Reed Elsevier and the Arms Trade

I was made aware of an interesting fact this week- Reed Elsevier, known in the library world for publishing medical, health, and other scientific journals, is also a dealer in arms.

For more on this, see the citation below. You can read one journal's request that the company stop its involvement in the arms trade, and also see the response. In short, Reed Elsevier sees nothing wrong with being involved in what it calls the 'defence industry' (we Americans use an s, the Europeans use a c).

Everybody has a right to do business, and dealing in arms is just one type of business. As Reed Elesevier notes, they are within the law to put on arms fairs. Will we ever be able to have a planet where there are no weapons? Doubtful. Will we ever get to the point where the pen is mightier than the sword? We librarians are working on that.

Source:

Reed Elsevier and the international arms trade - Reed Elsevier's reply. By: Cowden, Stephen J.. Lancet, 9/10/2005, Vol. 366 Issue 9489, p889-890, 2p; DOI: 10.1016/S0140-6736(05)67307-2; (AN 18170928)