David Miliband writes in the Guardian today on the need for an arms trade treaty to counter the spread of illegal weapons. It's hard to read to the end of the article. There is only so much hypocrisy you can absorb in one sitting before it starts to become painful.
The need is "urgent", but apparently there is enough time to spend two
years talking about it in the "hope" of achieving a treaty in 2012. He
talks of joining up the "patchwork of national and regional systems"
but no mention of strengthening the systems in place in the UK or
reducing the extraordinary levels of support the legal arms trade receives. Never mind that "civil society groups have a vital role to play"; they have and continue to call
on the government to end its support for the arms trade, a call the
government continues to ignore. For obvious reasons: there is money to be made.
I don't dispute the consequences of the trade in illegal weapons. In many ways they are quite similar to the trade in legal weapons. In short, people, usually women and children, die. To rail against the former while actively supporting the latter undermines every single point he makes in this article. The sale of illegal weapons may well be one of the "great tragedies of our time". Other great tragedies include the sale and promotion of weapons to countries the FCO consider "areas of major concern", such as Saudi Arabia. Or countries involved in a "major armed conflict", such as Colombia and Israel. Which brings us to the ludicrous notion that a Palestinian in Gaza killed by an illegally exported weapon becomes part of the tragedy, while those killed with the aid of officially licensed and exported weaponry... don't.
Just this week the EU lifted the arms embargo on Uzbekistan, in no small part due to the work of David Miliband. This is another tragedy, this time for the people of Uzbekistan. The "protection of life and dignity", so desired by the foreign secretary, is not extended to those unfortunate to live in a country where information obtained under torture is a valuable commodity for the Labour government.
I don't dispute the consequences of the trade in illegal weapons. In many ways they are quite similar to the trade in legal weapons. In short, people, usually women and children, die. To rail against the former while actively supporting the latter undermines every single point he makes in this article. The sale of illegal weapons may well be one of the "great tragedies of our time". Other great tragedies include the sale and promotion of weapons to countries the FCO consider "areas of major concern", such as Saudi Arabia. Or countries involved in a "major armed conflict", such as Colombia and Israel. Which brings us to the ludicrous notion that a Palestinian in Gaza killed by an illegally exported weapon becomes part of the tragedy, while those killed with the aid of officially licensed and exported weaponry... don't.
Just this week the EU lifted the arms embargo on Uzbekistan, in no small part due to the work of David Miliband. This is another tragedy, this time for the people of Uzbekistan. The "protection of life and dignity", so desired by the foreign secretary, is not extended to those unfortunate to live in a country where information obtained under torture is a valuable commodity for the Labour government.
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