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Page added on October 19, 2015
UK Ignores Barbaric Death & Torture To Become Saudi Arabia’s Largest Arms Supplier
While increasing cries from the West demand an end to all association with Saudi Arabia, the U.K. government described lucrative public contracts with the notorious human rights abuser as a “priority market.”
Government departments have been actively — even aggressively — steering U.K. businesses into bidding for contracts with the Saudis in the health, justice, defense, and security sectors, according to documents seen by the Observer.
“It’s becoming increasingly clear that ministers are bent on ever-closer ties with the world’s most notorious human rights abusers,” said Maya Foa, who directs the death penalty team at Reprieve. “Ministers must urgently come clean about the true extent of our agreements with Saudi Arabia and other repressive regimes.”
As three young Saudis, Ali Mohammad al-Nimr, Abdullah al-Zaher, and Dawoud al-Marhoon face beheading and crucifixion — and another blogger, Raif Badawi, essentially receives a drawn-out death sentence of 1,000 lashes — the U.S. and U.K. governments have been barraged with criticism for continuing political relations. Perhaps inflaming the issue more, according to the Guardian, several of the “most important Saudi contracts” fell under the Overseas Security and Justice Assistance Policy (OSJA) — meant to establish U.K.’s security and justice dealings as “consistent with a foreign policy based on British values, including human rights.”
Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn penned an openly critical letter to Prime Minister David Cameron in which he pled for an independent review of the OSJA process:
“By operating under a veil of secrecy, we risk making the OSJA process appear to be little more than a rubber-stamping exercise, enabling the U.K. to be complicit in gross human rights abuses,” he wrote.
But the U.K. has increased dealings with the kingdom, ignoring the pleas.
In fact, the U.K. is now Saudi Arabia’s largest arms dealer — supplying 36% of its imports. According to the Guardian,
“U.K. business[es] want to capitalize on the fragile situation in the Middle East. A 2013 document, written by an official at U.K. Trade and Investment, the body charged with promoting business interests, outlines how the region’s ‘global policing and security market has ballooned.’ Freedom of Information requests show that the U.K. Trade and Investment Defense and Security Organization (UKTI) is courting the Saudis and that civil servants met Saudi military delegations at the U.K.’s Security and Policing arms fair this year and last summer at the Farnborough airshow. Civil servants were also due to meet Saudi representatives at the major arms expo in London’s Docklands last month, just as the regime upheld a ruling that al-Nimr was to be executed and his body crucified and left in public view for three days.”
Many are struggling to understand why the U.K. would seek to supply arms to the same country from which it withdrew a £5.7 million (nearly $8.8 million) prison contract less than a week ago — reportedly due to yet another impending lashing: this time of 74-year-old Karl Andree for transporting homemade wine in his vehicle.
“The Saudi regime has an appalling human rights record,” said Andrew Smith of the Campaign Against Arms Trade, “yet it remains the world’s largest buyer of U.K. weapons. How many more people will be tortured and killed before the U.K. government finally says enough is enough?”
Saudi Arabia executed at least 134 people so far in 2015, according to a report from Amnesty International. As Smith noted:
“It seems ironic for the U.K. to be working on healthcare with the Saudi regime at the same time as selling them the means to suppress and kill their own people.”
19 Comments on "UK Ignores Barbaric Death & Torture To Become Saudi Arabia’s Largest Arms Supplier"
makati1 on Mon, 19th Oct 2015 8:18 pm
Nothing new here. It’s ALL about money and power. The West is the world’s biggest hypocrite. The sooner it goes down, the better for the rest of the world.
Boat on Mon, 19th Oct 2015 9:39 pm
R&D is very expensive for military weapons to stay on the cutting edge of products. You have to sell a lot to stay in the game. It also provides well paying jobs as part of the bubble economy. Greece for example has a higher military budget than Iran and buys most of their stuff from Germany. Imagine that.
Name me a western country that doesn’t trade with the rest of the world. If it is hypocritical then why has it happened since the beginning of man. I read recently congress is being asked to sell weapons to Vietnam. Another day of trade.
GregT on Mon, 19th Oct 2015 10:24 pm
Military weapons are designed to do one thing Boat. Kill other human beings. Killing people is wrong Boat.
makati1 on Mon, 19th Oct 2015 10:26 pm
Weapons are not needed trade, Boat. All the Us has left is weapons and to sell those, you need war. There was little weapons sales prior to WW1 and that increased after WW2. The M.I.C. saw how profitable it was, as they sold to both sides. Sound familiar?
Now the Us cannot survive without war, a big one and this one will kill America. Sounds like a drug junky, doesn’t it? Cannot stop because it will kill him and cannot go on because it will kill him.
antaris on Mon, 19th Oct 2015 11:05 pm
Boat you would be perfect for helping out with R&D. Your loss would actually be a plus.
antaris on Mon, 19th Oct 2015 11:09 pm
I take that back as I Don’t want any loss besides some R&D
Davy on Tue, 20th Oct 2015 2:40 am
Just a reminder anti-Americans who is waring these days? Who is killing? I have notice the Putin worship has died down that’s a plus. I hate to say I told you so.
The US MIC is obscene but your friends in China and Russia believe in it also.
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-06-25/putin-s-economic-solution
and China
http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/china/budget.htm
claman on Tue, 20th Oct 2015 4:36 am
Boat, I have to trust you when you say it, but this does sound a little wrong:
“Greece for example has a higher military budget than Iran”
apneaman on Tue, 20th Oct 2015 4:57 am
US contemplates failure in the Middle East as Russia rises
http://www.news.com.au/world/middle-east/us-contemplates-failure-in-the-middle-east-as-russia-rises/story-fnh81ifq-1227575994404
claman on Tue, 20th Oct 2015 5:36 am
Apne,”US contemplates failure in the Middle East as Russia rises”
Rather amazing video.
The willingness to sacrifice ones children in war is inverse proportional with the cost of bringing up a child.The same goes for soldiers, and today an american soldier is very expensive.
But that doesn’t seem to be the case in russia.
Eventually they are gonna lose a lot of aircraft and men, by going in unprotected over a town like that.
Good luck russia, but that tactic won’t work in the long run
apneaman on Tue, 20th Oct 2015 5:37 am
PUTIN! PUTIN! HE’S OUR MAN
IF HE CAN’T DO IT
NO ONE CAN
GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO PUTIN!
apneaman on Tue, 20th Oct 2015 6:50 am
I luvs me some Orlov
Shrinking the Technosphere, Part III
“No matter how good America’s luck has been—isolated geographic location, plentiful natural resources, the gigantic windfall of its victory in World War II, the additional windfall of the Soviet collapse—the luck was bound to run out eventually. In fact, to a large extent it already has: as a purely practical matter, it simply isn’t possible to continue running roughshod over the entire planet if you run roughshod over your own population as well. The US has less than 5% of the world’s population, half of whom are obese, a third on drugs and a quarter mentally ill. It leads the world in deaths from gun violence, police murders and prison population. Half the children are born into poverty and a third into broken and nonexistent families. Over a quarter of the working age population is permanently out of work. By no stretch of the imagination is this a description of a group that can rule the world..”
more
http://cluborlov.blogspot.ca/2015/10/shrinking-technosphere-part-iii.html#more
makati1 on Tue, 20th Oct 2015 7:22 am
claman, perhaps their (Russia) equipment actually works and will make such sorties successful for a long, long time. Or until the Us/Saudis cannot resupply them with material and food.
The Us has not been able to match Russian or China advancements for years. The F35 is a prime example. Even the Us military acknowledges their effectiveness.
Plus, the across 3 countries missile attack reminded the EU that there is no place to hide if they allow the Empire to pull them into a war with Russia. Those missiles can carry nukes as well as conventional explosives.
Everything changed with Putin’s UN speech and the Chinese backup. We have returned to a multi polar world.
claman on Tue, 20th Oct 2015 7:59 am
Mak, The attack on the video seemed to go well, but when the IS gets som small shoulder launched missiles into the game, then I wouldn’t like to be in those helicopters and fighters.
F-35 is crap and the PAK is barely flying yet. F-22 is the best, but not even US can afford it. The question is if russia can afford the PAK and how many.
Davy on Tue, 20th Oct 2015 8:10 am
Clam, you are new here so let me explain. The ugly anti-Americans have not had their rabies shots yet.
claman on Tue, 20th Oct 2015 8:18 am
Davy, I’m trying to be positive and open mindet.
By the way davy. is Canada going for F-35 or the hornet. Denmarks decission about future figthers is very much dependent of the canadian choise. We want our airforce to be able to cooperate as tight as possible with the canadian.
Davy on Tue, 20th Oct 2015 8:31 am
Clam, the ugly anti-Americans can’t stand an open mindset. You are going to be attacked unless you choose sides or you can just do as I do give em the finger.
To be honest I don’t know enough about the F35. It is likely a huge waste of money considering what is coming. We should be downsizing and lowering the tech side of our defense capabilities. I imagine the jet when working right will be formable in the right hand and the right situation just as the Russian and Chinese planes are. It really comes down to training and application of assets over just technological wizardry. Fire superiority is the key. Fire superiority is more than just technology. The real value is in proper combination of tactical/strategic abilities with training and readiness. If you can add good reliable equipment to this you have a force hard to beat.
shortonoil on Tue, 20th Oct 2015 9:15 am
“Nothing new here. It’s ALL about money and power. The West is the world’s biggest hypocrite. The sooner it goes down, the better for the rest of the world.“
Yes, what a delightful future. The entire world then can get back to beheading, Crucifixion, lashing to death, the rack, mutilation, burning at the stack and impaling. We can all pack our lunch on Sunday, and go down and watch the witches burn.
To blame the West for the barbaric behavior of a Stone culture is the epitome of relational cognitive disconnect. Why don’t you do your part; give up eating food grown with the help of petroleum. If it weren’t for oil, they would still be a bunch of savages, sitting on a sand dune, waiting for a lizard to crawl by. Now they can use a BIC lighter to start the fires to burn their witches. They were a pack of barbarians 9000 years before the West ever showed up. Chances are they will be a pack of barbarians 9000 years after the West is gone.
makati1 on Tue, 20th Oct 2015 7:22 pm
short, did you notice that the ‘going back to” is not necessary? All of the things you mention are still happening in ever larger numbers. Droning wedding parties can easily replace the rack, police killings ( US 1,100 last year alone) can easily replace beheadings, etc. Nothing has changed except, perhaps the methods of torture, murder and starvation and the much higher numbers of victims.
Yes, it should all collapse now to a point where the whole system resets to a level similar to the days prior to the English Dark Ages. There may actually be a habitable earth left for our kids and theirs.
Those who cannot adapt can just die. That is how the natural system works. We warped it when we discovered hydrocarbon energy only a few short centuries ago. Time for a reset. Are you prepared?