In the name of Aid (Addendum)

When I wrote my last blog entitled “In the Name of Aid” I thought I had sufficiently covered that topic and that a revisit of that topic would not be necessary for some time to come. How wrong I was. It turns out, there is another interesting dimension to the Aid saga.
According to a new report by Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) - a prominent Think Tank that monitors international arms transfers- 90% of Air Cargo Companies with links to arms trafficking have also been used by the UN, Western Countries and International Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) to transport humanitarian aid.

The report singles out the Sudan as the worst case where many of the air cargo companies are owned by the country’s political and military class who are profiting from both the war and the humanitarian efforts. In Eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, humanitarian agencies regularly use air cargo companies owned by Warlords involved in mining activities.
In Somalia, Dyncorp – an American private security company – which is contracted by the US government has used an air cargo company accused of transporting arms to Al-Shabab, an extremist militia with alleged ties to Al-Qaeda.

The question which, as far as I know, the report did not ask is “where do these arms come from?”