War has always been a tool to display a nation’s military might. It is very easy to deceive the world during a war and to shift global focus from the actual objectives. When the United States invades Afghanistan or Iraq, the spotlight is shrewdly thrown on perspectives like terrorism or removing a tyrant. The majority never notice the underlying reason behind the invasion — to spur the global weapons trade market! Wars give opportunities to developed countries to test and showcase newly developed weapons.

Arms trade is a huge business and it is expanding — with the leading player being the US that invariably warrants rabid marketing and promotion for economic viability. Yes, that’s the word — there are no better promotional strategies for weapons than live demonstrations. And what can be a better opportunity to display the might of weapons to potential buyers than during a war? The desperation of US arms manufacturers to test new weapons is evident from the fact that US alone has more than 44 arms manufacturing companies with a combined sales of more than $200 billion!