This week we’ve been besieged by news images of men jam-packed into truck beds holding military assault weapons. Their manufacturer of choice is Toyota. Militias have long used Toyota pickup trucks as a vehicle of war, especially in the Middle East. The trucks are lightweight, agile, fuel-efficient, and well suited to the local terrain. In 2013 Kyle Mizokami noted: “You can buy 266 of them for the cost of just one tank. Plus, it’s more dependable than a tank—and easier to maintain.” Toyotas are not only a war vehicle in Afghanistan. Somali warlords use them in Somalia. Humanitarian aid officials have…
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