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hammerforlife
Low Seater
Joined: May 24, 2004
Posts: 3087
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Apr 18, 2008 - 09:24 AM |
 
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| Post subject: Not Our Problem |
From hc's favourite newspaper:
"A Chinese cargo ship believed to be carrying 77 tonnes of small arms, including more than 3m rounds of ammunition, AK47 assault rifles, mortars and rocket-propelled grenades, has docked in the South African port of Durban for transportation of the weapons to Zimbabwe, the South African government confirmed yesterday. It claimed it was powerless to intervene as long as the ship's papers were in order.
Copies of the documentation for the Chinese ship, the An Yue Jiang, show that the weapons were sent from Beijing to the ministry of defence in Harare. Headed "Dangerous goods description and container packing certificate", the document was issued on April 1, three days after Zimbabwe's election. It lists the consignment as including 3.5m rounds of ammunition for AK47 assault rifles and for small arms, 1,500 40mm rockets, 2,500 mortar shells of 60mm and 81mm calibre, as well as 93 cases of mortar tubes.
The carrier is listed as the Cosco shipping company in China.
South Africa's national conventional arms control committee issued a permit on Monday for the trans-shipment of the cargo from Durban to Harare. The head of government information in South Africa, Themba Maseko, said yesterday: "We are not in a position to act unilaterally and interfere in a trade deal between two countries." South Africa had to "tread very carefully", given the complexity of the situation in Zimbabwe, Maseko said.
South Africa was not encouraging the purchase of weapons by Zimbabwe, he said, pointing out that there was no UN trade embargo against that country.
But Tony Leon, the South African opposition foreign affairs spokesman, said the shipment was tantamount to "putting a fuse in a powder keg".
Dockers in Durban were refusing last night to unload the ship. The SA Transport and Allied Workers Union's general secretary, Randall Howard, said: "Satawu does not agree with the position of the government not to intervene with this shipment of weapons. Our members will not unload this cargo, neither will any of our members in the truck-driving sector move this cargo by road."
Despite international criticism, the Chinese government has been a longstanding backer of Zimbabwe president Robert Mugabe's authoritarian regime, supplying it with jet fighters, military vehicles and guns. China, or Chinese businesses, are reported to have sold radio-jamming devices to prevent independent stations from contradicting the state-controlled media, and have signed vital agriculture deals. Even the blue tiles on Mugabe's latest 25-bedroom mansion, reminiscent of Beijing's Forbidden City, were a gift from China.
China has in the past used its veto at the UN security council to prevent the Zimbabwe issue from being raised, on the grounds that the country's problems were an internal matter."
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/apr/18/china.armstrade
Its an "internal matter". Where have we heard that before?
On the other hand and to keep a balance, from the same newspaper:
"How come Zimbabwe and t¡bet get all the attention?
An extract:
But, on the basis of the scale of violence, repression and election rigging alone, you would be hard put to explain why these conflicts have been singled out for such special attention. In the violence surrounding Zimbabwe's elections, two people are currently reported to have died; in t¡bet, numbers estimated to have been killed by prοtesters and Chinese forces range from 22 to 140. By contrast, in Somalia, where US-backed Ethiopian and Somali troops are fighting forces loyal to the ousted government, several thousand have been killed since the beginning of the year and half the population of the capital, Mogadishu, has been forced to flee the city in what UN officials describe as Africa's worst humanitarian crisis.
When it comes to rigging elections, countries like Jordan and Egypt have been happy to oblige in recent months - in the Egyptian case, jailing hundreds of opposition activists into the bargain - and almost nobody in the west has batted an eyelid. In Saudi Arabia there are no national elections at all, let alone the opposition MPs and newspapers that exist in Zimbabwe. In Africa, Togo has been a more flagrant rigger, while in Cameroon last week the president was given the job for life. And when it comes to separatist and independence movements, the Turkish Kurds have faced far more violence and a tighter cultural clampdown than the t¡betans.
The crucial difference, of course, and the reason why these conflicts and violations don't get the deluxe media and political treatment offered to the Zimbabwean opposition or t¡betan separatists is that the governments involved are all backed by the west, compounded in the Zimbabwean case by a transparently racist agenda. But it's not just an issue of hypocrisy and double standards, egregious though they are. It's also that British and US involvement and interference have been crucial to both the Zimbabwean and t¡betan conflicts.
That's most obviously true in Zimbabwe, which was not just a British colony, but where Britain refused to act against a white racist coup, triggering a bloody 15-year liberation war, and then imposed racial parliamentary quotas and a 10-year moratorium on land reform at independence. The subsequent failure by Britain and the US to finance land buyouts as expected, along with the impact of IMF programmes, laid the ground for the current impasse."
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2008/apr/17/zimbabwe.t¡bet |
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hc
Post Roaster
Joined: Apr 04, 2007
Posts: 4545
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Apr 18, 2008 - 09:38 AM |
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Good post actually.
Although I doubt the shipment would be stopped if it was M-16s instead of AK-47s.
Also, notice the "reported to have sold jamming equipment". Yeah sure. "Reported to".
I think it is the right of any sovereign nation to purchase weapons.
I don't recall the US condemning selling WMDs to Saddan that later were used against the Kurds. Everybody who mentions that episode omits WHO sold him the weapons.
Same case for Israel: nobody mentions who sells them the Apache's to flatten Palestinian villages like a drop of sweat.
I could go on an mention the invasion of Timor Leste and how Ford and Kissinger sold weapons to Suharto and how they green lighted the invasion and massacre of Timoreans a few hours before it actually happened while the two crooks where in Indonesia.
I could go on.
Another point that the article makes us ponder is the danger democracy is for a developing country without firm institutions supporting a democracy.
The worst case scenario is not a bloody dictator that eats the heart of dissenters while they still pulsate. The worst case scenario is a democratically elected (and hence LEGAL) dictator doing the same thing. That's where we appear to be headed actually.
But that might change soon. I predict we will have a new wave of neo-colonialism with a deeper involvement than just colonialism through trade. We already can see that happening in many parts of the world (Iraq being a prime example).
It's all back to Adam Smith and even before, to the mercantilists.
By the way did you know Adam Smith lived with his mom (and later his sister, after his mom died) until his last days? Interesting isnt it. I think so. Seriously.
Have a great Friday and weekend Hammer.
hc. |
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Click here to read the latest retarded PM Natalie sent me. Let's make her lose face and FINALLY leave this site. |
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hammerforlife
Low Seater
Joined: May 24, 2004
Posts: 3087
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Apr 18, 2008 - 09:59 AM |
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Cheers hc. I gave the post the title I did as it reminded me of a few years ago when I was working in Rwanda. A plane arrived and when it was unloaded, half the contents were medical supplies from Medecins San Frontieres and the other half were weapons from China (and there was a UN embargo at the time).
The press had a great time and it made for some good photos. The MSF management went ballistic with their own staff for allowing this to happen and at the same time the Chinese government spokesman said that "our policy is to allow other countries to sort their own problems out". |
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hc
Post Roaster
Joined: Apr 04, 2007
Posts: 4545
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Apr 18, 2008 - 12:43 PM |
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Well. Remember: the whole weapons escalation thing in the Middle East started with wonderboy John F. Kennedy.
He was the first president to publicly acknowledge selling weapons there, which prompted the Russians to sell a load of stuff to Arab states (later most of it destroyed in the 6 days war).
Countries will do whatever it takes to enforce their beliefs as long as there is no money involved. As soon as there is money at stake, all morals go down the drain. This has been proven right by people of the white, black or yellow persuasion, time and again, time and again. |
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Click here to read the latest retarded PM Natalie sent me. Let's make her lose face and FINALLY leave this site. |
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Cambronne
Wonder Wit
Joined: Feb 23, 2008
Posts: 3552
Status: Offline
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Apr 18, 2008 - 03:21 PM |
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Good to remember who this guy really was. Not what your Western TV station says. |
_________________
My pro-Madoff signature was censored by antisemite moderators! Free Madoff, the Dreyfus of the XXIth century! Bomb Iran! Down with antisemite moderators! |
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