NEWS: U.K Selling WMD's to the "Axis Of Evil"

The U.K government Strategic Export Control report to be released Monday will contain details of sales of TCP�s (toxic chemical precursors) to 40 countries including North Korea and Iran as well as Pakistan and India. Many other countries on the list have poor human rights records, are impoverished or in the midst of war. The rate of sales of these and other components makes the U.K one of biggest peddlers of WMD�s in the world.

original news source:
Sunday Herald
BRITAIN is now a leading exporter of components of weapons of mass destruction.
The UK has sold the components for chemical weapons to 40 countries including North Korea and Iran, both deemed part of the so-called �axis of evil�.

Libya, which has only recently come in from the cold after decades of being labelled a �state-sponsor of terrorism�, also bought chemical weapons technology from the UK.

Britain is also selling chemical weapons capabilities to India and Pakistan � deadly enemies whose hatred could boil over into full-scale war.

Details of the sales are contained in the government�s Strategic Export Control report published on Monday. Chemical weapons are illegal under international law and controlled under the Chemical Weapons Convention.

Please visit the link provided for the complete story

I suspect a similar report from the U.S would show much the same.

[edit on 13-6-2004 by kegs]

[edit on 6-13-2004 by Valhall]

We did it too. Hell, we probably are still doing it. Nice to see we aint alone.

I dont see how this is any sort of surprise though. Hell, every single powerful country in the world with high tech has been selling the crap to naughty dictators and third world dumps. All the sudden everyone acts surprise? Pulleezzee!

Who's acting surprised? Not me. It's just even more of a hypocrisy now than it ever was, especially since the selling of the components has went up since the start of the 'war on terror'.

I expect the UK Government did this under the terms of the Export Credit Guarantee arrangement. That's what they did with Saddam.
If the Foreign Governments default on payment, the UK taxpayer ends up compensating the UK Companies involved.


zero lift

The products that Britain is selling are known as toxic chemical precursors (TCPs) that, when combined with other compounds, create weapons such as sarin � the nerve agent � and mustard gas.

I wish they would have listed what precursors they sold.

Here's the possible precursors for mustard gas:
2-Chloroethanol
Ethylene
Hydrochloric acid
Sodium sulfide
Sulfur dichloride
Sulfur monochloride
Thiodiglycol

And Sarin:
Ammonium bifluoride
Dimethyl methylphosphonate
Diethylphosphite
Dimethylphosphite
Hydrogen fluoride
Methylphosphonous difluoride
Methylphosphonyl dichloride
Methylphosphonyl difluoride
Potassium bifluoride
Potassium fluoride
Phosphorus trichloride
Sodium bifluoride
Sodium fluoride
Thionyl chloride
Trimethyl phosphite
www.cbwinfo.com...

I'm sure many of those chemicals have dual-use purposes.

Originally posted by Skadi_the_Evil_Elf
Hell, every single powerful country in the world with high tech has been selling the crap to naughty dictators and third world dumps. All the sudden everyone acts surprise? Pulleezzee!

Yes, but I would hope after 9/11 that the US and other countries would stop doing this. It doesn't help the war on terror a bit. It just makes it harder to fight it.

Oh hell no! The US govornment, if anything, wants more weapons of mass destruction in the wrong hands post 9/11. That way, once those countires have bought our nasty nasties, all the more reason to come up with excuses to invade them! How else are we gonna justify it?

Some people actually act like the govornment really wants to win, plans to win, or even cares about the war on terror. Hell no! Its like the war on drugs: too much money to be made in this whole mess. They dont wanna win it, they wanna milk it.

And we aint alone, either.

I suppose during the worst troubles in Northern Ireland we should have stopped the use of fertilizer then
These are component parts that when used on their own are harmless.
You cannot prevent the legitimate use of chemicals just because bad people know how to mix them.

The world is still being run by cold-warriors, especially in America. These people are stuck on the mid-coldwar model of the world. In Donald Rumsfeld's mind, nobody would take an action if it was within 7 degrees of nuclear warfare, and a 3rd world patsy can't hurt you.

North Korea hasn't been stopped because the nukes take them out of China's control and keep China out of the Koreas.

India got nukes to check China. Pakistan got nukes to check India. Pervez Musharaff was installed to check Pakistan.

Afghanistan was invaded to keep China and Pakistan out, and provide another US base against them or Russia.

Israel is being supported to check pan-arabism and to keep Russians and Europeans out of the middle East.

Iran is being backed to check Israel (by both Russians and U.S.), and to pressure Russia and Europe (by U.S.)

Iraq was invaded to check Iran and control Russian efforts there.

The invasion of Iraq and the impending invasion of Syria are creating additional security in southern Turkey, as Turkey may be required to shift it's defensive focus north, against Europe and Russia.

Libya has been stopped by mutual consent of America and France. France has interests in Africa, while America wants to comfort Italy, who takes our side against France.

Taiwan is being supported because it opens a second theater to a possible
Korean conflict.


[edit on 13-6-2004 by The Vagabond]

Originally posted by Skadi_the_Evil_Elf
Oh hell no! The US govornment, if anything, wants more weapons of mass destruction in the wrong hands post 9/11. That way, once those countires have bought our nasty nasties, all the more reason to come up with excuses to invade them! How else are we gonna justify it?

Did Bill HIcks not cover this during the first Gulf War?
Something along the lines of hod did we know that saddam had weapons of Mass destruction. "uhhh, we checked the receipts."
If only he were still here...

Originally posted by Smudge
I suppose during the worst troubles in Northern Ireland we should have stopped the use of fertilizer then

These are component parts that when used on their own are harmless.
You cannot prevent the legitimate use of chemicals just because bad people know how to mix them.

Yes and no. Sarin gas is an organo-phosphate, as are a great many poisons, including common pesticides and mosquito repellant. I'm not sure but I think Mustard falls into the same category.
The chemicals are not ALL explicitly for chemical weapons, however they aren't just buying one chemical in isolation. IF ALL precursors were sold together, then it's a "no-****" conclusion that they're making weapons. Also, these things aren't being bought by agricultural companies or by people responsible for the nation's agricultural development- if the government of a non-socialist country bought up "pesticides"... they're for human pests.

kegs wrote

The U.K government Strategic Export Control report to be released Monday will contain details of sales of TCP�s (toxic chemical precursors) to 40 countries including North Korea and Iran as well as Pakistan and India.

Has anyone found a link to this new Strategic Export Control Report?

All I can find is last years reports.


zero lift

It's funny how the western countries that we live in are all for 'peace' and 'democracy' when in defence of their 'wars against terror' but then noone seems to care that we are spreading killing devices all over the world. I went to protest outside the Arms Fare that was near me in London. Our government actually sells clusterbombs and landmines (among other horrible things) like a supermarket to anyone. SICK.

Zero Lift, It doesn't appear to be on the net yet. When it is it'll probably be on this
page.

Thanks kegs. I'll keep my eyes on that site. It looks like a good one to watch anyway.

zero lift

I happened to run across what the UK has also proliferated and to namely Iran:
UK 'sells' bomb material to Iran

British officials have approved the export of key components needed to make nuclear weapons to Iran and other countries known to be developing such weapons.

This article was dated Sept. of 2002. Its 2004 and Iran is on the verge of manufacturing their own nuclear capabilities and the 'heat' that that current situation is recieving. Hmmm....



seekerof

Interesting Seekerof. I bet it wouldn't be too easy to find a follow up on that story, in fact I'd bet there isn't one.

From the article:

...the Department of Trade and Industry allowed a quantity of the metal, Beryllium, to be sold to Iran last year.

That metal is needed to make nuclear bombs.

Britain has had an arms embargo to Iran since 1993 and has signed up to an international protocol which bans the sale of Beryllium to named countries, including Iran.

The chemicals they're reported to be selling in the first article are most likely equally illegal to sell to Iran. Now I know this frankly evil practice of unethical arms sales has been going on for years, but it certainly raises even more questions in todays climate doesn't it?

By the way Seekerof, what's the U.S equivilent to the U.K's Strategic Export Report (if there is one)? Might be worth taking a look at.


EDIT: This thread talks of the U.S being accused of being in violation of international arms control law, namely chemical, but in a different way.

[edit on 15-6-2004 by kegs]