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.
You go there to pick which weapons you will buy. What is Iraq doing there at all?
Such as what?
The claim that they are harboring terrorists? That's proven.
The claim that 9-11 hijackers met with and enjoyed support from Iraqi intelligence? It is highly likely that that is exactly what occurred.
The claim that they continue to develop bio and chemical weapons, missile technology, and to pursue nuclear weapons--and that they have shown no compunction about using them on innocents?
I could go on...but evidence that Hussein presents a real threat to American citizens is ample.
Add to the fact that he rapes, tortures and kills men, women and children who somehow offend him, and I have no qualms about taking him out.
Ultimately, the Iraqi people will cheer.
You need to brush yours.
Right.....Iranian terrorists who operate in the area that we control...DOH!
The claim that 9-11 hijackers met with and enjoyed support from Iraqi intelligence? It is highly likely that that is exactly what occurred.
Totally unsubstantiated nonsense.
The claim that they continue to develop bio and chemical weapons, missile technology, and to pursue nuclear weapons--and that they have shown no compunction about using them on innocents?
The "gassing Kurds" story is probably false. There has never been even the slightest hard evidence to verify the claim that by the way originated from the US state department. On the other hand, it was televised all over the world when Janet Reno gassed children to death at Waco. Fact. Verified by witnesses, government documents and autopsies. No such evidence exists in the case of the Iraq claim.
I could go on...
Probably not with any veracity you couldn't.
but evidence that Hussein presents a real threat to American citizens is ample.
LOL. If it's so ample, you could go on.
Add to the fact that he rapes, tortures and kills men, women and children who somehow offend him, and
Any source for that claim?
I have no qualms about taking him out.
Sure you do. You're sitting on your butt in front of a computer. When you get to Iraq, give us a post and we'll re-evaluate your keyboard bravado. Until then, spare us all the phony heroics.
Ultimately, the Iraqi people will cheer.
Unless Iraq decides that Hussein may be an asshole but he is THEIR asshole. We have no business going to war with Iraq. They had nothing to do with 9/11.
Buddy, your whole argument is based on a belief. A belief that is completely unsupported by any forensic record. I'd say you are the one with the problem. Foreign affairs should not be decided by supersticion and rumor.
From an historical perspective, which seems the most logical course of action?
Exactly what I was thinking through this whole thread!
NO, IT CAN'T!
When someone starts spouting this crap get them to take a look at the reserves of both countries.
They share a lot of the same reservoirs.
It's the same as the Texas Gulf Coast sharing the same reservoirs as the Louisiana Gulf Coast.
Here we go again, comparing Hitler to Saddam.
Apples and Oranges, guy.
Then there's the argument that if we had simply stayed out, Stalin and Hitler would have ground each other up.
Boy, would that have served the world well.
Yes, it CAN!! (It's called "slant drilling."
BTW...you can be assured that the President and his national security team are not functioning on superstition and rumor.
Officials at that level don't talk of mushroom clouds over American cities on a whim. They have ALL of the available information, and I have no doubt at all...none...that it is clear that Iraq is an imminent threat.
Officials at that level have a very long history of "adjusting" the facts in order to achieve a political result which might or might not be apparent.
From what crystal ball did you glean this amazing piece of information?
DD, you should hire out!
You've evidently got more information than ALL of our intelligence gathering departments!
Does the Cato Institute provide you with all of this?
When you go to your computer in the morning to get your fix and get wound up, do they automatically plug in updates to your talking points?
That must be nice to not ever have to think.
I'm in the business, son.
I know more about drilling, slant or straight, than you could accumulate in a lifetime.
They didn't need to slant drill.
They share the same reservoirs!
Sorry, I won't step into that thinly veiled trap.
Please go back and read what I wrote:
"Officials at that level have a very long history of "adjusting" the facts in order to achieve a political result which might or might not be apparent(sic)."
Once again, someone is trying to put words in my mouth.
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