Press TV interviews Lindsey German of Stop the War Coalition in London, England.
Lindsey German of Stop the War Coalition
The US and Britain have had a long history of arming dictatorial regimes and rebels, and while they claim to fight the war on terror it seems they are the creators of it.
Press TV interviewed Lindsey German of Stop the War Coalition in London, England regarding the Yemen revolution and how western countries have been the leading countries in arm sales.
Press TV: Let’s start off with the fact of the arms being supplied to all of these dictatorial regimes from the arms and to the tear gas. The majority of it has been manufactured in the United States and in the UK. Let’s talk about that factor of it Mrs. German. These have been oppressive regimes for decades. Let’s start with the arms factor. Why would the United States, the UK, and France sell weapons to someone like Saleh when he has been so oppressive to his people all of these years?
German: I think we should remember these armed companies and the governments that are behind them is that they would arm pretty much anyone. The British Prime Minister David Cameroon said two months ago after touring various countries at the time of the uprisings in Egypt and Tunisia that these were some of the most oppressive regimes, and many of these arms are used against their own people. An example is the tear gas. These are weapons used for crowd control. These are a very big part of the arm sells. We also have to remember that the two biggest arm dealers in the world are Britain and the United States. They are the two biggest arms exporting countries in the world.
Press TV: So, isn’t it somewhat hypocritical that these same governments coming back and in Libya’s case condemning the regime that they actually supplied with the arms that are now being used to kill innocent civilians? This causes a circular effect where some of the Western forces have come in and now are using more advanced weapons against a regime they armed themselves.
German: Well, it is rather hypocritical. If you look at the three biggest countries that provide the most arms to Gaddafi in Libya, it would be Britain and France. Now Britain and France lead the intervention against Libya now. It’s a total double standard. For more than 40 years now the West has been perfectly happy to back dictators in the whole region and governments. Hillary Clinton said both sides should use restraints. She’s not mentioning that one side has the arms and the other didn’t. She says the same thing in Bahrain.
Press TV: We have seen some unbelievable images and it’s one thing to just talk about what is going on. When you actually see it and see how horrific this must be for the people that are going through it, and at the same time knowing that unfortunately in the main stream media Yemen is not getting the coverage that it deserves. What do you think is the reason for this in this point of time?
German: I think it’s simple for the media in Britain and in other countries would rather ignore what is going on in countries like Yemen. What we have in Britain is a vast amount of stories about atrocities committed by Gaddafi’s troops. This may or may not be true but it’s only one thing that is happening in the region. There have been terrible crackdowns and attacks on the demonstrations by the state forces. This leads back to the view that the Western media and Western governments have over which country to condemn and which not to condemn.
Press TV: What is the criteria for that? What is the determining factor that decides whether they are going to give the story any airtime or not?
German: I think the determining factor is the role of the countries in relation to British government’s foreign policy. If you look at Libya for London viewers, Gaddafi is opposed to the British government. They realized that Gaddafi is under pressure from his own people and that he was determined to fight against his own people. They would like to get a government in Libya that is pro-Western. So I think the fundamental difference is some of these countries are friendly to the West and some are not.
Press TV: What role can American and British people play in these countries? Can they put pressure on the governments to actually be more open to the realities of what is happening on the ground?
German: I think that we try very hard to do it since the war in Afghanistan and Iraq started. We have a very strong anti-war consciousness and anti-war sentiment in Britain. I notice that the polls in London today show a very high opposition to the intervention in Libya. Our job is to keep campaigning against the war in the Middle East as we feel it’s up to the people to create democracy in their countries.
NM/AGB
source : http://www.presstv.ir/detail/172928.html
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