All the Worlds a Stage by William Shakespeare Essay Example for Free

All the Worlds a Stage by William Shakespeare Essay â€Å"All The World’s a Stage† by William Shakespeare is a short poem comparing our lives and the many stages we have to a theatrical play and the many rolls an actor plays in them. William Shakespeare identifies the seven stages a person goes through in life. Infancy, the stage where he is a baby introduced to the world, crying and puking in the nurse’s arms. Childhood, this is the stage where he is growing up and starting school with no enthusiasm. The lover, this is the stage where he has a mistress and falls in love with her, while he tries to sing her a song he can’t look into her eyes because he’s so shy. The soldier is when he tries to keep his reputation thinking less of himself and more of others, and always being ready to fight. The justice stage is where he has gained wisdom and prosperity by the many experiences he had in life. The old age stage is when he begins to lose his charm physically and mentally, he also loses his firmness and personality. Finally, physical and mental lose and death, he begins to become dependent on others like a child and needs constant help from others to perform any tasks; he slowly loses his teeth, eyesight, and taste, until he finally dies. In this paper I will analyze the way William Shakespeare compares a person’s life and its many stages to a theatrical stage and the many rolls and actor performs, his tone, how he uses explicit details, imagery, repetition, consonance, and any other figurative language he uses in this poem. Tone The tone in this poem in my opinion is that William Shakespeare feels as if everyone ends up the way people do just because we all go through life as if we were actors on a stage reading a script knowing every step to take till the very end. He is accepting of death, he knows that everyone goes through every single stage of life assuming they know what do to do next, but no one really does. I came to this conclusion because Shakespeare shows no type of anger or excitement throughout the poem. He is neutral; he is neither afraid of death nor excited about it. He feels as if everyone has a purpose in life and to find that purpose you have to go through every stage. It doesn’t matter how confident you are, how hard you try, or how fast you get through each stage, everyone will always end the same way, dying. Shakespeare knows you cannot skip this part of life no matter who you are. One can only enjoy the time you have and wait for your time to come. He understands no one’s life is fully complete until you go through your final stage of life and die. Imagery William Shakespeare uses a lot of very strong visual imagery though out his poem. In line 7-9 one can visualize a little boy in the morning, tired and very slowly dragging himself to school with his satchel, when he says â€Å"the whining schoolboy, with his satchel and shining morning face, creeping like a snail unwillingly to school. † Another sense of strong imagery is in line 5-6, when he says â€Å"at first, the infant, mewling and puking in the nurse’s arms. † In this line one can easily picture a nurse holding a baby who just came into this world for the first time, whining, squirming, and puking in her arms. In line 9-11 William Shakespeare says â€Å"the lover sighing like furnace, with a woeful ballad made to his mistress’ eyebrow. † Here he explains that the lover wrote his mistress a song like poem to express his love to her, but his too shy to look her in the eyes while he sings to her. William Shakespeare uses the entire poem â€Å"All the World’s a Stage† as a metaphor to compare the stages of life to a theatrical stage. He explains how the rolls we play throughout our lives are like the rolls an actor plays on stage. He makes sure to say that no one is ever the same person their entire life, just as an actor doesn’t stay the same throughout a play. William Shakespeare uses strong imagery and metaphor in the poem for us to picture images every stage and how we change all throughout them as we read. Sound Sound is a very big part of this poem, because he uses a specific structure, some rhyme and repetition. The structure of this poem is very important because each stage is in order. He goes from infant, to schoolboy, to lover, to soldier, to justice, to old age, and finally death. For one’s life to start you must be born into this world as an infant; then you slowly grow into a schoolboy, become a lover and then a soldier trying to keep your reputation. You gain wisdom and justice and then you grow into old age where you lose your appearance physically and mentally. Lastly you become dependent on others and eventually your life is over. This poem also has some rhyme in it but not much. You will not find rhyme in the same line. In line 7 he uses the word â€Å"whining† and in line 8 he uses the word â€Å"shining† to describe the schoolboy, which both words rhyme with each other. He doesn’t feel the need to have to rhyme so much in this poem for one to fully understand the metaphor he is conveying. He also uses repetition in the last line of the poem. As he says â€Å"sans teeth, sans eyes, sans taste, sans everything† he repeats â€Å"sans† to let you know he has lost his teeth, eyes, taste, everything as he dies. Theme The theme to â€Å"All the World’s a Stage† in my opinion is live life to the fullest with no regrets. Everyone should have their own life, and do their own thing. No one should have the same routine every single day, that’s boring. Be spontaneous, do things you’d never imagine doing. You’d be surprised at the many things one can do in this world at any age; we just have to be willing to leave our comfort zone and let loose. One should not let another person take over their life for any reason. We should have control of it, and be able to do what we want when we want, and not have to ask for permission. Not everyone goes through each stage of life at the same time, it shouldn’t matter how old one is. One should always have time to laugh and have a good time at any time no matter what. In this poem it is very clear that William Shakespeare wants you to understand how one goes through life. One usually goes through life making choices behind choices, living off your decisions and its consequences. We each have our own routine we follow day by day, even if we don’t always notice it. It’s as if were a character in a play and we follow a script we memorize every day, until something unexpected happens and our role changes. We have to accommodate the new situation into our schedule and try to make it work. We also have time to squeeze in some fun and live. We tend to surprise ourselves from time to time to shake up our lives a little. If you go through your whole life thinking â€Å"what if† isn’t healthy, you need to take a risk and throw yourself out there. Have fun and live your life while you still have it.

Macro-environment and Micro-environment for Topshop

Macro-environment and Micro-environment for Topshop Introduction As a global marketing manager of Topshop, it is very necessary to think about expanding its global marketing. China is a good choice as it owns a large number of persons. And, alongside changing lifestyles and income growth, Chinas fashion retail market is booming (Reuters, 2007[Online]). For Topshop, it means many potential customers. But, some other international brands, like Zara and HM, have opened its market in China for few years and have created customer loyalty to some extent. Then, before entering into Chinese market, it is still need to make a detailed analysis of the whole Chinese environment include internal and external and decide the most suitable entry strategy for Topshop if it wants to be successful. Situation of Topshop: Organization overview Topshop is a U.K. based clothing store chain which is founded in1964 for young women selling fashion clothes, shoes and accessories and also is a part of the Arcadia Group (Mahalo.com, 2010 [Online]). It is owned by Sir Philip Green and the stores feature Kate Mosss designer fashions (Mahalo.com, 2010 [Online]). Now, the flagship store in London Oxford Street is the biggest fashion store in Europe. It operates in more than 20 countries currently and has over 309 fashion stores nationwide, and 50 stores outside the UK (Oppapers.com, 2008 [Online]). It also has a website where you can buy a lot of the Topshop (Oppapers.com, 2008 [Online]). SWOT analysis Strength of Topshop as it belongs to Arcadia Group which managing several successful brands, and has accessed to target market with over 300 stores nationwide (marangonimarketing.blogspot.com, 2008[Online]). It provides numerous choices in product lines and design variety of products with thousands of looks per season creatively (Irina Klebelsberg, 2008[Online]). Compete with other brands, it also offers free personal style consultants (Irina Klebelsberg, 2008[Online]). And, internet website makes it attract more customers around the world and make everybody shopping online quickly (marangonimarketing.blogspot.com, 2008[Online]). All of these make Topshop keep trend of awareness and follow the fashion (Irina Klebelsberg, 2008[Online]). Weakness of Topshop is that the company is global, but it has a presence in few countries worldwide (Irina Klebelsberg, 2008[Online]). A large number of staff and products make it difficult to manage and increase the management costs. And, big store space lead to weak customer services. On web shopping, there is no detail and size for accessorizes (marangonimarketing.blogspot.com, 2008[Online]). Moreover, some garments quality is not matching with the price (Irina Klebelsberg, 2008[Online]). Opportunities for Topshop are about a large number of people in China which means it can get many potential consumers. Compared with other fashion retailers, it is not just target young Chinese, but also white-collared workers and a part of middle aged persons who follow the latest fashion in China, as this kind of fashion group can afford it and willing to spend on fashion (Reuters, 2007). It is easier for attracting Chinese customers and makes them know about this brand by online shopping to increase revenue and profits (marangonimarketing.blogspot.com, 2008[Online]). Threats always reflected by its competitors, such as Zara and HM, also are fast fashion retailers who have entered into China and have a status for few years(Irina Klebelsberg, 2008[Online]). If Topshop wants to be successful in China, it is necessary to show its unique features and improve quality and retain low price and good design, because its competitors cooperate with top designers and fashion icons too (marangonimarketing.blogspot.com, 2008[Online]). Whats more, it needs to face some limitations from government policies and to know about the cultural and demands of China as soon as possible. Key competitors For Topshop, Zara and HM are considered international competitors in China, as all of them have some common features as fashion retailing. For example, they are all creativity, quality design and rapid turnaround to adjust to changing market demand (Thinking made easy, 2009[Online]). However, Zara is the closest competitor for Topshop because of the relative higher price than HM. To some extent, HM is less fashionable. Analysis of China: PEST analysis In aspects of policies, China insists its way of peaceful development and keeps the stable political situation for a long term which offers a favorable external environment for Topshop to develop its market. And, the government also enhances its attention on overseas-funded enterprises and develops a well environment for investment to achieve its goal of investment attraction. By economics, from 2003 to 2010, GDP in China has increased as a whole (real growth rate showed as the chart below) which means the growth in the living standard. Moreover, this reflects that purchase power has been improved. It suggests that consumers can afford its products at reasonable price if Topshop enter into Chinese. China GDP (indexmundi.com, 2010) In social, China is a country with a large population which means many potential consumers for Topshop. And, it targets except young, also includes white-collared workers (Reuters, 2007). In China, they are both paying more attention on fashion products and brands. It is not difficult for Topshop to be a new focus as a famous international brand. About technologies, in China, E-commerce becomes more and more popular nowadays. In comparison, shopping online is more perfect in such a developing country. It is easier to set up its own network platform to advertise and sell products for Topshop. It is also a useful way to attract consumers. The theory of Porters diamond (Value based management.net, 2010) The four point of the diamond contributes towards global success as the picture shows (Henry, 2008). Factor conditions as China has large populations and have a low labor costs. And, perfect network it creates make it successful in business, especially for selling. Demands conditions as various customers demands in China make Topshop to innovate and provide an insight into future global trends for Topshop stay in a better position to exploit (Henry, 2008). To cooperate with Chinese suppliers provide Topshop with the most cost-effective inputs and communicates with local suppliers can make Topshop to learn about new fashion features to shape new styles (Henry, 2008). The structure of Chinese market is complex and multilevel with a large and various demand (Xinhua, 2009 [Online]). With this feature, it may work well in retailing industries. For Topshop, as a fashion retailer, it is driven by a need of fashionable and trendy for providing products to meet demands variety which suit for current Chinese market (elegman.com, 2005 [Online]). And, the existed strong competitors create pressures for Topshop to update to compete successfully (Henry, 2008). The theory of Porters Five Forces www.anythingresearch.com The five forces as the picture shows are used to analyze for assessing the competitive environment (Henry, 2008). The threat of new entrants depends on entry barriers and the reaction of existing competitors (Henry, 2008). For Topshop, if entry barriers are high, the threats of new entrants will be low. For example, as a global brand, Topshop already has a large-scale, to some extent, it can achieve economies of scale to decrease its costs, gain more profits with stronger proclivity. Then, if new entrants without enough strength, it will be difficult to entry into the industry and the threats will be low for Topshop. Bargaining power of buyers, buyers always want lower price and more services and bargain for high-quality (Henry, 2008).Topshop has to face to the forces come from buyers, if products can not satisfy customers demands, they will find other products to replace which leads to the loss of customers. This asks Topshop to make products with reasonable price and high quality. Bargaining power of suppliers, sometimes the costs of Topshop based on its suppliers. It is unnecessary to worry about if Topshop has many suppliers because it has opportunity to choose one which can offer lower costs. But, if fewer suppliers can provide goods and services for it, the profits may be decreased as suppliers will ask for high costs and there is no space to choose. Threat of substitution, there are products and services can meet similar needs, if Topshop cannot meet customers demands, especially for price, they will choose another one (Henry, 2008). It has to under the pressure and adjusts its price for maintaining its customers and profits. The intensity of rivalry, Zara is the closest competitor for Topshop as the similar price and products, so it has to face a strong competition. And, both them target young persons. The competition also is reflected to gain customers. What makes China attractive to invest in China keeps its stable political situation by peaceful development and offers a favorable environment to attract investment of foreign-funded enterprises. And, a large number of populations which suggests many potential customers make it attractive for Topshop to invest in. Moreover, it is worth investing as the attitude for following the fashion is enthusiastic and people also willing to spend on it (Reuters, 2007). Though it has to face the pressure of competition, Topshop still can maintain its competitive advantage with reasonable price, good design and high quality. Available market entry strategies for Topshop: Exporting is one of entry mode strategies for Topshop as it can make goods and services in UK and sells them in China. This method provides an opportunity for Topshop to acquire international experience for decreasing its risk exposure and resource commitments (Henry, 2008). But for Topshop, a famous international brand, has expanded its market in many other countries, it has already owned enough experience and strength to undertake risks. Exporting may waste a long time for it to entry into China, because it relies on local distributors and some of them have less ability to marketing and promoting international products (Henry, 2008). Then, it is not a suitable strategy for Topshop. Licensing is another way for Topshop to entry into China with less resource commitments. It is attractive for small firms as it requires little capital (Chee Harris, 1998). It can make Topshop to enter China quickly and fairly and help to access market knowledge, distribution and contact with customers immediately (Chee Harris, 1998). It also invests with a low cost. But, Topshop will have a less and direct control for its products and also make licensee is able to imitate its products and become its competitor (Henry, 2008). To some extent, it may enhance the stress of competition in Chinese market because of it is common for customers in China to choose imitation which is similar with what they wants of a lower price. It is easy to be replaced by imitation for Topshop. Franchise is particular form of licensing which can make Topshop enter into China rapidly with minimum investment (Chee Harris, 1998). Benefits of franchise as franchisee can provide local market knowledge which similar with Licensing. And, Chinese market may be more receptive to this strategy by a large area because of it involves local ownership and employment (Henry, 2008). The disadvantage is about lacking of trust and understanding between Topshop and its franchisee (Henry, 2008). The successful of franchisee means mutually beneficial for both side, not just for Topshop or its franchisee. Joint venture is a new company which is created by Topshop with its partners if it chooses this form. It differs from licensing as Topshop can take a managerial role and participate in operation and control its product line (Chee Harris, 1998). Partners will share the risks and costs of investment. Other benefits as joint venture can help greater familiarity with the local environment, especially for cultural of Chinese market. This enables joint venture to be more aware of culture sensitive. By joint venture, Topshop may benefit from government support and with a local partner (Chee Harris, 1998). Strategic alliance is sharing some resources and capabilities of Topshop with its two or more separated organizations (Henry, 2008). Their common aim is to learn from its partners. They all need to grow and develop based on their strategic objectives. It is beneficial because the opportunity to build new skills that Topshop can get from its partners (Chee Harris, 1998). But, it is difficult to identify each companys boundaries and ownership is also not clear. For a long-term strategy, Topshop cannot show its obvious features to attract customers and establish a superior position. Wholly owned Subsidiaries is the strategy can make a total control for Topshop. This entry involves the greatest commitment of resources with the highest risk (Henry, 2008). The unique resources and the distinctive capabilities provide for competitive advantage of Topshop (Henry, 2008). The drawbacks is just about Topshop has to undertake the most risk compared with other strategies. Conclusion: Through analysis of the situation and competition environment of Topshop and China, and think about some available strategies for Topshop entering China, Wholly owned Subsidiaries is the most suitable entry strategy for Topshop to choose. The decision depends on the vision of Topshop and its attitude towards risks and available investment capital. For Topshop, though it needs to face the highest investment cost and the most risk by strategy of wholly owned subsidiaries, it also can get the greatest returns based on this mode (Henry, 2008). Topshop can maximize the control of products line, operation and managements in China with this strategy. And, to expand its new market in China by this way can fully reflect competitive advantages of Topshop with enough capital. This entry mode provides a chance for Topshop to make a full use of local resources to produce, to some extent, helping to decrease the cost. Moreover, comparative low labor cost in China makes Topshop to save investment c ost on human resources, combined with its enough capital and competitive strength, it is real to reduce the threats if new entrants. By the development of business, it is not just open one store in China of Topshop, so wholly owned subsidiaries make Topshop can control its business in China and prepare the foundation for its future development. As a famous global brand, some suppliers are also in China, to choose wholly owned subsidiaries as an entry strategy make it close to the source of raw materials (Henry, 2008). Based on its local suppliers, it is easier to catch up the local fashion trend by communicating with its suppliers and serve the market better to satisfy local needs. Whats more, a base established in China can help to avoid government policies and barriers to trade which is better than exporting (Chee Harris, 1998). Other strategies like joint venture and licensing are common choice for other retailing. Then, Topshop choose wholly owned subsidiaries helps it enter into China rapidly and show its strength. And, in the initial period, Topshop choose wholly owned subsidiaries as entry modes can help to introduce other series products of Topshop gradually, such as Topman, to expand its market share at the right time.

SWOT Analysis of the COCOM Structure Essay example -- Business Analysi

The Idea of the Combatant Command structure was first emerged during World War II with the establishment of the different geographical theaters of operation that was composed of militant forces from different services. A single General or Admiral was appointed the single commander nominated by the President of the United States and was supported by a joint staff. With the implementation of the Goldwater Nichols Act of 1986, COCOM Commanders attained a nontransferable command authority over different service forces directly to the Secretary of Defense. Today there are 6 Geographic commanders consisting of the newest member the United States Africa Command (USAFRICOM), U.S. Central Command (USCENTCOM), U.S. European Command (USEUCOM), U.S. Northern Command (USNORTHCOM), U.S. Pacific Command (USPACOM), and U.S. Southern Command (USSOUTHCOM). There has been a significant amount of criticism and arguments over the structuring and organization of the Combatant Commanders. Arguments have been made over personnel and budget restraints to peacetime efforts and the need for continued assistance. This Essay will analyze the COCOM structure using a SWOT analysis to look at both the internal and external points of the different commands and the overall effects the COCOM has on the world. This essay will finally offer and modification of the structure that would benefit the organization. The SWOT analysis is an acronym that stands for Strengths, Weakness, Opportunities, and Threats. The idea of this assessment was developed by a man name Albert Humphrey in 1960’s. His team of researchers at the Stanford Research Institute originally developed a long range corporate planning model called SOFT meaning Satisfactory, Opportunity, Fault,... ...N Douglas M. â€Å"SOUTHCOM Posture Statement.† Washington, DC, 6 March 2012. Andrew Feickert, â€Å"The Unified Command Plan and Combatant Commands: Background and Issues for Congress,† Congressional Research Service, Novemnber 7, 2011, 60. Kniskern and Ducey, â€Å"SWOT and Structured Assessment Methodology,† 7. GEN James N. Mattis, â€Å"Statement: Commander U.S. Central Command Before the Senate Armed Services Committee,† Washington, DC, 6 March 2012, 6. Stavridis, â€Å"EUCOM Posture Statement† 60. Ibid., 60 GEN Douglas M. â€Å"SOUTHCOM Posture Statement.† 24. Feickert, â€Å"The Unified Command Plan and Combatant Commands,† 64. U.S. Government Accountability Office. â€Å"Defense Management: U.S. Southern Command Demonstrates Interagency Collaboration, but Its Haiti Disaster Response Revealed Challenges Conducting a Large Military Operation,† GAO-10-801, July 2010, 25.

Human Imperfection Illustrated in Frosts Poem, After Apple Picking Ess

The poem â€Å"After Apple Picking† by Robert Frost expresses the feelings of the narrator during and after the process of harvesting apples by showing the sustainability and ambition of human spirit. Frost’s poem is an accurate reflection of life and of human imperfection through the use of repetition, literal and figurative language and various symbols. The repeated use of the word â€Å"sleep† resonates throughout the poem and suggests that the narrator is experiencing fatigue and weariness, â€Å"I am drowsing off / I cannot rub the strangeness from my sight / Upon my way to sleep before it fell / My instep arch not only keeps the ache / [Woodchuck]’s sleep† (Frost 8-21) One interpretation of sleep is a â€Å"final sleep† due to sleep’s association with winter in this piece. Because winter is most commonly associated to death of life, one may assume that was the author’s intended definition. However, a more logical and literal interpretation is the fact that the speaker is worn out and tired from picking apples, which would relate to and explain some of the other figures of speech in the poem. T...

Plato Essay -- Philosophy Philosophers

Plato Plato was born in Athens to a wealthy family and lived from 429-347 B.C.E. He was Socrates' greatest student and held his teacher in such high regard that in most of his works Socrates plays the main character. Some people doubt the existance of Socrates but, "like nearly everyone else who appears in Plato's works, he is not an invention of Plato: there really was a Socrates" (Kraut). Plato wrote many works asking questions about terms such as justice, piety, and immortality to name a few. His works include but are not limited to, The Apology, Crito, Phaedo, Euthyphro, and his most famous work The Republic which was a work about justice. In 387 B.C.E. Plato founded the first great school of antiquity called "The Academy". This school was famous throughout the world and its most famous student was Aristotle. Plato's work has not ceased to influence great thinkers throughout history. In this paper, I will be discussing Plato's "Theory of Ideas or Forms" and "The Allegory of the Cave". "The Allegory of the Cave" is discussed in Plato's Republic. The Allegory tells the tale...

Iran’s Influence in Iraq

ABSTRACT In the period after 2003, Iran was extensively involved in Iraq by demonstrating its leading role in the international context. However, Iraq has been confronted with substantial instability as a result of Iran’s invasion, even though scholars have presented mixed arguments about this issue. This paper discusses the role that Iran has played after 2003, which has affected both the dimensions of stability and instability. The primary objective of Iran after 2003 was to observe a positive economic change in Iraq and also to ensure that the Western troops were taken off. Different factors affected Iraq’s stability, including inherent sectarian divisions and the role of other states. There were two types of influence on Iran and they are: first and foremost was that the projects politically influenced leveraging close historical relationships with several Shi’a organizations in Iraq like the Islamic Supreme Council of Iraq (ISCI), the Badr organization, and the Dawah political party. A second factor was that Iran had used the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and Qods Force (QF) to provide paramilitary training, weapons, and equipment to various Iraqi militant groups, including Moqtada al-Sadr’s Jaysh al-Mahdi (JAM) and the Special Group Criminals (SGCs). Iran also had an influence on the legal and constructive functions of Iraq. Although it was seen that Iran’s policy in Iraq is also duplicitous, it publicly called for stability but diverted Iraq’s government and illegally sponsored anti-government militias. INTRODUCTION Although the factors and consequences surrounding Iran and Iraq war have been extensively discussed in the research literature, the post-war implications have been hardly understood. The United States has been accusing Tehran of its undue interference, which was done by Arab leaders for establishing an Islamic Republic[1], and by prominent Iraqi officials of an array of illegitimate meddling. It has been observed that Iran’s influence in Iraq has created a quite complex situation for the entire region. Iran had vital interests in Iraq, which can be perceived as strategic important for establishing power relations in the region. In order to maximise the success of Iraq from its political transition, it is very important that Tehran and Baghdad work together. In addition, it is fundamental for all involved parties to prevent the US from further deterioration of its relations with the Islamic Republic.[2] Therefore, the objective of the present research is to explore Iran’ s role and influence in Iraq in both political and military aspects. The essay is divided into introduction followed by theoretical remarks regarding the Iraqi insurgency, and the political stability. In reviewing the literature on the conflict between Iran and Iraq, it becomes clear that Iran has played a role in bringing about instability in Iraq since 2003, which has been further divided into different sections. The first and the foremost division occurred between those academics who cite Iranian influence to be the most significant destabilising factor in post-2003 Iraq, and others who hold the opinion that Iran’s influence is considered either positive or insignificant. As per Barzegar[3], the first approach is that Iran’s influence in Iraq is both strong and negative. At the same time, it has been indicated that Iran had a negative foreign policy. The nature of Iran’s relations had changed with various militant groups in Iraq and after the fall of Saddam’s regime in 2003. Moreover, Iran had deployed thousands of intelligence and paramilitary people to Iraq, as Iran had conflicting and negative goals in Iraq. The primary goal of Iran was to expand its influence at both national and local levels in Iraq. Thus, it was seen that it had made links with the local actors, even when they opposed Iran’s preferred clients at the national level. It may be also argued that Iran follows a policy of favouritism. In the beginning after the invasion, Iran has tried to combat US power. The US had a strong position in Iraq, which could have a negative impact on the security of Iran. With the worsening situation in Iraq, and with the regime change that the US tried to impose in Iraq, the United States became less of a driver of Iranian actions, although it was always an important factor in the Iranian leadership’s calculations. Soon after 9/11 Iran also had changed some of its policy as there were significant changes in the US policy. Initially Iran had cooperated with the US with regards to al-Qaida and to some degree in Afghanistan’s issues. However, later on Iran believed that the United States rebuffed its gestures. In addition to this Iran also had exploited the situation that followed the US regime and change in Iraq so as to expand its influence there.[4] As of today, Iran has its closest ties with the Islamic Supreme Council of Iraq (ISCI), formerly the Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq (SCIRI). This relationship basically was on the exceptionally close and subservient days when SCIRI’s role was that of an Iranian proxy to be wielded against Saddam’s regime during the bitter 1980-8 Iran-Iraq war. Indeed, Iran even organised part of SCIRI into the Badr Corps to fight against Iraqi forces on Iran’s behalf. Today, as the International Crisis Group notes, â€Å"although the extent of ISCI’s continued involvement with it is a matter of debate, there is no question that Tehran exerts significant influence over the Party and that ISCI’s ties to Iran’s security establishment remain strong†.[5] Therefore, ISCI has been recognised as having the strongest ties to Iran. It has also been shown as quite cooperative with the United States.[6] For instance, ISCI had members, which were a part of Iraq’s intelligence and police forces. These members are now working with the United States in its capacity as part of the Iraqi government; they have also gone after ISCI rivals like Muqtada as-Sadr’s Jaysh al-Mahdi (JAM). In spite of ISCI being Iran’s closest ally in Iraq, Tehran has had many other relationships, which were maintained at any cost including weakening ISCI, such as Iran’s ties to JAM have grown to the extent of even hosting its leader Muqtada al-Sadr. This happened despite his repeated criticisms of Tehran and violent rivalry with ISCI. Thus, all these efforts were done to accomplish the initially set goals, including the major idea of maintaining a solid local influence.[7] IRAN-IRAQ WAR (1980-1988) It is important to clarify the circumstances leading to the 1980-1988 Iraq-Iran war in order to understand Iran’s and Iraq’s complicated relations. In 1979, after the rule of the Shah of Iran was overthrown in 1979, under the leadership of Ayatollah Khomeini, an Islamic Republic of Iran was established. Soon after assuming power, Ayatollah Khomeini not only exported the Islamic revolution to other countries in the Middle East but also to Iraq.[8] Because of all this Saddam Hussein in 1980 decided to initiate a war; thus, for the next two years there was a persistent war between Iran and Iraq, resulting in Iraq being expelled from Iran. [9] Although at this juncture Iran could have been declared victorious, Khomeini fought across the Shatt al-Arab waterway in Iraq to overthrow Saddam Hussein and forced his resolution in there. Khomeini had thought that Shiites would support him in his invasion but they were least interested to do it. Throughout the Arab countries it was assumed that it would take time for Iran to overthrow Saddam Hussein before the vulnerable monarchies of the Gulf fell, including the prised Saudi Arabia and its oil. Till now America was just waiting and watching all the drama (war), but at this juncture it decided to get into the war itself and tilt towards Iraq.[10] During the reign of Saddam Hussein, Iran launched a number of Shiite groups who violently opposed the Iraqi Baathist regime and this particularly took place before the Iran-Iraq war had started. The Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution (SCIR) in Iraq was led by Ayatollah Muhammad Bakr al-Hakim and his militia, the Badr Brigade, also joined forces with Iran in the Iran-Iraq war and very actively participated in the war by supporting the Iranian side. [11] After responding to the President George H. W. Bush’s ill-fated call for a Shiite uprising, which happened in 1991, SCIRI temporarily occupied the Iraqi port of Basra. Soon after the reprisals, SCIRI continued to be with the Shiite group and opposed Saddam Hussein. They were competing with different groups, such as Ahmed Chalabi’s Iraqi National Congress. After the US invasion and also after the establishment of the interim Iraqi government, SCIRI established itself as one of the most important and main political parties, which represented southern Shia (the other being Dawa). [12] Bakr al-Hakim, who was an Iraqi religious leader, was killed in the US led Iraq war. Abdul-Aziz Al-Hakim was the SCIRI’s political leader and was very famous in Iraq as a politician.[13] Moreover, SCIRI and Dawa had supported Abdul-Aziz al-Hakim when he was in Iran and was exiled; they also gave their support to the Iranian regime and advocated an Iraqi Islamic theocracy. After returning back to Iraq, they withdrew their support from Dawa and another government party, which was led by the velayat-e faqih. As a result, they started propagating the meaningful role of religion in governance.[14] IRAN’S STRATEGY TO INFLUENCE IRAQ Soon after the fall of Saddam Hussein’s regime in 2003, Iran tried to influence Iraq by adopting the strategy that Iran and Iraq are neighbours with a long history of dealing with one another. In addition, they both have same historic, religious, economic, and cultural factors of influence. Moreover, the eight-year long war was a result of their troubled relationship, in which Iran tried to position itself to influence the formation of a new government in Iraq. This took place through the use of all elements of national power: diplomatic means, information technology, military, and economic resources. Iran has tried to achieve its goals in Iraq by adopting different strategies. For instance, Iran openly supported pro-Iranian factions and armed militias; it also tried to influence Iraqi political leaders by building strong economic ties in Iraq, which were considered a manifestation of goodwill towards Iran.[15] According to Joseph Felter and Brian Fishman,[16] Iran has persistently tried to affect the political landscape of Iraq. It has been argued that Iran has a well-developed plan so as to exert influence in Iraq in order to minimise or avoid the American power projection in the Middle East. Two significant modes of Iranian influence have been identified in Iraq. The first mode was associated with the idea to influence Iraqi politics through the assistance of various Shiite organisations, such as the Supreme Council of Iraq, the Badr organisation, and the Dawa political party. The second method suggested support of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and Qods Force (QF) to obtain arms and ammunition as well as paramilitary training to various Iraqi militant groups to include Moqtada al Sadr’s Jaysh al Mahdi (JAM) and the Special Group Criminals (SGCs). Iran’s influence on Iraq has been identified as economic and religious. Iran’s ambitions for influence have spread to different diplomatic, military, and economic sectors of Iraq. Iran wanted to influence Iraq not only politically but through the involvement of mass media by creating a specific image in minds of Iraqi people so as to get help for its strategy. In economic terms, Iran has helped Iraq to build its trade and expand it accordingly.[17] IRANIAN MILITARY INFLUENCE IN IRAQ Because of the influence over the military, it had made many insurgent groups to operate in Iraq and some of them were directly opposing the US military in Iraq. With such influence in Iraq, Iran could possibly retaliate against the United States. In turn, this prompted the United States to convince the United Nations to impose economic sanctions on Iran because of its nuclear program. Iran also executed return attacks on the US forces using proxy militia groups in Iraq in case the US decided to take direct military action.[18] Since 2003, Iran had pursued extensive collaboration with Iraqi political allies, such as the United States, in order to participate in the nascent democratic political process. It has also armed, trained, and funded Shiite militias with the idea to defeat the United States, which would prevent further intervention of the US army in that particular area.[19] As Katzman mentions,[20] in the period from 2005 to 2008, Iran had increased support for Iraqi Shiite militias and took over both the material aid like physical arming of militia groups and the contribution of troops, as well as training or harbouring of insurgents. The Quds forces were supplying material to Iran, and they were charged for territorial actions, although reports have said that the military training in the Iraqi Shi’a militia was done by the Lebanese group Hezbollah.[21] The major terrorist activity was completed by Iran and Quds Force. This was confirmed in 2010 by the US State Department[22], but it appears that not only this Iranian government was involved between the IRGC and the Special Groups inside Iraq.[23] It has been noted that the Iraqi military group linked most strongly to Iran, is probably the Badr Corps, the armed wing of the ISCI, which, even prior to 2003, was described as â€Å"Iran’s most important action arm inside Iraq†.[24] Bergner (2007) stated that Iraqi Shiite groups were not in the situation to bring about such massive and destructive attacks, without weapons and training from Iran, implying that Tehran has carefully planned its actions. Again it was argued that links between military groups in Iraq were made in Iran, and this further fuelled instability. However, the question whether other agents or groups were involved in creating such an unstable situation remains open.[25] IRANIAN POLITICAL INVOLVEMENT IN IRAQ By 2011, it has been observed that Nouri al-Maliki, Prime Minister of Iraq, was openly against the Vice President Hashemi. In addition, there was persistent agitation between Erbil and Baghdad, which made the members of Iraqiyya and the Kurds to actually consider prime minister’s ouster seriously, which occurred in the 2012 spring. At this point Maliki’s opponents took the help of Sadrist because it was necessary at that point of time to obtain 163 votes, which were required to pass a non- confidence motion. Sadr was not willing to break with the other Shiite blocs and side with Maliki’s Kurdish and Sunni opponents in a non- confidence motion, in spite of having meetings between top Kurdish, Iraqiyya, and Sadrist officials (including Sadr himself) in Erbil and Najaf.[26] President Jalal Talabani was also under high pressure from the Iranian government to help and support Maliki, but he directly opposed the initiation of a non-confidence vote in the parliament, sa ying that there is no proper support for this action.[27] However, by June 2012, it has been evident that the non- confidence vote had faltered. It was in late 2012 reported that the President Talabani had changed his position on a non- confidence motion because of growing tensions among Arabs and Kurds.[28] By the end of 2012, Talabani suffered a stroke there by ending any chance of renewing push to remove Maliki through a non-confidence measure. De-Ba‘athification served the Iranian ambition more than the Iraqi one. The extensive period of Saddam Hussein’s Ba‘athist rule had left a deep societal mistrust and sectarian divisions. This institution, de-Ba‘athification, was created after Saddam’s downfall in 2003, but it was very quickly politicised, which also applied a ban on the former members of the Ba‘ath party. Again it was noted that there were links between the Iranian-backed militant groups and the head of the Shi‘a-dominated commis sion and his deputies, Ahmed Chalabi and Ali al- Lami.[29] Iran has been involved in Iraqi politics since 2003. Yet, Iranian efforts to exert influence over politics in Iraq have been evident since 1980s. However, the main point which is debated is whether Iran is committed to exerting long-term control over such a government, and whether the Iranian government would be comfortable in allowing a Shiite Iraqi government to become militarily and political powerful. It has also been claimed that the Iranian government had exerted persistent political pressure over the US to force the Americans to withdraw their troops in 2008 as per US-Iraq Security Agreement.[30] It has also been observed that Iran normally exerts pressure on the political sphere in Iraq through Iraq’s Shiite political parties by using its religious prowess to garner favour in the Shiite community. It appears that many of the political links were falsified after the Iran-Iraq war. This resulted in a huge number of Iraqi political figures being exiled in Iran and returning in the aftermath of the 2003 invasion to influence the politics in their home country. Iraqi Prime Minister, Nouri al-Maliki, had to spend a substantial amount of time in Iran, although most of his exile was spent in Syria, but this was during the rule of Saddam Hussein.[31] Similarly, it has been also noted that the Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr had strong links with the Iranian religious government and political establishment, although the Sadrist movement was basically anti-Iranian.[32] There were lots of other people, who felt that Iran had a negative impact on the instability of Iraq. According to Alsis et al.,[33] after the war the elections backed all major Shiite parties, so that if any of the party wins elections can be beholden to Tehran. Again this was the strategy of Iran to get support, which had led to Shiite divisions, and thus the cause of conflict and instability in many case s. Such political instability was the major cause of the development of various divisions in Iraqi society. The eruption of these division fuelled pressure not only in Iraq but in the entire region. During the 2010 elections, many incidents of violence were reported. This raised the question about the politically unstable country considering the presence of weak coalitions and holding of elections. This has provided Iran with an opportunity to demonstrate its support for Shiites, as this could be conducive to social stability, or such a condition may simply serve to whitewash and thus diminish the reality of the ground situation. The Brookings Institute Iraq Index (2006)[34] had charted a peak in multiple fatality bombings in January 2005, during the elections, and again during other months of the same year. All this has been seen very common in Iraq and somehow very much seen during Ramadan and elections, or in other words, it was considered quite normal during religious and political events. For example, Cordesman cites that â€Å"the number of attacks peaked to some 700 per week in October 2005, before the October 15th referendum on the constitution, compared to 430 per week in mid- January†.[35] In relation to these events, many political groups and parties, who are said to have links to political establishments of Iran and also independent elements within Iran, have argued that most of these groups have strong influence and links to the Islamic Supreme Council of Iraq (ISCI). It has been observed in recent years that the Mahdi Army, which is led by Moqtada al-Sadr, has become very powerful and influential due to reported links with Iran of Sadr.[36] ECONOMIC INFLUENCE Since the US invasion, trade between Iran and Iraq has steadily increased and Iran is now Iraq‘s biggest trading partner[37], and the trade consists of building materials, chemicals, consumer goods, and foodstuffs, much of it via the border at Mehran and Mundhirriya/QasrShirin. In addition to this, Iran has negotiated electricity deals with Iraq that were implemented after the CPA era.[38] According to the Iranian ambassador to Iraq, Iran supplies 750 megawatts of electricity to Iraq daily. Moreover, two Iranian banks have received an approval to open their branches in Iraq.[39] Nonetheless, Iran’s investments in real estate and businesses in Basra, Karbala, and Najaf have been seen as exploitative rather than a form of gratitude from Iraqis.[40] To add to this Iran-Iraq economic ties are strong, and this has been encouraged to some extent by the impact of international sanctions on Iran and in other markets. It was demonstrated by Iran‘s ambassador in August 2010 that Iran would double its trade volume with Iraq.[41] Iranian officials have also indicated that they welcome a strong economic integration between the two countries, â€Å"Our message to Iraqi brothers in my visit is that Iran is fully ready to expand ties with Baghdad. We announced that Tehran is prepared to put its scientific, technical, engineering, economic and commercial potentials at the disposal of Iraq†.[42] In 2005, there were reports that to get a job in Basra, this requires the sponsorship of Iran, as teaching posts were filled only by those who were supporting Iran[43]. As a result, most traders in southern parts of Iran speak Farsi and many accept Iranian currency. Iranian exports include electricity, refined oil products, and cars. It al so helps to fund reconstruction. Iraqis have also started receiving medical care from Iran. Thus, Iran has presented a strong economic influence on Iraq. IRAN’S BROADER ROLE IN IRAQI SECURITY The interests of Iran and Iraq security coincide in certain areas and security competition is complicated as it is seen by some Iraqis that Iran is making huge efforts to acquire nuclear weapons as a Muslim bomb, and not as a threat to Iraq.[44] It was also noted that Iran has given some funding to Iraq‘s security forces in 2005, and Iraq had to promise the United States that Iran would not train Iraqi security forces.[45] Iran had pressurised on the security arrangement between the US and Iraq. General Odierno who was the Commander of the Multi-National Force in Iraq at that time said on October 12, 2008, that Iran may try to corrupt the members of the Council of Representatives so as to vote against the Status of Forces agreement.[46] However, in December 2011 Iran indicated that the US forces should withdraw from Iraq, as the US should not use Iraqi land, sea, and air for launching or for any transit point when they attack other countries.[47] It has been argued that some Iraqi military and intelligence officials had significant influence over elements of the Iraqi Ministry of the Interior, and had accused Iran of providing shaped charges and artillery to Iraqi militants. Moreover, Iran had also recruited thousands of Iraqis for gathering information; in fact, Iran has had intelligence agents in northern Iraq for at least 20 years.[48] As per Dafna Linzer, the rough estimate about Iranian intelligence officers in Iraq in 2007 was about 150.[49] It was also observed that some of the Iranian people felt that an increase in Iraq would be a threat to them, while others have attempted to use Iraq‘s military as a wedge to force the US out of Iraq.[50] As per Iran‘s Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi, â€Å"Considering the fact that the Iraqi Army can provide security, their presence in the country is not justifiable†.[51] THE ROLE OF THE IRANIAN REVOLUTIONARY GUARD IN IRAQ Immediately after the fall of Saddam in 2003, Iran began funnelling much of its aid to militias in Iraq via the Qods Force, which is a branch of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.[52] They not only provided funding, weapons, operatives, and training to groups in Iraq, but also to Islamic militants in Palestine, Bosnia, Hezbollah in Lebanon, fighters in south Sudan, and the Taliban in Afghanistan.[53] It was argued by Mahan Abedin, who is a director of research at the London-based Centre for the Study of Terrorism that Qods’ training was largely focused on utilising intelligence and this was the key to their success. As per official figures, the number of Qods and Iranian intelligence personnel in Iraq was 150, while US commanders believe there were only fewer Shiite provinces.[54] Although the United States was slow to grasp the full extent of Iran‘s expanding role in Iraq, but on July 19, 2005, the United States sent a secret cable to Iran which stated that a British soldier was killed by an explosive which was supplied by Iran, although Iran denied there involvement, which lead to confrontations. [55] The Commander General Petraeus, who was in power during the Multi-National Force operation in Iraq, stated in his testimony to Congress that â€Å"none of us earlier this year appreciated the extent of Iranian involvement in Iraq, something about which we and Iraq‘s leaders all now have greater concern†.[56] Moreover, the Qods was a tool used by Iran directly or indirectly for hurting the US military and also disrupting American interests in Iraq. In 2007, General Petraeus stated that, â€Å"There should be no question about the malign, lethal involvement and activities of the Qods Force in this country†. He went on to add that Iran was â€Å"responsible for providing the weapons, the training, the funding and in some cases the direction for operations that have indeed killed US soldiers†.[57] American officials did not accuse the Qods Force directly for attacking Americans and very carefully said that they were not aware of leadership of the Iranian gover nment as being involved in the Qods Force‘s activities.[58] Such uncertainty in the US regarding the potential involvement of Iran in hte Qods Force raises certain issues that should be addressed by American politicians. Although the American president, George W. Bush, confidently said that those arms, ammunitions and explosives, which were used in Iraq, were certainly from the Qods Force, but â€Å"we are not aware whether or not the head leaders of Iran ordered the Quds Force to do what all this and what all they did †. [59] As per the US intelligence reports, which leaked in 2010, certain details were provided about the precise extent to which Iran was involved in 2006-2009 violence. The report also said that the IRGC used Hezbollah to train militants in Iran before crossing to Iraq. Moreover, General Petraeus had stated Hezbollah‘s role in a 2007 report to Congress.[60] The reports draw on testimony from detainees, captured diaries, and weapons originating in Iran which included explosively formed penetrators, bombs, and surface-to-air missiles. Thus, by all these reports it can be concluded that Iran had a hand in training and resourcing of specific attacks, including assassinations of Iraqi ministry officials, mortar attacks on the Green Zone, and also on kidnappings of American soldiers. In addition, General Petraeus implicated Iran in the 2007 car bombing and killing of two southern Iraqi governors. Besides using Hezbollah to train terrorists, the reports point to both the Badr Corps and Mahdi Army as allies in Iranian efforts.[61] According to the Long War Journal, which is basically based on interviews with senior military and intelligence officials and also mid-level military people, the Qods Force streamlined its operations in Iraq by creating the Ramazan Corps. The Corps was responsible for most of Qods Forces operations in Iraq in 2007 and consists of the Fajr command in the south, Nasr command in the north, and Zafar command in central Iraq. The Qods Force’s aid also included Mahdi Army, the Badr Brigades, the Qazali Network, the Sheibani Network, and many more groups and parties, as they mostly targeted political rivals, the Iraqi Security Forces, and Coalition forces. Moreover, when Badr Brigades and SCIRI formed a government, Iranian groups targeted them.[62] Again as per Brigadier General Kevin Begner, on July 2, 2007, Iran had supplied the Iraqi militias with $3 million per month.[63] Again in 2011, the US raised concerns over Iran‘s involvement in Iraqi violence and said that the incre ase in the number of Americans dying in the summer of 2011 was because Iran had supported Iraqi militants. Again in July, Admiral Mullen said that Iran was supplying militias in Iraq so as to take credit for withdrawing American troops.[64] During the war, which lasted for 8 years, Iran has developed strong ties in terms of religious and political influence with Shiite parties. During this period, Iran played a very important role in mediating between the Iraqi political leaders. It also had strong relations with the Sadrists who are one of the largest political parties in Iran’s ruling collation. Moreover, IRGC also had a significant influence over Iraqi security forces. Iran also has a large mix of resources, which were available in the process of exerting influence upon Iraq after Saddam Hussein was toppled in 2003. Iran also used its influence in Iraq so as to divert the US goals, and pursue its own goals and interests. Iran used its sway in Iraq in order to keep the pro-Iranian Shiite Prime Minister Maliki in power and also to maintain stability along its western border. Thus, it can be argued that Iran’s role in Iraq is very complex, and not a simple task to mould Iraq as per the wishes of Iran. [65] CONCLUSION From all that has been discussed and looked at above, it is beyond doubt that since the invasion of Iraq by the United States and the downfall of Saddam Hussein, Iran has exerted more and more influence in Iraq by both conventional and unconventional methods. It has used a number of tools ranging from economic, political, military, regional to historic to exert such influence and has also formed proxies both with organisations of different profiles and objectives. Sectarianism and factional divisions have also been largely exploited by Iran to achieve its goals. Iranian influence in Iraq is vital to Iran since it considers its importance as a means of establishing its regional dominance and counters the influence of the United States in Iraq. Such efforts of establishing its influence in Iraq have not been without setbacks considering that Iran has had to work with organisations that have been counter-productive in their goals and objectives. The situation in Syria in the past few years has also lessened the viability of Iran’s dominance in the region. Even with such setbacks, Iran has enjoyed some benefits from its dominance in Iraq since trade between the two countries has flourished in a critical moment when Iran was undergoing trade sanctions from the United States and Western countries. One can only wait to see how long such influence will be exerted and whether such status enjoyed by Iran now will continue to exist regardless of the political situation in Iraq. BIBLIOGRAPHY Al-Jazeera English. (2011). â€Å"Iraqi PM in US to Chart Future Relations.† Accessed July 2, 2014, http://www.aljazeera.com/news/americas/2011/12/2011121273244299490.html. Allawi, A. (2007). The Occupation of Iraq: Winning the War, Losing the Peace. New Haven: Yale University Press. Alsis, P., Cordesman, A. H., Mausner, A. and Loi, C. 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(2004). â€Å"Iran Is in Strong Position to Steer Iraq’s Political Future.† New York Times, July 3, 2004, A6. Woods, K., Williamson, M., Thomas, H. and Mounir, E. (2009). â€Å"Saddam’s War: An Iraqi Military Perspective of the Iran-Iraq War.† McNair Paper 70, National Defense University-Washington. Wright, R. (2004). â€Å"Religious Leaders Ahead in Iraq Poll.† Washington Post, October 22, 2004, A1.

Welding Guide on Unitor

SAFETY IN WELDING A Safe Journey with UNITOR Norwegian Training Center – Manila A SAFE JOURNEY WITH UNITOR Welding and Flame Cutting elsewhere than in workshop should be the subject of a â€Å"HOT WORK PERMIT† A Safe Journey with UNITOR 2 Norwegian Training Center – Manila Production welding is done under optimum conditions. The appropriate equipment is provided for and the specification are set. A Safe Journey with UNITOR 3 Norwegian Training Center – Manila Maintenance and repair welding onboard involves a host of unknowns. Problems relate to chemical composition of the base metals, weldability, pre and post heat, choice of electrode, and the handicaps of field welding. A Safe Journey with UNITOR 4 Norwegian Training Center – Manila PROTECT THE EYES Never expose bare eyes to the glare and rays from the ARC! This will cause arc-eye (very painful) and damage to the ayes. Use filter glass of correct grade. Amperage Below 20 A 20 – 40 A 40 – 80 A 80 – 175 A 175 – 300 A 300 – 500 A A Safe Journey with UNITOR Grade 8 9 10 11 12 13 5 Norwegian Training Center – Manila A Safe Journey with UNITOR 6 Norwegian Training Center – Manila Train the crew to do the repair welding work themselves instead of subcontracting it away. A Safe Journey with UNITOR 7 Norwegian Training Center – Manila What about your welding technique? Could you need a bit of time at the welding school? A Safe Journey with UNITOR 8 Norwegian Training Center – Manila Both welding cable and return cable should be stretched to the welding site Remember that if you connect the return cable in the ships structure you are actually standing on the return current A Safe Journey with UNITOR 9 Norwegian Training Center – Manila Place the return clamp as near to where the welding takes place as possible. If you don’t, the return current might travel through ball bearings and other critical machine parts and destroy them. A Safe Journey with UNITOR 10 Norwegian Training Center – Manila If you are a smoker remember that disposable plastic cigarette lighters kept in pockets may cost you your life on a welding job. Should a spark fall into your pocket the lighter may explode, resulting in extensive, even fatal burns. Always leave your lighter behind when you shall weld. A Safe Journey with UNITOR 11 Norwegian Training Center – Manila Prevent sparks dropping down hatchways or hold ventilators. Keep fire extinguishers ready. A Safe Journey with UNITOR 12 Norwegian Training Center – Manila Before hot work is begun, check that there are no combustible solids, liquids or gases, at below or adjacent to welding area. A Safe Journey with UNITOR 13 Norwegian Training Center – Manila Remember that protective clothing is not only meant to protect you from burns spatter and arc radiation but also serves as an insulator so you don’t become part of the electric circuit A Safe Journey with UNITOR 14 Norwegian Training Center – Manila Hoses and cables should be kept clear of passage ways. A Safe Journey with UNITOR 15 Norwegian Training Center – Manila To work with worn or damaged welding cables is extremely dangerous. Inspect the condition of the cables regularly. Worn cables should be replaced, not â€Å"Repaired† with insulation tape. If the damage is local the damaged part should be cut away and the cable joined with a cable connector. A Safe Journey with UNITOR 16 Norwegian Training Center – Manila Be sure you never get any electric shock when using electric equipment. A Safe Journey with UNITOR 17 Norwegian Training Center – Manila DO NOT lean directly on to the structure if the return current runs through it, but make sure to insulate yourself using either a RUBBER MAT or WOOD. A Safe Journey with UNITOR 18 Norwegian Training Center – Manila In no circumstances should a welder work while standing in water. Water and electricity do not mix. A Safe Journey with UNITOR 19 Norwegian Training Center – Manila DO NOT weld on drums or tanks before they are cleaned and made absolutely gas free. A Safe Journey with UNITOR 20 Norwegian Training Center – Manila Poisonous gas might develop during welding caused by elements in the base materials or due to paints and metal coatings on the surface. A Safe Journey with UNITOR 21 Norwegian Training Center – Manila HAVE ELECTRODES BEEN PROPERLY STORED? If electrodes are left in the open air they start to attract moisture. When the electrode is used the moisture in the coating goes over as Hydrogen Porosity in the weld. This will in time develop into Hydrogen Cracking. A Safe Journey with UNITOR 22 Norwegian Training Center – Manila WHY IS IT THAT THE WELD I DID ONE WEEK AGO HAVE CRACKED. A Safe Journey with UNITOR 23