Point of Focus for this blog is the arms issue.
I expect government MP’s to act with a bit of intelligence when it comes to international politics. I can’t say whether David Maynier of the Democratic Alliance is just playing the anti-ANC game or he was being really daft. I digress.
David Maynier was ranting because of 100 sniper rifles and 50 000 rounds of ammo supposedly sold to Libya by our beloved Republic of South Africa in 2010. I find nothing particular about this in the bigger scheme of things. Up until the Egypt uprising the west and the goody-goody bunch were willing to let things slide as far as Libya is concerned. Hell, he paid a fee to get the Pan Am Flight 103 bombing thing to go away. Please Google Lockerbie bombing.
http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/africa/110223/gaddafi-ordered-lockerbie-bombing
“Gaddafi announced in 2003 that he was abandoning his program for weapons of mass destruction and renouncing terrorism. He also accepted Libya’s responsibility for the Lockerbie bombing and paid compensation to the victims’ families”
Now, let’s get back to the arms issue. In the past 2 years “Italy has sold Libya explosives, gun targeting equipment and other military hardware worth tens of millions of Euros…” Of the lovely toys:
1. Missile systems maker Mbda Italia signed a deal worth 2.5 million Euros ($A3.42 million) in May 2009 to supply Libya with ‘material for bombs, torpedoes, rockets and missiles’
2. Helicopter maker Augusta Westland signed two contracts with Libya in October 2010 worth 70 million Euros ($A95.88 million). Also last year, Selex Sistemi Integrati signed a 13 million euro ($A17.81 million) deal to provide Libya with gun targeting equipment.
Further reading can be found on http://www.skynews.com.au/topstories/article.aspx?id=582388&vId=.
The UK also didn’t miss out. Read further on http://bristolagainstarmstrade.wordpress.com/2011/02/17/uk-arms-sales-to-middle-east-include-tear-gas-and-crowd-control-ammunition-to-bahrain-and-libya/
In 2009 alone EU countries sold 470USD in weapons to Libya. The Bush and Obama administrations came in under-performing at a puny 46USD worth of arms. Other juicy details can be found on below link.
http://theworldlink.com/news/local/article_d7a036a4-7b2f-53ae-afe8-869bbd170903.html
Everyone was happy to do business with Libya after they dismantled their nuclear program. Hell, with all the Human Rights violations which have happened there over the past decade or so the writing was on the well. Weapons of Mass Destruction aside, Libya was the evil which could be tolerated. They were the tolerable along with Egypt, Mubarak being heavily funded by the West as well.
So, just the convenient bombing of Libya, all this excitement about arms is beginning to annoy me. Our media gets too excited and fuels our excitable politicians. The real issue at hand here is regime-change. It’s nothing more and nothing less. Zuma and the ANC administration new that, yet they chose not to abstain. Russia knew that, yet they didn’t use their veto. All these governments are then brothers in arms.
Hell, Bahrain is using their army to quell their own people. It took Iran to point this out, yet no one seems to care. Tanks from neighboring countries are rolling into Bahrain, from Qatar (I stand corrected) to shut up the damn civilians. 2000 troops from Saudi Arabia brought in and martial law declared…wait a minute, isn’t that similar to Libya?
http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/international/countriesandterritories/bahrain/index.html
Anyway, I think the DA should have exercised some caution before yammering this time. I also think that by avoiding direct answers regarding LEGITIMATE arms sales to Libya, the ANC isn’t doing themselves any favors.
Disclaimer: I know this topic isn’t simple, but the bullshit streaming from all the political leaders pisses me off the most. Everyone acts concerned about the civilians, yet all of it is political gesticulating. Fat fickle politicians!!! I don’t care if you disagree by the way; just bring constructive criticism with some valid sources.
Writer's Block 