‘Britain sending aid does not change the tragic reality of its arms sales. Jeremy Hunt cannot promote peace while at the same time acting as an arms salesman.’- Mohamed Ali Al Houthi, leader of Ansar Allah coalition (The Guardian 29 March)
On 1 March British Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt became the first western foreign minister to visit Yemen since the Saudi-led war began in 2015. As Britain is currently the ‘pen-holder’ for Yemen in the UN, with responsibility for drafting statements and motions on the war, Hunt stated that his visit was intended to put pressure on the Saudi-backed Yemeni government and the Houthi-led rebel forces to reach a peace agreement. However, just days before his visit, Hunt was secretly lobbying the German government to resume arms sales to Saudi Arabia on behalf of British arms companies. Three weeks later, the Daily Mail revealed that five British soldiers from the Special Boat Service (SBS) had been injured whilst on operations supporting Saudi troops fighting the Houthi resistance in north west Yemen, amid allegations that British troops were training child soldiers (23 March). In the face of building opposition to the war, the representatives of British imperialism are working hard to publicly appear interested in achieving a fair and peaceful resolution. But in reality they are doing all they can to support Britain’s strategic regional interests and the profits of British arms companies. Toby Harbertson reports.
The war in Yemen has now entered its fifth year, with Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and their allies still unable to defeat the Houthi-led Ansar Allah movement and install their own pliant Yemeni government. Ansar Allah is fighting for national sovereignty, and against foreign domination of Yemeni politics and resources. Despite continual claims by imperialist leaders that the Houthis are ‘Iranian-backed’ there is no evidence of this (see FRFI 268). The devastating war and blockade of areas of western Yemen has led to the world’s worst humanitarian disaster. Tens of thousands have died as a result of air strikes, disease and famine. Despite a ceasefire covering the major port city of Hodeidah being agreed in December, deaths elsewhere in the country have risen as a result of increased coalition bombing. According to UNICEF, 8 children are dying every day in Yemen (Middle East Monitor 25 February).
In this context, opposition to the war in Yemen has finally begun building within the political systems of the imperialist nations. Several European countries, including Germany, have suspended new arms sales to Saudi Arabia in the wake of the Saudi state murder of Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi in October 2018. On 16 February 2019, the House of Lords’ International Relations Committee reported that Britain’s arms sales to Saudi Arabia were unlawful, stating: ‘given the volume and type of arms being exported to the Saudi-led coalition, we believe they are highly likely to be the cause of significant civilian casualties in Yemen, risking the contravention of international humanitarian law’. On 13 March, the US Senate passed a resolution rejecting US support for the war, although it is expected that it will be vetoed by President Trump. To mark the fourth anniversary of the war, on 25 March Britain’s five main opposition parties, Labour, the Scottish National Party (SNP), the Liberal Democrats, Plaid Cymru and the Green Party, wrote to Jeremy Hunt calling on the government to end all arms sales to Saudi Arabia. Splits in the capitalist class over Saudi Arabia’s brutal and reckless actions are intensifying.
However, the ruling class interests at stake in relations with the Gulf states are huge. 17 February saw more than 100,000 people, including representatives from at least 57 countries, gather in Abu Dhabi in the UAE for the International Defence Exhibition and Conference 2019 (Idex 2019). Arms dealers and military representatives from all over the world assembled to show off their new murderous technology and to agree contracts for planes, missiles and tanks. The UAE signed more than $3bn of arms deals over the course of the conference, awarding US company Raytheon a contract worth $1.6bn to supply rocket launchers to the UAE Air Force (Arab Weekly 19 February). A team of British civil servants accompanied representatives of Britain’s biggest arms dealers in order to help them make as much money for British companies as possible.
On the day the arms dealers made their way home from Idex 2019, a private letter from Hunt to German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas was leaked, in which Britain’s foreign secretary attempted to persuade his counterpart to resume arms sales to Saudi Arabia. ‘I am very concerned about the impact of the German government’s decision on the British and European defence industry and the consequences for Europe’s ability to fulfil its NATO commitments’ wrote Hunt. Britain’s biggest arms company, BAE Systems is very concerned about Germany’s suspension of arms sales to Saudi Arabia. It may force the company to delay many of its contracts with Saudi Arabia, including a contract for 72 Eurofighter Typhoon jets, which rely on German-made parts. Hunt claims that Germany will lose revenue of £2bn by 2026 if it continues the suspension. Some key components for widely used weaponry are produced in Germany and some Saudi equipment may quickly deteriorate unless the German policy is changed. Hunt tried to reconcile the two faces of British imperialism by arguing that Britain has more influence over Saudi Arabia, and achieving a peaceful resolution in Yemen, if it continues arms sales rather than suspends them. With Brexit on the horizon, arms sales are more important to British imperialism than ever.
End arms sales to Saudi Arabia! British imperialism out of Yemen!
