And who would have thought that Hitler with all his powers would be defeated while Mahatma Gandhi with only the notion of non violence would win. Clearly, victory doesn't always go to the mightiest rather it belongs to the strong will that things will change one day.

By farewell to arms, I am not discussing Ernest Hemingway's classic rather, I would like to expose what is the myth related to it, and what reality speaks out?

Second world war is the episode in the history of the world which has left a deep scar which no time could ever heal. It was not just the war to show who is superior, I call it the era of hatred wherein all powers were so blinded by their extreme arrogance that they completely overlooked the human sufferings and the challenges that lay ahead. The period witnessed the worst crises ever which no words can describe. But post war period saw the restructuring phase where people realised that war is after all, no solution!

Germany bore the brunt of the Nazi dictator, and we all are familiar with the humiliation it had to suffer from all fronts. So over and out with history. Let bygones be bygones. But where do we stand today is the question we have to answer honestly. Have we learned from our past mistakes? If yes, then why doesn't it show? Why are the big powers sucking the blood of lesser countries like a leech. Where is peace? Or has it become an extinct phenomenon only to be talked about, and not to be acted upon? Baffling questions, but it's human mind which seeks answers.

The Rise and Fall of Germany will always be remembered in the modern history of the world. Post war period led to a paradigm shift in the mentalities of Germans at large, and which led to the big declaration that henceforth, Germany will never compete in the arms race. It bade adieu to weaponry. This conveyed a strong message across the world that Germany will become an epitome of world harmony and peace. The announcement was applauded and met with cheers especially from those countries which had suffered massively at the hands of axis powers.

Hold on, but wasn't it a beautiful gesture to show to the world that one could still make it big without arms? Then why is this sudden debate, and why all the criticism? So it turned out that yes! Indeed Germany withdrew from arms but then it started exporting arms and ammunition to the regimes where they were only misused. Basically, Germany could never liberate itself from the destructive tendency, though not actively participating in the killings but indirectly carrying the blood stains of those killed by its sale of weapons.

A sin is not only indulgence, selling and promoting a hazardous item or an idea is equally culpable. Germany is partner in crime by its export of arms. The country is well ahead in export of weaponry as compared to Britain and France, and for that matter any other country besides U.S and Russia. Some German makers of military gear are part of civilian industrial giants like Airbus group, and ThyssenKrupp, a steel maker. Rheinmetall is the biggest German company known mainly for the manufacture of weapons and occupies 26th rank in the league of arms exporting firms. Then comes, Krauss Maffer Wegmann (KMW) which credits on the production of the Leopard 2 tank.

It seems, Germans are quite proud of their exports, be it their auto mobiles or their arms. But has anyone really given a thought as to where these arms land up? Or in whose hands they eventually fall? Terrorists?.... well!. Afterall, do we really care about concepts like peace and all those God damn! high moral words, so long our pockets remain full.

Recently Germany has signed an arms deal with black gold giant Saudi Arabia to sell Leopard 2s. The agreement has been widely criticised. It violates the treaty which clearly states that sale of arms to anywhere other than NATO and NATO-equivalent countries is completely forbidden. But then the Federal Security Council presided over by Merkel can create its own exceptions provided they don't pose a threat to human rights, the latter part is only subordinate. We all know what purpose do these arms fulfil. Germany being the EU boss creates its own unique laws rather than following laws.

The peace campaigners voice against such a practice. They fear, the exceptions are turning less exceptional. With the budget of NATO countries getting shrunk, German arms exporters are trying to widen their horizon. Asia is the new big market where the high demands of German weaponry have given a new ray of hope to the German businesses.

Rheinmall aims to target 50% of exports outside Europe by 2015. Singapore has lately signed a 1.6 billion contract for ThyssenKrupp submarines. In fact, small German arms example Hecklar & Koch's G3 rifle comes next only to Russian Kalashnikov or AK-47.

Strangely, Germany on one hand convinced the UN to restrict the supply of small arms to war torn countries but on the other hand, it is itself exporting such deadly items to countries at very high prices. Besides, can Germany guarantee that its weapons will not be smuggled across borders to support dangerous regimes suppressing democracy or extremist terrorist organizations? In short, Germany has blatantly violated the law that governs the sale of arms.

Someone very wisely said- “Gun deaths are like slow motion Hiroshima and Nagasaki.”

Selling weapons that are used to wage wars leading to civilian causalities, instead Germany from it's horrible past should have made serious amends by becoming a paragon of peace to the world by completely abstaining from ammunition. Truly, very few learn from the past mistakes. Interestingly, the arms account for only 1% of the total of Germany's exports but it is this 1% that the government is not willing to give up.

“The first panacea for a mismanaged nation is inflation of the currency; the second is war. Both bring a temporary prosperity; both bring a permanent ruin. But both are the refuge of political and economic opportunists” Ernest Hemingway.

Now we understand Germany's arms deal with the rest of the world.