It’s O.K., It’s Only Aid.
BBC News has reported that the UK has stopped aid to Ethiopia due to the recent widespread violence during the elections - during which 36 people died. Tony Blair was so concerned by the shootings that he made a phone call to Mr Meles - a member of Blair’s African commission - on Sunday. I wonder if Tony Blair is as keen to stop the sale of arms to Ethiopia, as they are the supply of aid. Currently there are no specific arms sanctions against Ethiopia, so only the general ‘export control restrictions’ apply - which looking at the horrendous records of arms exports made by the UK are not worth the paper they are written on.
A few days previously the Observer reported that the UK arms sales to Africa have reached the £1 billion mark, analysis of official figures shows annual weapons sales almost quadrupled between 1999 and 2004. The exports included licences for military exports granted to Ethiopia. This was reported on Sunday, and has received relatively little attention in the light of Tony Blair’s recent crusade on Africa in the build up to the G8 summit. It highlights the reality behind the propaganda produced by New Labour on their moral intentions; any kind of debt relief in Africa is futile without addressing the bigger problems.
New Labour have not addressed the problem of bloody conflicts in the regions, but have instead actively facilitated them. The £1.5 billion BAE-South African Air Force deal (12 Hawk fighter trainer jets at £0.5 billion and a £1 billion partnership with SAAB over Gripen fighters) for instance was arranged when Tony Blair led a delegation to South Africa to lobby for the BAE bid, shortly before it was awarded in 1999. Not long after this deal was struck the 2000 UK defence exhibition was described by Maj. Gen. Julius Kriel (South African Air Force) as ‘very much a show for Africa.’
So it is hardly surprising that arms exports have quadrupled in just 5 years under the careful stewardship of New Labour - demonstrating the combination of New Labour’s two biggest interests: military development and pandering to big business. When we continue to be saturated by New Labour propaganda regarding Tony Blair’s obsession to be remembered in history for doing something worthwhile which - after his lies in Iraq have been exposed, and the war has been another humanitarian disaster - has now turned towards the Africa ‘problem’. Tony Blair believes that he can drive forward a program to eliminate poverty in Africa, and he is now relying on this to rescue his tattered reputation in the history books.
He is not promoting the African agenda for the good of Africans, but only to promote and distort his own position in world history. He must not be allowed to gloss over the truth about New Labour’s real policy pursued in Africa - under his direct leadership - and the blood that is on his hands. It’s OK to take action in Ethiopia, as long at it is only aid, but no doubt the New Labour warmongers will be licking their lips at the chance to pump more arms into a poor and troubled country. Who knows, with a little luck and the right weapons they could even turn it into a lucrative civil war.