(Serzayi Erken/AFP/Getty Images)
“Water scarcity threatens economic and social gains and is a potent fuel for wars and conflict,” said UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon to delegates at the first Asia-Pacific Water Summit December 3. This planet faces a water crisis that will hit Asia especially hard, according to a report in the Times.
The Times points out that Ki-moon is not the only one forecasting trouble:
His remarks come as environmental experts in Great Britain have identified 46 countries—home to 2.7 billion people—where climate change and water-related crises will create a high risk of violent conflict. …
Janani Vivekananda, one of the authors of the International Alert report, said: “Water management will be a huge tinderbox and now is the time for international organizations to come together. There is huge potential not just for conflict but for cooperation.”
Several of those who warn of water shortages identify a major cause of the problem as climate change. The fact is, however, that climate change has very little to do with the matter. Even if world water resources stayed the same, there would still be a shortage in the future. According to World Hunger Year, there would have to be 20 percent more water than is available now to satisfy the world’s estimated population of over 8 billion in 2025.
Water supplies are shrinking, making the problem even worse and even more immediate. Natural aquifers are being bled dry and half of the world’s rivers and lakes are seriously polluted. No climate change is needed for there to be a problem: The problem is very real right now.
As far back as 1995, the World Bank’s Ismail Serageldin famously warned of the problems of water shortage: “If the wars of this century were fought over oil, the wars of the next century will be fought over water unless we change our approach to managing this precious and vital resource” (Hobart Mercury, Jan. 10, 2003).
Can water really cause a conflict? Look at some examples.
Several years ago in the Middle East, Israel and Lebanon came very close to blows as the Lebanese government pumped water from Israel’s Wazzani springs. Water’s influence in geopolitics was also felt in the Kashmir crisis, when Pakistan and India came frighteningly close to blows. At the height of this conflict, India threatened to revoke a 1960s water treaty. According to a report published last year by the Asia-Pacific Center for Security Studies (part of the U.S. Department of Defense),
Rivalry over river resources has been a chronic source of severe interstate tension between India and Pakistan. With river resource issues intensifying, the possibility for violent interstate conflict will likely increase.
Even if direct violence is avoided, inability to resolve river resource issues will undoubtedly limit the ability of both countries to manage and utilize water resources in the most efficient manner. Inadequate management of water resources will exacerbate domestic problems in these demographically explosive societies, which could lead to a variety of unwanted conditions such as increasingly fertile grounds for political extremism and terrorism.
Rivers frequently flow through more than one nation. If one nation on a river starts taking more than what countries downstream believe is its fair share, things can quickly escalate. Already, several major rivers do not make it to the sea throughout much of the year because of withdrawals upstream.
Water is a vital resource. It is essential to all humans, everywhere. As supplies dwindle, watch for spats to break out over the little water that is left. For a more detailed analysis on the causes of this crisis, see our article “Running Out of Water.”......................................................................................................................................................................
Judea and Samaria: IDF Rounding Up Jews' Weapons
by Gil Ronen
(IsraelNN.com) The IDF is conducting a large scale operation to confiscate weapons from the Jewish residents of Judea and Samaria, according to Channel 10 TV. The purpose of the operation is described as "putting the settlers' gun permits in order."
The security coordinators of the communities in Samaria have been summoned to a meeting with IDF officers Thursday, and community leaders are convinced that the IDF intends to collect many of the weapons in the Jewish communities in Judea and Samaria.
Hillel Reinus of Yitzhar said: "I have no idea who is giving the order, it seems to be coming from up high, but they've decided to take the weapons away from everyone." Another resident of the community, Yigal Amitai, added, "They are abandoning citizens, it is an irresponsibile act, but everything pales compared to reality."
'This amounts to making the settlers fair game'
MK Aryeh Eldad (NU/NRP) wrote a letter to Defense Minister Ehud Barak following the report, saying, "Army representatives have recently informed the military security coordinators that they intend to collect most of the weapons which the residents of Judea and Samaria use for self-defense. When a move such as this is made along with
"I have no idea who is giving the order, but they've decided to take the weapons away from everybody."
the release of hundreds of terrorists, the deployment of Palestinian policemen in Shechem (three of whom were involved in the murder of Ido Zoldan) and the arming of these policemen with weapons, ammunition and armored personnel carriers, this amounts to making the settlers fair game and sending the terror organizations a clear message that they may murder Jews."
"When all this is done against the backdrop of your announcement that you are joining the 'expulsion/compensation' plan, this amounts to blackmail. You are trying to encourage Jews to run away from Judea and Samaria, and in order to prod them along you are taking away their weapons and urging terrorists to attack them," he wrote.
"With this letter," Eldad concluded, "I wish to inform you that the settlers of Judea and Samaria will hold you personally responsible for any casualties among the Jews in Judea and Samaria from now on, unless you immediately put an end to the process of collecting the settlers' weapons."
RELOADING AMMO FROM TAIWAN : USE CAUTION
Posted - 10/23/2007 : 01:39:45 
I just prepped about 250 brass cases of 30.06 from taiwan de-linked ammo. Head stamped 30 . 60A . 57
I take it as 30 caliber, 1957 mfg. date, but what is 60A?
Anyway, the primer pockets are too large to re-prime... they don't fit tight. some actually fall out.
Do they take a different primer?
Anyone have any ideas?
Guns only have two enemies; rust and politicians.
You have only the rights you are willing to fight for and defend.
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Taiwan ships 1 billion rounds of ammo to USA
| TAIPEI, Taiwan -- Taiwan has shipped one billion rifle bullets to the United States for NT$560 million in a rare arms sale to the United States, it was reported yesterday. The 5.56 mm bullets are mainly used to replenish supplies which have run low after wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, the Taipei-based China Times reported, citing a military source. |
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In a separate deal, the China Times said the Taiwanese Army plans to purchase 60 UH-60M Black Hawk transport helicopters from Washington for NT$71.7 billion.
The US is the leading arms supplier to Taiwan -- something China objects to -- with Beijing regarding the island as part of its territory awaiting reunification, by force if necessary.
Taiwan has been seeking more advanced weaponry amid China's repeated threats to invade.
Taiwan President Chen Shui-bian last week accused China of provoking the island by targeting it with nearly 1,000 missiles.
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US forced to import bullets from Israel as troops use 250,000 for every rebel killed
By Andrew Buncombe in Washington
US forces have fired so many bullets in Iraq and Afghanistan - an estimated 250,000 for every insurgent killed - that American ammunition-makers cannot keep up with demand. As a result the US is having to import supplies from Israel.
A government report says that US forces are now using 1.8 billion rounds of small-arms ammunition a year. The total has more than doubled in five years, largely as a result of the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, as well as changes in military doctrine.
"The Department of Defense's increased requirements for small- and medium-calibre ammunitions have largely been driven by increased weapons training requirements, dictated by the army's transformation to a more self-sustaining and lethal force - which was accelerated after the attacks of 11 September, 2001 - and by the deployment of forces to conduct recent US military actions in Afghanistan and Iraq," said the report by the General Accounting Office (GAO).
Estimating how many bullets US forces have expended for every insurgent killed is not a simple or precisely scientific matter. The former head of US forces in Iraq, General Tommy Franks, famously claimed that his forces "don't do body counts".
But senior officers have recently claimed "great successes" in Iraq, based on counting the bodies of insurgents killed. Maj-Gen Rick Lynch, the top US military spokesman in Iraq, said 1,534 insurgents had been seized or killed in a recent operation in the west of Baghdad. Other estimates from military officials suggest that at least 20,000 insurgents have been killed in President George Bush's "war on terror".
John Pike, director of the Washington military research group GlobalSecurity.org, said that, based on the GAO's figures, US forces had expended around six billion bullets between 2002 and 2005. "How many evil-doers have we sent to their maker using bullets rather than bombs? I don't know," he said.
"If they don't do body counts, how can I? But using these figures it works out at around 300,000 bullets per insurgent. Let's round that down to 250,000 so that we are underestimating."
Pointing out that officials say many of these bullets have been used for training purposes, he said: "What are you training for? To kill insurgents."
Kathy Kelly, a spokeswoman for the peace group Voices in the Wilderness, said Mr Bush believed security for the American people could come only from the use of force. Truer security would be achieved if the US developed fairer relations with other countries and was not involved in the occupation of Iraq. The President, said Ms Kelly, should learn from Israel's experience of "occupying the Palestinians" rather than buying its ammunition.
The GAO report notes that the three government-owned, contractor-operated plants that produce small- and medium-calibre ammunition were built in 1941.
Though millions of dollars have been spent on upgrading the facilities, they remain unable to meet current munitions needs in their current state. "The government-owned plant producing small-calibre ammunition cannot meet the increased requirements, even with modernisation efforts," said the report.
"Also, commercial producers within the national technology and industrial base have not had the capacity to meet these requirements. As a result, the Department of Defense had to rely at least in part on foreign commercial producers to meet its small-calibre ammunition needs."
A report in Manufacturing & Technology News said that the Pentagon eventually found two producers capable of meeting its requirements. One of these was the US firm Olin-Winchester.
The other was Israel Military Industries, an Israeli ammunition manufacturer linked to the Israeli government, which produces the bulk of weapons and ordnance for the Israeli Defence Force.
The Pentagon reportedly bought 313 million rounds of 5.56mm, 7.62mm and 50-calibre ammunition last year and paid $10m (about £5.5m) more than it would have cost for it to produce the ammunition at its own facilities.
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US Importing Israeli Ammo for War in Afghanistan + Iraq
A government report says that US forces are now using 1.8 billion rounds of small-arms ammunition a year. The total has more than doubled in five years, largely as a result of the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, as well as changes in military doctrine.
"The Department of Defense's increased requirements for small- and medium-calibre ammunitions have largely been driven by increased weapons training requirements, dictated by the army's transformation to a more self-sustaining and lethal force - which was accelerated after the attacks of 11 September, 2001 - and by the deployment of forces to conduct recent US military actions in Afghanistan and Iraq," said the report by the General Accounting Office (GAO).
Estimating how many bullets US forces have expended for every insurgent killed is not a simple or precisely scientific matter. The former head of US forces in Iraq, General Tommy Franks, famously claimed that his forces "don't do body counts".
But senior officers have recently claimed "great successes" in Iraq, based on counting the bodies of insurgents killed. Maj-Gen Rick Lynch, the top US military spokesman in Iraq, said 1,534 insurgents had been seized or killed in a recent operation in the west of Baghdad. Other estimates from military officials suggest that at least 20,000 insurgents have been killed in President George Bush's "war on terror".
John Pike, director of the Washington military research group GlobalSecurity.org, said that, based on the GAO's figures, US forces had expended around six billion bullets between 2002 and 2005. "How many evil-doers have we sent to their maker using bullets rather than bombs? I don't know," he said.
"If they don't do body counts, how can I? But using these figures it works out at around 300,000 bullets per insurgent. Let's round that down to 250,000 so that we are underestimating."
Pointing out that officials say many of these bullets have been used for training purposes, he said: "What are you training for? To kill insurgents."
Kathy Kelly, a spokeswoman for the peace group Voices in the Wilderness, said Mr Bush believed security for the American people could come only from the use of force. Truer security would be achieved if the US developed fairer relations with other countries and was not involved in the occupation of Iraq. The President, said Ms Kelly, should learn from Israel's experience of "occupying the Palestinians" rather than buying its ammunition.
The GAO report notes that the three government-owned, contractor-operated plants that produce small- and medium-calibre ammunition were built in 1941.
Though millions of dollars have been spent on upgrading the facilities, they remain unable to meet current munitions needs in their current state. "The government-owned plant producing small-calibre ammunition cannot meet the increased requirements, even with modernisation efforts," said the report.
"Also, commercial producers within the national technology and industrial base have not had the capacity to meet these requirements. As a result, the Department of Defense had to rely at least in part on foreign commercial producers to meet its small-calibre ammunition needs."
A report in Manufacturing & Technology News said that the Pentagon eventually found two producers capable of meeting its requirements. One of these was the US firm Olin-Winchester.
The other was Israel Military Industries, an Israeli ammunition manufacturer linked to the Israeli government, which produces the bulk of weapons and ordnance for the Israeli Defence Force.
The Pentagon reportedly bought 313 million rounds of 5.56mm, 7.62mm and 50-calibre ammunition last year and paid $10m (about ?5.5m) more than it would have cost for it to produce the ammunition at its own facilities.
http://news.independent.co.uk/world/americas/article314944.ece
Actually, the maker is Olin-Winchester, an American company, but they have factories in Israel. You used to be able to buy Israeli 5.56 here in the US too. It was some of the best ammo available. If you can still find it, it commands a hefty price.
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BENCHMADE RUKIS MODEL 610 - RECOMMENDED
