Posted on 10/13/2002 8:12:17 AM PDT by icantbleaveit
Outrage as Iraq views UK arms
Peace campaigners angered as Saddam's top brass
'rub shoulders' with British firms at weapons bazaar
Jason Burke, chief reporter
Sunday October 13, 2002
The Observer
A British Minister will lead a major sales drive by UK weapons
and military technology firms at an exhibition attended by
high-ranking Iraqi military officials this week.
The news has sparked outrage among arms control
campaigners and groups opposed to military action against Iraq.
'It is absurd that we are gearing up to fight a war against these
people and simultaneously rubbing shoulders with them at an
arms bazaar,' said Martin Hogbin of the Campaign Against Arms
Trade.
Around a dozen British firms will be displaying equipment such
as tanks, thermal imaging night sights and state-of-the-art air
defence missiles at the exhibition in Amman, Jordan. Machine
tools that could be used to produce weapons will also be on
show. The government-run Defence Export Services
Organisation will also have a stall.
Promotional material for the Sofex military fair boasts that
Saddam Hussein is sending an official delegation. Sultan
Hashim Ahmad, the Iraqi Defence Minister, attended the last
Sofex. Sudan, Syria, Libya and Iran - all listed as sponsors of
terrorism by the US State Department - are also expected to
attend.
'It's an appalling example of double standards. Where there is a
buck to be made, we're there,' said Andrew Bergen, spokesman
for the Stop the War Coalition, which campaigns against military
action against Iraq.
In the Eighties the UK and US supplied Iraq with millions of
pounds' worth of military equipment. Baghdad used British
companies to procure 'dual-use' machine tools to make
ammunition. Even though the UK had imposed an embargo on
'lethal equipment', the Conservative Government let the sales
proceed.
The Ministry of Defence confirmed last week that Lord Bach, the
Defence Procurement Minister, would be attending the fair.
'Sofex allows the UK defence industry to demonstrate its
product range to a number of potential overseas customers very
effectively,' said an MoD spokesman.
There is no suggestion that the British firms are doing anything
wrong. 'We exhibit there. The Government decides what we can
sell to whom,' said a spokesman for the American military
aviation giant Lockheed Martin, whose British arm is attending
the fair. Lockheed Martin makes the Longbow 'fire-and-forget'
and the Hellfire 2 anti-tank missiles. Both would be expected to
play a key role in any attack on Iraq.
Some senior industry figures, however, have expressed surprise
at the British presence. 'Are we there to show the Iraqis what we
are about to drop on them?' one asked. Exhibition organisers list
Raytheon, the American company which makes the long-range
Cruise missiles that experts predict would spearhead any US
bombardment of Iraq, among companies at the fair. Vickers, the
UK arms company which makes the Challenger, the Army's
main battle tank, will also be exhibiting.
Sales by British firms are carefully vetted, but other nations are
less rigorous. The Russian state arms export corporation,
Rosoboronexport, which will be at Sofex, provided Robert
Mugabe's regime in Zimbabwe with 21,000 AK-47s and eight
attack helicopters.
A Romanian firm which offered banned anti-personnel mines for
sale at an arms fair in the UK three years ago, will exhibit, as
well as Vazovski, a Bulgarian company, which makes grenade
launchers, missile and anti-aircraft systems. Vazovski small
arms were shipped to Unita rebels with false 'end-user'
certificates in the late Nineties.
Britain has always had a tradition of military co-operation with
Jordan and the strong representation of UK companies at the fair
is being seen as an expression of support for the government of
King Abdullah. The Jordanian economy benefits hugely from
trade with Iraq. Any military operations will have a massive
impact in the kingdom.
The Middle East has long been a good market for British
weapons firms. According to recent Foreign Office figures, the
UK licensed arms exports worth £1.4 billion to the Middle East
and North Africa between January 1999 and December 2001.
Oil money
Big Business money
Military Arms Makers money
You speak as though neither your life nor the lives of your loved ones are in danger.
Either you're stupid or in a cave.
How much stock do you have in the arms makers?
You are in the same class as Klinton.
Oh, yeah... I forgot you're too dumb to use fact.
Let us hope that your stay is brief if you think this war is about money.
If we wanted Iraq's oil then we would simply drop the sanctions and buy it. Spending billions of dollars militarily to take billions of dollars worth of oil is stupid. I would not recommend that you spend a million dollars to hire someone to break into my house as I will you all of my stuff for far less.
False economy and lack of logic.
Stay safe; stay armed.
Opportunists.
Then why is Tony Blair(our primary ally) allowing Iraq arms buyers to do this?
Actually, it has absolutely nothing to do with anything on your list. Where the heck did you get a dumb bass idea like that?
If you'd pay attention to what's happening in the world: Iraq has supported and trained Al Quata, as well as thwarted a peace deal it agreed to when it lost the gulf war.
If Iraq was not a threat, as the "left-over peace-nicks from the '60's" seem to claim, why would they even be concerned about Iraq buying weapons? After all, they claim he's a man of peace, just like Muslim Al Quata is a religon of peace, right?
Stupid liberals. Nothing in their heads but dust. *sigh*
Thank you. The first saine reply on this thread.
Methinks the pot calls the kettle black.
Nope. They're the conduit to the Iraqui military, and we're no doubt using them to get the word out. Behind the scenes military commanders are being warned to desert or lay down their arms when the war starts, or face immediate destruction or a post-war trial. Many if not most of them will, making our job much easier.
Unfortunately, opportunists always come out of the woodwork-- and not just when there's war.
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