Profits versus principles, that is the dilemma facing Kader Asmal and the National Conventional Arms Control Committee when they meet on Thursday to decide whether Denel's contracts to supply small arms and artillery components for the British armed forces should be suspended or cancelled.

If the government is indeed sincere in condemning the invasion of Iraq, which has been launched in defiance of the majority of world opinion by the US and the UK, the decision facing Asmal and his committee will be simple - cancel the contracts, or at least halt them until hostilities are over.

To continue supplying essential equipment that makes the very bullets that project the will of President George W Bush into Iraq, and into the Iraqis who dare to defend their country, is unconscionable., anything less than firm action to underline the principled stance taken by South Africa against the war being waged would be both servile and a self-serving betrayal of our commitment to human rights and the resolution of conflict by negotiation.

However, the early signs are that either Denel or Asmal, or both, are inclined to carry on with business as usual.

Neither the man nor the company has been brazen enough to argue that the decision should be swayed by the hundreds of millions of rands at stake, although the bottom line is a constant consideration for state-owned Denel.

But there are signs in their initial responses that they are more than a little reluctant to face up to the realities of arms dealings. To say that the basic components for making bullets are themselves non-lethal is disingenuous in the extreme.

It's perfectly simple - no component, no bullet.

With acknowledgement to the Business Report.