The arms industry is an industry that counts its profits in billions,
and its costs in human lives.
It is an industry that quite literally turns blood into gold.
But as Amnesty International said:
It is an industry that is less regulated then the global trade in bananas.
The arms trade globally accounts for around 40% of all corruption,
in all global trade.
Probably the best example of this in history,
is perhaps the most corrupt commercial transaction in history.
Something called the Al-Yamamah deal between the United Kingdom and Saudi Arabia,
in which around £6 billion of so-called commissions were paid.
So the son of the Saudi defence minister Prince Bandar bin Sultan,
who was also Saudi Arabia's ambassador to the United States of America,
received over £1 billion of bribes.
He also received in case that wasn't enough,
a full passenger jet as a birthday present,
from BAE Systems to fly him around the world.
And touchingly the jet was painted in the colours,
of his favourite American football team the Dallas Cowboys.
And for a number of years the British taxpayer was paying,
for the upkeep and maintenance of that jet.
Prince Turki who at the time was head of the Saudi Air Force,
and along with Prince Bandar was a key decision-maker on this transaction,
his entire family sent to Los Angeles by BAE Systems,
to effectively go on a shopping spree that required a jumbo jet to transport,
all of their shopping including a pink Rolls Royce or Bentley back to Saudi Arabia.
BAE Systems had provided a flat for Prince Turki's British girlfriend,
was paying for her to go to drama school.
And was providing similarly; prostitutes, luxury yachts, holidays, etc, etc,
for various members of the Saudi royal family.
And this unfortunately is how the trade in arms has always operated,
corruption is built into the very structure the very DNA of the arms trade.
I would be offended if I thought we had the monopoly on corruption.
I was an ANC Member of Parliament in South Africa,
and had the great privilege of serving under Nelson Mandela.
I was the ranking ANC member on the main financial oversight,
the Public Accounts Committee.
When we received a report of the fact that South Africa had spent over £6 billion on weapons,
and that tens of millions of pounds had been paid in bribes on these deals.
To senior officials in the military, senior officials in the defence services,
senior politicians who were at the table where the decisions were made.
My committee tried to investigate the deal inside Parliament,
the ANC tried to stop me and eventually when I refused,
to stop the investigation into the deal,
they were about to remove me from Parliament,
I resigned the night before they were going to remove me.
Tony Blair made a whole series of visits to South Africa to try and ensure,
that BAE Systems won a contract.
But in addition to that the royal family and particularly Prince Andrew,
plays an absolutely crucial role.
The then Royal Yacht Britannia was sailed to Cape Town Harbour,
where various lavish dinners were held with members of the royal family.
With senior UK politicians, with the six ministers,
who would make the decision about whether South Africa would buy this BAE jet or not.
At the time that we were spending £6 billion on weapons,
our then president Thabo Mbeki informed the country,
that we did not have the financial resources to provide antiretroviral medication,
to the 6 million of our people then living with HIV or AIDS.
A study done at Harvard University over the five years following that policy choice,
Illustrated that around 365,000 South Africans died avoidable deaths.
Over 30,000 babies were born HIV positive because we couldn't afford,
mother-to-child transmission treatment.
But we could afford to pay BAE Systems billions of pounds,
for jet trainer fighters that we had absolutely no need of.
The military-industrial complex understands,
that for people to be accepting of billions of dollars being spent on the military,
on weapons, people have to be sufficiently fearful.
So the manufacture of fear has become an incredibly important function,
for our media our politicians and our popular culture.
Let us break the cycle of fear the cycle of conflict.
Do we not actually have more in common with each other than our differences?
Could we not benefit from showing empathy,
dare I say it love towards other people rather than fearing them?
An extraordinary thing happened during the First World War,
once millions of lives had been lost when soldiers were exhausted,
from their miserable existence.
One Christmas Eve on a battlefield they decided to lay down their arms,
in defiance of their offices and come together to embrace and to celebrate Christmas.
Some of them exchanged addresses,
and if they were lucky enough to survive they contacted each other after the war.
What this shows is that for the people who actually fight the politicians wars,
they don't have anything against the people they're fighting against.
Their first course of action is not to take up arms they would far rather embrace,
and befriend those they are supposedly fighting.
But it is they who suffer the immediate and devastating consequences of war,
not the politicians who send them to the battlefield.
The only way we're going to create a more peaceful world,
is through breaking the media narrative that creates the fearful environment,
in which conflict flourishes.
It's going to happen through alternative media like Double Down news.
Go to the Patreon account please support Double Down News on Patreon.