Arms race

A term out of proportion
By Cecilia Mcguire
The image conjured up by that over-used phrase of the moment, 'weapons of mass destruction' is a big one: large tanks, heavy artillery and the biggest blast of them all, nuclear weaponry. Think again. For the weapons causing most destruction to the masses these days are catalogued under the misnomer of 'small arms': pistols, rifles, semi-automatics, hand grenades, land mines, incendiary devices, sub-machine guns, rocket launchers. These kill more people than die in conventional warfare.


Not so little after all. And with a capability that has outraged those who are aware of the growing menace and the deadly potential for still worse damage. The statistics are horrifying. Since 1990 an estimated four million people have been killed, the majority of them were civilians (90%) and an overwhelming 80% women and children. According to a recent report from the UN, "Two million children have been killed in the last ten years in conflicts where ...