...we looked at the receipt

sweet jesus...

'Europe's largest arms fair, Defence Systems and Equipment International is being held in London, and for the first time the media have been allowed full access...So that's what 'merchants of death' look like. They wear sober suits - dark blues and black dominate. They are mostly men, and on average they are not very young

[...]

'A poster shows a curvaceous blonde, the inscription reads "The perfect shape". But she is not draped over the bonnet of a car, but a Glock 19 semiautomatic pistol with a 15 bullet magazine'

Hiding the 'inappropriate' (!!) products

'The UK government, which helps to organise the event, has been so kind to provide exhibitors with a list of products which to display would be "improper". Cluster bombs are legal, and were used to great military success - and some say even greater civilian damage - in the Iraq war. But they are an "emotive issue in the UK", say the organisers, so arms makers have been advised that it might be "inappropriate" to display them (they still show up in brochures, though, for example the D632/642 bomblet artillery shell from Rheinmetall of Germany).

However, what is definitely not visible is war itself. There are no casualties anywhere, no real-life battle footage, no film of the displayed hardware doing its best in action'

Shopping around...

"Could you wrap up one for me to take home now?"

"We are not allowed to sell the Javelin, you can buy it only through the US army foreign sales office", Mr Terrell tells me.

Plus there is the little issue of the price tag. Killing a tank (and its crew) with a Javelin missile will set you back $85,000, plus $135,000 for the portable and reusable launch unit.

And anyway, this is not a sales show.

"We are just here to raise awareness, exchange business cards" and meet industrial partners, says Mr Terre... (!)'


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