<story><title>Finland freezes arms export permits to Saudi Arabia and UAE over Yemen</title><url>https://thedefensepost.com/2018/11/22/finland-freezes-arms-exports-saudi-arabia-uae-yemen/</url></story><parent_chain><item><author>GordonS</author><text>Meanwhile in the UK, our leaders remain ever unscrupulous[1]. The UK is the 2nd biggest exporter of arma to Saudi, selling £1.1 billion (~$1.4 billion) of military goods in 2017.&lt;p&gt;Why do we keep selling weapons to such a repressive regime? £1 billion is not that much in the greater scheme of things - so what&amp;#x27;s the bigger picture that could possible justify the UKs actions?&lt;p&gt;[1] &lt;a href=&quot;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;www.theguardian.com&amp;#x2F;world&amp;#x2F;2018&amp;#x2F;jun&amp;#x2F;23&amp;#x2F;uk-hides-arms-trade-saudi-arabia--yemen&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;www.theguardian.com&amp;#x2F;world&amp;#x2F;2018&amp;#x2F;jun&amp;#x2F;23&amp;#x2F;uk-hides-arms-...&lt;/a&gt;</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>theslurmmustflo</author><text>I recommend watching the Adam Curtis documentary Bitter Lake (can be found on YouTube). It explains how the currrent Anglo American relationship with the kingdom of saud started almost immediately post ww2, why it won’t be going away any time soon, and all the blowback it has caused.</text></comment>
<story><title>Finland freezes arms export permits to Saudi Arabia and UAE over Yemen</title><url>https://thedefensepost.com/2018/11/22/finland-freezes-arms-exports-saudi-arabia-uae-yemen/</url></story><parent_chain><item><author>GordonS</author><text>Meanwhile in the UK, our leaders remain ever unscrupulous[1]. The UK is the 2nd biggest exporter of arma to Saudi, selling £1.1 billion (~$1.4 billion) of military goods in 2017.&lt;p&gt;Why do we keep selling weapons to such a repressive regime? £1 billion is not that much in the greater scheme of things - so what&amp;#x27;s the bigger picture that could possible justify the UKs actions?&lt;p&gt;[1] &lt;a href=&quot;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;www.theguardian.com&amp;#x2F;world&amp;#x2F;2018&amp;#x2F;jun&amp;#x2F;23&amp;#x2F;uk-hides-arms-trade-saudi-arabia--yemen&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;www.theguardian.com&amp;#x2F;world&amp;#x2F;2018&amp;#x2F;jun&amp;#x2F;23&amp;#x2F;uk-hides-arms-...&lt;/a&gt;</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>chrissam</author><text>&amp;gt; Why do we keep selling weapons to such a repressive regime?&lt;p&gt;Realpolitik.&lt;p&gt;The US (and UK, I guess) are closely allied to the Saudis in order to counteract Iranian influence in the region.  The theory is that the world will be in better shape if the Saudis have a military capable of deterring Iran.&lt;p&gt;It&amp;#x27;s a theory -- I don&amp;#x27;t know if it&amp;#x27;s correct, but it seems at least plausible.</text></comment>