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Underground > Switchboard >

Are you poor? Why not spend £28 million with BAE this Christmas...

14:26 / 23.12.01

FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK

I just don't understand this.

Why do certain parts of the British Government want to sell Tanzania, one of Africa's poorest countries, an air defence system they do not need and can ill afford?

What good will it do?

From the piece:

Oxfam has said the cost of the system could pay for 3.5 million children in Tanzania to go to school, or provide health care for two million Tanzanians.

Instead, they're getting a £28 million air defence system for a country which doesn't need it.

Of course, they claim they do.

But why?

Everyone is against this - even the World Bank. Everyone except Patricia Hewitt and Tony Fucking Blair. Bastards.

In better news: the deal safeguards 250 jobs on the Isle of Wight.

Well whoopy-de-fucking-do. That's OK then.

Merry Christmas Tanzania.

[edited to reduce swearing]

[ 23-12-2001: Message edited by: Not Me Again ]

No star here laces

15:09 / 23.12.01

To be fair, from what I could work out, it is the Tanzanian government who are demanding the more expensive military air control system, rather than the £7m civilian model.

I think it's often neglected in analyses of this kind of situation that while the manipulative western corporations do certainly encourage this sort of behaviour, the bulk of the blame must lie with the militaristic third world regimes who screw their own populaces by blowing their budgets on defence spending...

12:45 / 24.12.01

Oh no, I quite agree that Tanzania wants the system - the second link is to a BBC news story saying that.

However, I'm bloody amazed we gave the go-ahead for the export licence. I know it's true that the bulk of the blame must lie with the militaristic third world regimes who screw their own populaces by blowing their budgets on defence spending...

but we didn't have to give them the go-ahead, did we?

12:53 / 24.12.01

"Militaristic third world regimes" are the result of coups d'état directly stimulated by central countries, like, and especially, US.

Makes sense.

09:09 / 27.12.01

Shit, and I was about to invade Tanzania. Oh well, there goes that plan.

The Brit. Gov. is acting more and more like the US Gov.