arms trade

Nobody has ever bragged about Pentagon efficiency, but even so it's been an embarrassing stretch for anyone trying to defend the Defense Department's logistics lapses and profligate ways.

Cuba had argued that the weapons were "obsolete" arms which the communist island had sent to Pyongyang, North Korea, for repair. But the find raised concerns about Cuba's military cooperation with North Korea.

Judicial Investigation Police (OIJ) on Tuesday raided 12 locations – including some Public Security Ministry units – as part of an ongoing gunrunning investigation allegedly connected to the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, according to statements from the OIJ and MSP.

The audit comes as Costa Rica tries to maintain its improving record on financial transparency after the largest alleged money laundering operation in history – the $6 billion Liberty Reserve – was shuttered in May 2013.

The United Nations Arms Trade Treaty goes into effect this Thursday, on Christmas Eve. The treaty, which will stop the unrestricted flow of legal weapon sales to active conflict zones around the world, has its roots in the civil wars that scarred Central America in the 1980s.

The United Nations has condemned Israel's use of heavy weaponry in Gaza, and human rights groups have called on the United States to impose a comprehensive arms embargo on the Jewish state.

Commerce takes precedence over life. Superiority takes precedence over life. Power takes precedence over life.