Britain owed millions for weapons used by autocratic regimes

Campaigners call for end to 'unjust poor country debts' after government figures show arms were used against civilians

guardian.co.uk, Richard Norton-Taylor, Tuesday 6 November 2012

Former Indonesian president General Suharto. Britain lent the country
 more than £630m at a time when Suharto was stifling demonstrations.
Photograph: AP

Britain is owed hundreds of millions of pounds of unpaid debt on loans to autocratic governments in Argentina, Indonesia, Iraq and Zimbabwe for UK weapons and equipment that were used against civilians, an analysis of figures released by the government show.

Britain lent Indonesia more than £630m to pay for British arms provided to General Suharto at a time when he was repressing protests. Some of the weapons, including armoured cars and jet aircraft were used in the 1990s against civilians in what is now East Timor, the former foreign secretary, Robin Cook, admitted at the time.

Up to £50m was lent to the Argentine junta to buy British arms before the invasion of the Falklands in 1982. They included two Type 42 destroyers, two Lynx helicopters, and 22 Sea Dart missiles, according to documents in the National Archives discovered by the Jubilee Debt Campaign (JDC), which is calling for an end to what it calls "unjust poor country debts".

One of the Lynx was the first Argentine aircraft to land on the Falklands after the invasion.

The government lent £12m for the export of Land Rovers to President Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe. The vehicles were supplied after he promised they would be used "with due respect for human rights". He said he would not use them for riot control, but Amnesty International said vehicles were used to crush demonstrations.

Some £100m of unpaid loans were originally provided to Egypt under the former president Hosni Mubarak to buy British weapons; £5.5m of unpaid loans were provided to Saddam Hussein's Iraq then engaged in a war of attrition against Iran.

A proportion of the loans to Indonesia have recently been settled, though the country still owes £400m, most of which comprises debts for the purchase of British weapons, according to official figures.

Tim Jones, policy officer at JDC told the Guardian on Tuesday: "For years the UK government has claimed it is not possible to find out where debts come from. The figures released today show this was a lie. They reveal a history of horrendous loans to dictators such as General Mubarak, General Suharto and Saddam Hussein for military equipment. People in these countries should not have to pay these unjust debts."

The UK government is demanding Egyptian people pay the debt inherited from General Mubarak and £14m will be paid this year, according to the JDC.

The figures are included in a report on sovereign debt data by UK Export Finance, part of the Department for Business. It is the first time the department has disclosed such country-by-country figures.

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Among the loans underwritten by the Export Credits Guarantee
Department  was one for £35m to Robert Mugabe's Zimbabwe for
the purchase of five of BAE Systems' Hawk fighter jets. 
Photograph: PA

"Healing the Military Energies in our family Tree" – Jun 13, 2011 (Kryon channelled by David Brown)

“… Most of the indigenous people of the world no longer exists. Tens of millions of indigenous people that were connected to the Divine have been wiped from the face of the Earth; and that includes the Europeans, the indigenous Europeans. What commands the Earth plane today is the pure masculinity, symbolized by the obelisk, where there is no love; pure masculinity and no love. As you remember early on in the channelling we said: Once you feel loved, your world is perfect. Once love is flowing through your bodies, everything is in order. There is no love in war, there is no love in the Military. It’s just a low consciousness government. Government meaning control of the mind. This energy will also dissolve in the New World, and these men, this people, will have to find an honourable occupation. There is a place in the world for all those who have become conscious.

  

As you are with your eyes closed, just let the feelings come into your body; and once again, hand over any Military Energies that are in your bodies to Kryon. If you have Military energies inside your body you know how to relate to this; either on Earth, national or an individual basis. Here in Costa Rica there’s a beginning of a dissolving of the Military Energies, and this goes one person at a time. Your energy, the structure of your energy, will move from that of a the pentagon to that of a dodecahedron, as you release this Military Energy. It is like the story from Gulliver travels, where Gulliver is tied down by the little people; slowly but surely you cut through these small ropes, and as your consciousness flows, you begin to stand up in the world, proud and loving. So just observe your bodies and observe your feelings; many of you will fear releasing these energies for this has been your way of life. Allow these energies to release for there is another way, there is another way to live your life, there is a loving way to relate. Allow the fear of being without the military energies to also come into your body... let the feelings come and let the feelings go... 

What Military Energy means if we use an analogy: it would be like putting grinding paste into the oil of your motor car. Once you release these energies you will begin to feel lighter as you disconnect from this reality, and, you will find it easier and easier to release any other negative emotions. Military Energies are the core of all your problems. Allow the feelings in your body to come and let them go... imagine beneath you the beautiful planet, Mother Earth, and inside of Mother Earth there is a pink heart... allow all your family constellation to move into this pink heart... your mother, your father, your grandparents and great-grandfathers... brothers and sisters, aunts and uncles... nephews and nieces... cousins... let them all go into this pink energy... be cleansed and purified, and allow these Military energies to release and dissolve... heal all the hurt that the Military has caused to your family... let the feelings into your body... let them come and let them go... as these energies begin to dissolve the New World will begin to come to you. …”