As a civil engineering student and (for this summer) a civil earthworks construction manager/foreman, I'd like to chime in on the whole Cat bulldozer point. Terraforming and construction would not be possible without Cats/bulldozers. There is no modern country in the world that isn't reliant on such machines.
Not to open the entire Israel vs Palistine issue, but it is always debatable who is innocent and under what circumstances the Cats are used. The Israeli Defence Force does classify the modified D9s as 'counter-terrorism operations'. Homes and olive groves have been destroyed, people have been displaced. People have been suicide bombed as well.
Caterpiller sells "stock" D9s and D10s. IDF modifys them. It is notable that the US military buys the armor kits from IDF. Caterpiller also sells to the US military. I have been told, but I can't find an online source right now, that modified Cats have also been used by the UN to detonate mine fields.
I have no moral qualms about Caterpiller, and if I was ever in the market to buy a bulldozer, I wouldn't hesitate to buy one. (Well, I'd consider Komatsu too, even though they produced most of the military tractors and tank parts for the Japanese army in WWII).
|