[COAT] Fueling Wars! Canada's Military Exports to 39 Countries at War

[coat AT list.openconcept.ca]

Please circulate this report. Here's the URL: 
http://coat.ncf.ca/ARMX/cansec/exports/WarExports.htm
 
This COAT report was produced in support of the campaign to oppose
Canada's largest military trade show, CANSEC, which is coming to Ottawa,
May 27-28. Learn more here:
http://coat.ncf.ca/ARMX/cansec/CANSEC_campaign.htm
 
Canadian Military Exports to Countries at War,
2003-2005
By Richard Sanders, coordinator, Coalition to Oppose the Arms
Trade (COAT)
http://coat.ncf.ca
 
Between 2003 and 2005, Canada exported more than $5.6 billion in military
exports to 73 countries. Of these 73 nations, 39 had troops that were
then engaged in major military conflicts, either at home or abroad. 
This means that 53% of the countries to which Canada exported military
goods during those three years, were directly engaged in wars, invasions
and/or occupations. 
 
However, much more significant is the fact that these 39 warring nations
receiving Canadian military hardware accounted for a full 90% (i.e., $5.1
billion) of the total value of Canada's military exports between 2003 and
2005. 
 
Click below for a table listing the values of Canada's military exports
to countries engaged in war between 2003 and 2005. This table links to
the categories of military equipment that Canada provided to these 39
warring countries. 
http://coat.ncf.ca/ARMX/cansec/exports/Table1.htm
 
The data on Canada's military exports to countries other than the United
States, comes from the Department of Foreign Affairs and International
Trade (DFAIT). Unfortunately DFAIT's data has numerous accounting
loopholes which cause the figures to appear much lower than they actually
are. For a discussion of the flaws in DFAIT's reporting on Canada's
military exports, click here:
http://coat.ncf.ca/ARMX/cansec/exports/DFAITreport.htm
 
The United States
As usual, the largest recipient -- by far -- of Canadian
military exports was the United States. It received 70% (i.e., $4 billion
worth) of Canada's military exports during the three years in question.
This matches another Canadian government from Statistics Canada which
states that "(t)he United States market accounts for the majority of
Canadian aerospace and defence exports 77% output exported around the
world."
 
Canadian military exports to the US, between 2003 and 2005, were two and
a third times more than the value of Canadian exports to all other
countries combined. 
 
Pie chart: US share of Canada's total military
exports:
http://coat.ncf.ca/ARMX/cansec/exports/WarExp2.gif
 
Pie chart: Canada's exports to the US compared to other
countries:
http://coat.ncf.ca/ARMX/cansec/exports/Chart-AtWar.JPG
 
Canada is thoroughly and completely integrated into the military
industrial complex as part of the "North American Military
Industrial Base." As such, the US government treats Canadian
companies as if they were US companies. The Canadian government requires
exporters to procure military export permits for all foreign sales except
for military exports to the US. The complete lack of trade restrictions
on Canadian military exports to the US also means that the Canadian
government has been free to hand out billions of dollars in grants and
loans to Canada's already highly profitable war industries. Under
Canada-US trade agreements, such subsidies are not permitted except in
military and energy sectors. The Pentagon is therefore free to take
advantage of publicly-subsidized Canadian military products in all of its
wars, invasions, interventions, regime changes and bombing operations.
 
The Canadian government's eagerness to promote and support military
exports to the U.S. is evidenced online. For instance, the first link on
the Canadian government's "Sell2USGov" webpage, called
"U.S. Federal Departments and Specialized Markets," is the US
"Department of Defense." This link helps Canadian military
corporations to find export opportunities with all branches of the US
military and US intelligence agencies, including through the The Defense
Logistics Agency, The National Security Agency and The Missile Defense
Agency.
 
Afghanistan, Iraq and Haiti 
In practice, the Canadian government's tremendous support for
Canadian war industries eager to tap into the huge US military market has
meant that Canadian products have been deeply embedded in all major US
wars, invasions, bombardment campaigns and illegal regime changes. 
 
The prime examples of large-scale US-led military engagements between
2003 and 2005 were in Afghanistan, Iraq and Haiti.  
 
In 2003, the US began its "shock and awe" bombing campaign to
launch the Iraq War, which has since killed an estimated 1.3 million
people. The US was by then already engaged in leading its war in
Afghanistan which began in 2001. This war has caused the deaths of
between 40 and 60 thousand people, including combatants and civilians.
Then, in 2004, a US-led "Multilateral Interim Force" (MIF)
invaded and occupied Haiti thus ousting its elected government and
replacing it with an unelected, undemocratic puppet regime.  The MIF
was soon transformed into MINUSTAH, a UN occupation force that oversaw
the illegal regime change and empowered the Latortue dictatorship that
ruled Haiti for more than two years.  
 
Of the 39 warring countries that received Canadian military exports
between 2003 and 2005, 33 of them were engaged in one or more of these
three US-led military conflicts during this time period. For example, 24
of the warring recipients of Canadian military goods (i.e., 61.5%) were
deploying troops and hardware to the Afghan War; 12 of these warring
countries (31%) were similarly engaged in the Iraq War and 10 of them
(i.e., 25%) were deploying their armed forces for the MIF invasion and/or
MINUSTAH occupation of Haiti.
 
Click here for a bar graph illustrating the above data:
http://coat.ncf.ca/ARMX/cansec/exports/Chart-Countries.JPG
 
Only 9 of the 39 warring countries receiving Canadian military technology
were engaged in major internal, arms conflicts. Among these, only 7 were
not also engaged in one of the major foreign war of Canada's military
recipients between 2003 and 2005 were involved in major armed conflicts
within their own borders but were not engaged in deploying troops to
Afghanistan, Iraq and/or Haiti. 
 
The value of Canada's exports to each of the various major conflicts
(Afghanistan, Iraq, Haiti and Internal Wars) once again reveals the
overwhelming importance of the United States as the main recipient of
Canadian military products and services.  As a  percentage of
Canada's total military exports, the value of Canadian military products
and services (between 2003-2005) that were sold to countries deploying
troops to fight in the Afghan war was just over $5 billion. While this is
89% of Canada's total, documented military exports for that period, it
represents an astounding 99% of the value of exports to the 39 recipients
of Canada's military hardware that are engaged in major armed conflicts.
Meanwhile, the value of Canadian military exports to countries engaged in
the Iraq War was just under $5 billion which represents 86% of Canada's
total military exports and 96% of our exports to warring countries
(during that period).  
 
Click here for a bar graph detailing the value of Canadian military
exports to countries fighting in major armed conflicts:
http://coat.ncf.ca/ARMX/cansec/exports/Chart-Values.JPG
 
In stark contrast, Canada's exports to the nine governments engaged in
major "internal wars," namely Colombia, India, Indonesia,
Israel, Nigeria, Russia, Serbia and Montenegro, Sri Lanka and Thailand,
was negligible. Canada's total exports to these nine countries amounted
to less than $14 million. This is less than a quarter of one percent of
the value of Canada's military exports to all 39 of the countries at war
that are receiving Canadian military products. While a few US troops or
military advisors are likely deployed to some of these nine countries,
their role is extremely minimal when compared to the major conflicts
supplied by Canada, such as the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. 
 
Canada's military exports to the United States are by far most important
factor in analysing Canada's role in arming the nations at war in the
three major armed conflicts discussed here. For example, Canadian exports
to the US account for:
79% of Canada's military exports to countries deployed in Afghanistan;
81% of Canada's military exports to countries deployed in Iraq; 
and
92% of Canada's military exports to countries deployed in Haiti.

==============================================

The web version of this report contains additional links and references:
http://coat.ncf.ca/ARMX/cansec/exports/WarExports.htm
 
This COAT report was produced in support of the campaign to oppose
Canada's largest military trade show, CANSEC, which is coming to Ottawa,
May 27-28. Learn more here:
http://coat.ncf.ca/ARMX/cansec/CANSEC_campaign.htm