Reprehensible as it is, the arms trade is an exercise of purgatorial ethics pursued by all states keen on having a market for the merchants of death: from the perspective of countries and those who represent them, it’s a matter of cold business and hot transactions.  The principles (how the arms will be used, how many innocents will be butchered) can go and sod themselves.  No other figure in modern times has been as candid about this fact than US President Donald Trump.  When confronted with the unsettling claims that his admired Saudi Arabian Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman had directed the carving up of a dissident journalist, Jamal Khashoggi, in the Kingdom’s consulate in Istanbul, he thought little of it, except to scorn the victim.  “You’re mentioning someone that was extremely controversial.  A lot of people didn’t like that gentleman that you’re talking about.   Whether you like him or didn’t like him, things happen.  But he [MBS] knew nothing about it.  You don’t have to embarrass our guest.”  The guest was, more importantly, purchasing American military hardware in obscene quantities.

While it is a matter of scant comfort, Trump’s openness about selling arms is cuttingly cathartic.

Other Western industrialised states continue to maintain a façade of humanitarian decency while encouraging a murderous industry.  Australia, in this regard, must count itself as foremost among them.  Markets await.  Governments, however shabby on the issue of human rights, are there to be wooed.

Other Western industrialised states continue to maintain a façade of humanitarian decency while encouraging a murderous industry.  Australia, in this regard, must count itself as foremost among them.  Markets await.  Governments, however shabby on the issue of human rights, are there to be wooed.

Take, for example, the United Arab Emirates, which has received assistance from an E-7A Wedgetail during the Iran War to aid in surveillance and shoring up Gulf air defences, and the supply of AIM-120 Amraam missiles.

Last November, the Guardian Australia would have surprised some readers in reporting that the UAE was Canberra’s biggest weapons export market, with almost A$300 million worth of arms and munitions making their way there over the previous five years.

Last November, the Guardian Australia would have surprised some readers in reporting that the UAE was Canberra’s biggest weapons export market, with almost A$300 million worth of arms and munitions making their way there over the previous five years.

Australian officials are salivating at the opportunities offered by the UAE, leaving an unbecoming trail of moist excitement.  Consider the following remarks from Mounir Sankary, Austrade Deputy Consul General and Trade Commissioner located in Dubai: “UAE’s extensive and ongoing defence procurement program represents real opportunities for Australian suppliers. There are opportunities across Air, Land and Sea with a special focus on autonomous systems and nice technology.”  The war-loving think tank, the Australian Strategic Policy Institute, delights in the prospects that Canberra and Abu Dhabi “establish a joint defence-industry working group focused on autonomous systems, surveillance and targeting technology, critical minerals and cybersecurity” to keep company with a solid “program of........

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