[RADIO STATIC]
[MUSIC PLAYING]
SHANE SMITH: Nearly every
industry in the world has a
trade show.
You have car shows, electronics
shows, even comics
have their own trade shows.
But here in Jordan for the last
14 years, in huge tents
in the middle of the desert,
they have a massive
trade show for war.
It's called the Special
Operations Forces Exhibition,
or SOFEX for short, and it's
hosted by Jordan's King
Abdullah II, one of America's
only allies
in the Middle East.
I wanted to know exactly what
was for sale and just who was
selling it at the world's
largest special-forces
supermarket.
But I'm a magazine guy, not a
gun guy, so I brought along an
ex-Marine and an Iraq War vet,
Matt Ruskin, to help me sort
through all this stuff.
SHANE SMITH: It gets
interesting, because when you
walk through security and you
come to this, it's sort of
like a trade show out in the
middle of the desert.
And the first thing you see are
like any other trade show,
advertising.
But here it's like, F-16 with
sniper targeting pod, the
Hellfire missile, the
Javelin missile.
It's crazy.
It's the first thing you see.
And all this advertising
is aimed at
one audience, generals.
So we're here at the
beginning of SOFEX.
They're going to have the
keynote speeches.
As you can see, there's pretty
much every general in the
world here.
It's crazy.
SHANE SMITH: The arms industry
is estimated at anywhere
between $350 billion to $500
billion a year, one of the
largest industries
in the world.
And these are all the guys,
the military advisers, the
generals, who come here to
buy weapons systems.
Where are you guys from?
MALE SPEAKER 1: From Jordan.
SHANE SMITH: Jordan?
The hometown boys.
Where are you guys from?
MALE SPEAKER 2: Togo.
SHANE SMITH: Togo?
MALE SPEAKER 2: Yeah.
SHANE SMITH: Nice to meet you.
Tanzania, very good guys.
MALE SPEAKER 3: Lebanon.
SHANE SMITH: Lebanon.
[LEBANESE]
MALE SPEAKER 2: [LEBANESE]
MALE SPEAKER 4: [LEBANESE]
SHANE SMITH: When I was a kid,
they used to talk about the
military-industrial complex.
Well, this is it right here,
the business of war.
All the generals coming with
billions upon billions of
dollars of taxpayer money to buy
weapons to fuck shit up.
[MILITARY MARCH MUSIC]
SHANE SMITH: Here we go.
It's all going to
kick off now.
King Abdullah's arriving.
So here come some of the
special ops forces.
Jordan has a profound, almost
pathological, fixation with
special ops.
Why?
Well, one, because it borders
with Syria, Israel, Saudi
Arabia, and Iraq.
And two, because "special ops"
is code for taking down
terrorists, insurgents, or
anyone else that the
government deems to
be undesirable.
And since 9/11, if you join
the fight against global
terrorism, it also means that
Uncle Sam will cut you a nice
big check for weapons,
especially if they're
American-made.
So we just saw the
show of force.
They took over the building.
They dropped the people in.
There was a hostage crisis.
They did it all, they
killed everybody.
And now SOFEX is
going to begin.
And if you didn't know that
the military industrial
complex was a party,
you'd be wrong.
So we're going to go in with all
of the generals, see what
everybody's buying.
It's like a parody.
I kind of feel like Austin
Powers is going to jump out at
some point, because it's like
a million Dr. Evils getting
their special laser
weapon systems.
It's like kids at
a candy store.
[SINGING]
For your eyes only.
I think that's the wrong Bond.
And it's not just arms
you can buy at SOFEX.
If you make a big enough
purchase, they'll train you on
just how to use them, too.
To this end, they've created
a state-of-the-art military
training facility where you
can learn how to raid an
airplane, or assault a gas
station, or not freak out
while all around you,
bodies are burning.
And all of this is
brought to you
courtesy of General Dynamics.
CHARLES REDLINGER: This is a
coordinated effort between the
US and Jordan.
It's about a $200 million
facility as it stands right
now, all constructed in the
effort to, basically, have a
one-stop shop for
special-operations-type training.
So you can come and you can
work on your urban skills.
You can work on your aircraft
assault skills and just the
whole gamut.
SHANE SMITH: Who trains
on it mostly?
CHARLES REDLINGER: Well, a
number of countries, I won't
say exactly which ones.
What we have here
is a Airbus 300.
What it allows us to do is
various types of training as
it relates to special
operations, whether it's a
hostage situation inside of an
aircraft or if we want to
replicate some sky
marshal training.
[FLYING NOISES]
[MACHINE GUN FIRE]
CHARLES REDLINGER: Because in
the aircraft here, we can
simulate certain battlefield
effects.
We can initiate smells and
sounds of the battlefield that
may go along with a certain
kind of scenario.
What we can do is we can pull
out the mannequins--
[RECORDED BABY CRYING]
CHARLES REDLINGER: And
actually put--
SHANE SMITH: Don't
shoot the baby.
CHARLES REDLINGER:
That's right.
The mindset's a big factor
for each operator.
And the more you can expose
them to in a controlled
environment like this, the
better operator he's going to
be, the more surgical
he's going to be.
SHANE SMITH: Right.
I understand why, because
the baby sound
just freaked me out.
CHARLES REDLINGER: Yeah.
SHANE SMITH: Yeah.
CHARLES REDLINGER: This is the
100-meter range, and the
100-meter range has a system
built by Saab.
It's basically a pop-up
target system.
SHANE SMITH: Saab, the
car manufacturer?
CHARLES REDLINGER: Yeah, I
believe it's the same guy,
Saab Systems.
SHANE SMITH: Right.
I never see any press on this
stuff ever, so I think I'm
sort of a maverick,
although not a
maverick like John McCain.
SHANE SMITH: Now Jennifer does
PR for these General Dynamics
war villages, which must be the
weirdest job for a soccer
mom ever created.
So they bring people from
SOFEX here, why?
JENNIFER MONTESANO:
Oh, to see it.
Gotta see it to believe it.
SHANE SMITH: So they like it.
They see the plane.
They get afraid by the baby, and
then they go come to you
and say, I want it.
Now what's next?
JENNIFER MONTESANO: Great, well,
we go, and we talk to
them, and say, they either want
it in their country, or
they can come here and train.
SHANE SMITH: Right.
I'm going in.
Live hostage situation.
[MACHINE GUN FIRE]
SHANE SMITH: He got them all
before I even got in.
I wonder what the Jordanians
think about these guys being
the bad guys.
CHARLES REDLINGER: We're
approaching the urban area.
The urban area consists of
about 52 structures.
The structures range from banks
to small/large villas.
We have an embassy complex
over on the right, gas
station, and just all kinds
of other structures.
There's a machine gun--
simulated machine gun
in that window.
We have wave cannons on
all the rooftops.
SHANE SMITH: Are wave
cannons real things?
CHARLES REDLINGER: They're--
[EXPLOSION]
SHANE SMITH: Whoa, shit.
Is that a wave cannon?
CHARLES REDLINGER: That's
a wave cannon.
SHANE SMITH: [LAUGHS]
[MACHINE GUN FIRE
AND EXPLOSIONS]
SHANE SMITH: They're after us.
CHARLES REDLINGER: I've been
told that in the building,
they've initiated some kind of
an odor, as well as probably
some smoke and so on.
[HISSING SOUND]
I smell something.
I don't know what it is.
[EXPLOSION]
This is like the worst thing I
could possibly think of right
now, being hung over, and
they're going to make it smell
like rotting flesh.
MALE SPEAKER 5: Burnt hair,
oily machinery, dead body.
[LAUGHTER]
SHANE SMITH: Is there ever a
worry that baddies would come
and use the area as training?
Because you know, you have
Israel, Lebanon, Egypt, Syria,
all those neighbors, and
you just wonder who
gets to come train.
CHARLES REDLINGER: Well,
Jordan's in a tough
neighborhood.
There's no doubt about it.
SHANE SMITH: Jordan is in
a tough neighborhood.
In fact, both Egypt and Syria
are currently trying to put
down popular rebellions, and
Iraq is basically in a full-on
special-ops civil war.
And where are they getting
all these weapons?
SOFEX.
How hard is it to come and buy
arms on the open market?
SHANE SMITH: And we noticed
that they sell kits.
For example, you can buy a
regular helicopter, but you
can buy a kit to upgrade it to
add in a missile system or
Gatling gun system
quite easily.
RAPHAEL DE SUPERCAZE:
Yes, of course.
SHANE SMITH: So I can buy a
helicopter from one country,
and I can buy a weapons system
from another country, and then
have an attack helicopter?
RAPHAEL DE SUPERCAZE: Yes.
SHANE SMITH: So North Korea's
bought some of these?
RAPHAEL DE SUPERCAZE: Yes.
SHANE SMITH: Can I
have a key chain?
FEMALE SPEAKER 1: Yeah, sure.
SHANE SMITH: Thank you.
Where are you guys from?
SHANE SMITH: Kazakhstan.
Czech Republic.
Is that made in Azerbaijan?
FEMALE SPEAKER 2: Yes.
SHANE SMITH: Yeah?
So Azerbaijan makes the
biggest, longest
rifle I've ever seen.
Where are you guys from?
MALE SPEAKER 6: Germany.
SHANE SMITH: Germany.
Turkey is here.
China is here.
Jordan is here.
The Russians are here, all
selling weapons systems to
whoever wants to buy them.
You want jets?
You want rockets, helicopter
grenade,
RoboCop killer systems?
[ROBOT VOICE]
You have 20 seconds to comply.
You got it.
That's an automatic
grenade launcher.
MATT RUSKIN: That's my favorite
weapon in the entire
Marine Corps arsenal there.
SHANE SMITH: No one's
stopping him.
No one's saying, hey, you
shouldn't be actually playing
with the grenade launcher.
Now fucking around with these
dudes and their guns was fun.
But after a while you start to
freak out, because you realize
that they're selling weapons the
same way that you'd sell
next year's car model.
MALE SPEAKER 7: The world's
most demanding
shooters demand SIG.
This is the world's most
revolutionary pistol.
We have the resources and
the energy to solve
any small-arms problem.
SHANE SMITH: Javelin would be
one of the most innovative
weapons systems.
SHANE SMITH: And when he says
successful, what he really
means is that it's great
at destroying stuff.
And we weren't the only ones to
notice, like the Marine we
ran into who had just finished
his second tour in Iraq.
SHANE SMITH: And the biggest
sellers by far are the
American companies.
In fact, 16 of the 20 largest
arms manufacturers are based
in the United States.
And being the biggest store in
the mall means selling a lot
of weapons to a lot of people.
What's crazy about this is that
America gives a lot of
these countries foreign aid so
that they can come here and
buy weapons systems from
their companies.
It's kind of like a parent
giving their kids the credit
card and saying, go to the mall
that I own and just buy
whatever you want.
So the last time you were in the
Middle East, you were in
Iraq as a Marine.
Does it spin you out to see like
Northrop Grumman, General
Dynamics, all these American
companies making tons of money
off of war?
MATT RUSKIN: What's the trip is
you see Norinco right here
next to an American
arms display.
And they used to launch 9-foot
Norinco rockets on us.
SHANE SMITH: Really?
MATT RUSKIN: Yeah.
SHANE SMITH: The insurgents
would buy Norinco rockets and
then use them against you.
And they're right next to the
American military companies.
Interesting.
So we went over to the Norinco
booth to see if they could
explain how their weapons ended
up in the hands of Iraqi
insurgents.
Hi.
[CHINESE]
MALE SPEAKER 9: Hi.
[CHINESE]
SHANE SMITH: Hi.
How are you?
MALE SPEAKER 9: Where
are you from?
SHANE SMITH: From
America, Vice.
BBS?
News.
MALE SPEAKER 9: Oh, news.
SHANE SMITH: News, news.
MALE SPEAKER 9: I'm sorry.
Maybe I'm not [INAUDIBLE].
SHANE SMITH: Oh, OK.
MALE SPEAKER 9: OK.
SHANE SMITH: OK.
Thank you.
MALE SPEAKER 9: I'm sorry.
Sorry.
SHANE SMITH: [CHINESE].
I must have bad BO.
They're all walking
away very rapidly.
[CHINESE].
MALE SPEAKER 10: [CHINESE].
SHANE SMITH: Everyone
just left.
While we couldn't get an answer
from the Chinese,
sitting right there on display
in the next booth over were
shells that were exactly the
same as the ones Iraqi
insurgents used to make roadside
bombs, or IEDs.
MATT RUSKIN: All right, they
take the tips off of these,
and you can see it's pretty
hollow in there.
And they'll pack this whole
thing full of C4, and it
creates some hellacious
shrapnel.
SHANE SMITH: And here you can
just buy it like you would a
chocolate bar.
MATT RUSKIN: Exactly.
[GUNSHOTS]
SHANE SMITH: We're just outside
of Amman, Jordan, at
the King Abdullah Special
Operations Training Center for
the Ultimate Warrior
Competition.
There's some Marines here.
There's some Tanzanians here.
There are some people
from Saudi Arabia.
And then the hometown heroes,
the Jordanians.
They're part of the
special branches.
It's basically bragging rights
for who's the biggest badasses
in the world.
[GUNSHOTS]
And so these are the best of
the best, counter-terrorist
special-ops groups.
CHARLES REDLINGER: Yes.
SHANE SMITH: And so if they win,
they're like, we're the
biggest badasses, basically.
CHARLES REDLINGER: Yeah.
I guess it does give
you a little bit of
bragging rights if--
SHANE SMITH: Well,
that's good.
CHARLES REDLINGER: So as you can
see, it's designed to hit
on as many of the skill sets
that these guys possess, and
challenge them in all
those, stamina,
endurance, shooting skills.
[GUNSHOT]
SHANE SMITH: Do they do
Indian leg wrestling?
CHARLES REDLINGER: Indian
leg wrestling?
No.
Maybe--
SHANE SMITH: Because I could
compete on that.
CHARLES REDLINGER: What about
potato-sack racing?
SHANE SMITH: I could compete
on those two.
Now I have to admit, watching
these special-ops guys strut
their stuff was pretty
impressive.
MALE SPEAKER 11:
[SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE]
SHANE SMITH: But when you
start thinking about the
countries that some of these
guys come from, you can't help
but wonder the circumstances in
which these urban assault
skills are going to
be put to use.
And if the recent uprisings
in the Arab world are any
indication, the answer
is simple, at home.
[GUNSHOTS]
SHANE SMITH: How
you guys doing?
Good.
You going to win?
MALE SPEAKER 12: [INAUDIBLE]
SHANE SMITH: Yeah?
Now how you boys doing?
You going to win?
MALE SPEAKER 13: If they don't
win, then I'll put my
boot in their ass.
I'm happy.
And what do you think about
competitions like this?
MALE SPEAKER 14: Friendly
competition's always a great
thing, because it lets you know
what you need to work on.
And you should get up, get
to meet new people.
Because connections around the
world right now is a big deal.
So getting to know guys you
might see down the road in
Afghanistan and recognize faces
definitely goes a long way.
[GUNSHOTS]
SHANE SMITH: And recognizing
faces is important.
In fact, facial recognition
technology is just the latest
feature being built into many
unarmed aerial vehicles, which
are also known as drones.
You know, when you were a kid,
you used to have those little
model airplanes.
And there'd be like, somebody's
dad would be a real
nerd and have the
model airplane.
Now, it's all
model-airplane-style drones
that can take pictures
or drop bombs.
The sad thing is that countries
who actually buy
this stuff rarely end up using
it against foreign militaries.
More often than not,
they're turning it
against their own citizens.
And thanks to the number of
governments who are afraid of
their own people, business
is booming.
ADAM THOMAS: We've just made
an assessment of the global
security market spending.
And our assessment this year
is we think spending on
security's between
$180-190 billion.
We now see that doubling
to $400 billion in
the next four years.
SHANE SMITH: $400 billion
just on--
ADAM THOMAS: That's everything,
from border
security, homeland security,
anti-immigration, anti-drug,
protection of oil fields,
and everything else.
SHANE SMITH: So even
in a recession--
ADAM THOMAS: Yep.
So you can see two to three
times more on security
spending than there's
going to be on
defense tactical spending.
Hence, the importance
of SOFEX.
SHANE SMITH: So we
just left SOFEX.
We're pretty spun out.
A lot of generals, a lot of
weapons systems, missiles,
tanks, planes, helicopters,
and it's kind of a bummer.
And as we left SOFEX, the
magnitude of what we
just saw hit us.
If the arms markets are doubling
every year in sales,
it means that the armies are
actually using and expending
their weapons, which means,
quite simply, that they're
killing people.
MALE SPEAKER 15: 260's--
MALE SPEAKER 16:
Come on, fire.
[MACHINE GUN FIRE]
MALE SPEAKER 17: Roger.
[MACHINE GUN FIRE]
MALE SPEAKER 18: Keep shooting,
keep shooting.
Keep shooting.
Keep shooting.
[MACHINE GUN FIRE]
[MIDDLE EASTERN POP MUSIC]
