From: rich@pencil.cs.missouri.edu (Rich Winkel)
Subject: BRITAIN: Arms trade to Middle East continues unabated
Followup-To: alt.activism.d
Originator: rich@pencil.cs.missouri.edu
Organization: PACH
Date: Thu, 19 Nov 1992 00:59:28 GMT

/** mideast.gulf: 24.0 **/
** Topic: IPS:BRITAIN: Arms trade to Middle E **
** Written 10:37 pm  Nov 16, 1992 by pnmideast in cdp:mideast.gulf **
From: <pnmideast>
Subject: IPS:BRITAIN: Arms trade to Middle East

/* Written 12:21 am  Nov 14, 1992 by newsdesk@igc.apc.org in igc:ips.englibrary */
/* ---------- "BRITAIN: Arms trade to Middle East " ---------- */
Copyright Inter Press Service 1992, all rights reserved.  Permission to re-
print within 7 days of original date only with permission from 'newsdesk'.

Title: BRITAIN: Arms trade to Middle East continues unabated /RELATE/

an inter press service feature

by lucy johnson

attn editors: please relate the following item to 'britain:
government accused of building up saddam's war machine' moved from
london earlier

london, oct 11 (ips) -- the british government is being exposed as
another western power that helped build saddam hussein into the
bellicose monster that turned on his creators. but the west
continues to arm volatile middle east states, say analysts.

''in the final stages of operation desert storm the allies said
they would take a firm stand on preventing a middle east arms race
potential conflict zones,'' says professor paul wilkinson, author
of a recent report on arms sales to the middle east.

since iraq invaded kuwait in 1991 some 35 to 45 billion dollars
worth of arms have been supplied to the middle east -- a figure
that amounts to a sudden and dramatic upsurge in sales.

the escalation is justified by suppliers as helping to create a
defensive shield for vulnerable states. but, say analysts, many of
the weapons are highly sophisticated offensive missiles.

though the technology is taking place within the context of peace
time, not the military build-up of iraq in the 1980s, the
parallels are close enough to prompt analysts to warn governments
who seem not to be learning from their past mistakes.

saferworld, an independent think-tank that co-researched
wilkinson's report, says the major powers place ''short term,
narrowly defined foreign policy and commercial interests above the
needs of long-term peace and stability in the middle east''.

fears of a western-fed arms race within the middle east came as
british prime minister john major battled to contain a furore over
allegations that ministers colluded to contravene a government
embargo on arms sales to iraq up to the invasion of kuwait.

the scandal broke during a four-week trial which charged a
british machine tools company with illegal arms sales to iraq. the
case collapsed when the defence produced classified documents
alleging government ministers blurred the guidelines to enable the
company to trade with iraq.

the total value of british arms exports to iraq up to the
kuwaiti invasion is unknown. but in 1987 british intelligence
learned that 57 million dollars worth of machine tools were going
to iraqi arms factories. (more/ips)

britain: arms trade to middle east continues unabated /relate/(2-e)

britain: arms trade (2)

britain was not alone in tacitly building up iraq's defences.
the unfolding ''saddamgate'' investigation in the united states
into top level sanctioned exchanges of 'arms for hostages' deals
suggests the policy was widely accepted, on a confidential level.

western governments, say analysts, saw iraq as a necessary
bulwark against islamic fundamentalism after the overthrow of the
shah of iran.

despite an international arms embargo on iraq saddam hussein by
1991 had run up international debts of about 75 billion dollars,
much of which was used to buy arms. his defence budget in 1990 was
13.3 billion dollars, about 25 percent of the previous years gross
domestic product, and his army had become the fourth largest in
the world.

after the gulf war, when half the world had to ally to fight
saddam hussein, governments made strong commitments to curb arms
sales to the middle east.

''it would be tragic if the nations of the middle east were now,
in the wake of war, to embark on a new arms race,'' foreign office
minister douglas hogg said in march 1991.

yet since then the british government has gone on to more than
double orders for arms exports to the region. some four billion
dollars worth of arms have been ordered from britain from
countries around the middle east, including iran, syria and
israel.

of the estimated 35-45 billion dollars worth of arms that have
poured into the region since the invasion of kuwait, the major
share has gone to saudi arabia, which has put in orders of over 17
billion dollars.

but analysts are not convinced by arguments that arms sales are
necessary to prop up western-friendly nations, especially in a
region where today's friend is tomorrow's worst enemy.

the reality, say analysts, is that as economies in developed
nations crumble under the weight of a prolonged and severe
recession, the temptation of safe-guarding and creating jobs in
the arms industry becomes ever harder to resist.

''there are always excellent reasons for selling arms --
economics, jobs, regional security -- but various countries
applied these reasons to iraq and the net result was that iraq had
more tanks and aircrafts than england and france together,'' says
sir anthony parsons, a former british ambassador to the u.n.

it is possible the u.n. security council could become the means
to control its own members' worst arms exporting excesses. if not,
say analysts, the world could face wars that make the gulf war
seem like the mother of all warm-ups. (ends/ips/ad/lj/mf/92)

** End of text from cdp:mideast.gulf **

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