David Isenberg will introduce the 2008 film "Devil's Bargain" by Shelley Saywell, which deals with the widespread use of small arms. Small Arms are weapons of mass destruction. Every year as much as half a million people are killed by small arms.
On Monday March 2 the work towards an international arms trade treaty starts in the UN Headquarters in New York. Hopefully this treaty will be accepted and influence on the extreme availablilty of small arms in the world.
Devil's Bargain exposes the international trade in small arms. Starting at an American weapon expo, director Shelley Saywell travels all over the world, from Somalia and South Africa to Bosnia and Moldavia, and from France back to the United States. We hear stories about how small weapons aren't destroyed after a war but rather channeled to other areas of conflict, how they're sometimes smuggled in the bodies of animals, and how they stand in the way of constructive economic development in third-world countries.
Norway is a large exporter of weapons and ammunition globally. We like to think that weapons and ammunition produced by Norwegian companies don't reach countries we do not want them to go to, but the signs that they do are many.
Monday March 2 also marks the ten year anniversary of the international ban on landmines. That process showed that it is possible to reach international agreement and have an impact on the military industry and use of arms in conflict.
