzis and will continue manufacturing the weapon, which has earned hundreds of millions of dollars from sales the world over, including in the United States and developing nations in Latin America and Africa where Israel has had influence.
Illegal arms sales have also put the weapon into the hands of Colombian drug lords.
In Israel, the weapon's smaller models are still popular with security guards who favor portability who accuracy. Many private security companies use the original, larger model because it's cheap.
It's also still a mainstay with some of the world's police forces and security services guarding VIPs, said Yiftah Shapir of the Jaffee Center for Strategic Studies at Tel Aviv University.
The Uzi, while still used by the U.S. Secret Service, is also beloved of U.S. gangs because of its reputation as "a macho weapon," said gun expert Tim Brown of Globalsecurity.org. But he added the Uzi "is not a very good gun - it's very inefficient, inaccurate ... It's mostly used in bad Hollywood action movies."
In 1984's "The Terminator," for example, Arnold Schwarzenegger's cyborg makes a point of decisively ordering the "Uzi nine millimeter" in a gun shop before commencing his murderous rampage, and is commended by the owner.
Whatever its qualities as a weapon, the Uzi arouses nostalgia and pride in Israel, where it was developed around the same time as the country's war-rattled birth.
"It was the first Israeli weapon after 2,000 years of diaspora," Shapir said. Recalling his own days in the military in the late 1960s, he added, "I can still disassemble an Uzi with my eyes closed, hands tied behind my back, even if you wake me in the middle of the night."
Elite Israeli fighting units found it useful because of its resistance to mud and water, giving the weapon a further mystique - and marketing cachet.
The Uzi again made headlines when the weapon's creator, Uzi Gal, 79, died in September 2002.
[...]
globalsecurity.org
The "goodies":
arms.host.sk
* 40 years of Nepal-Israel ties
BY OUR REPORTER
The Embassy of Israel and the Nepal-Israel Friendship Association jointly organised a special function on Monday, February 5, to mark the 40th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Nepal and Israel.
A souvenir on Nepal-Israel relations was also released on the occasion.
While releasing the souvenir, Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala expressed the view that people-to-people relationship between the two countries, Nepal and Israel, will provide the impetus to the governments for increasing the level of cooperation for the mutual benefit of the two countries.
Koirala extended thanks to the Israel government for supporting Nepal continuously specially in the technical as well as economic sectors. He appreciated Israel's socio-economic development and hoped to learn from Israel's experience of successful launching of programmes aimed at achieving such an exemplary development.
Praising his elder brother, the late BP Koirala's dynamic and far-sighted leadership, Koirala remarked: "In the 50s, many countries in the region were skeptical to establish diplomatic relations with Israel, Nepal made a historical decision to forge relationship with Israel".
I feel proud to say that the pragmatic policy of late BP Koirala has stood the test of time and contributed to the continued growth of the cordial ties between Nepal and Israel, Koirala further said.
Ambassador of Israel to Nepal, Avi Nir, informed that Israel is assisting Nepal in the field of infrastructure development programmes.
Ambassador Nir appreciated Nepal for maintaining special relations with Israel for four decades and hoped for further deepening of the relations.
[...]
yomari.com |
