Should we be selling fighter planes to he Saudis?

David Cameron will embark on a low-key arms trip to the Gulf on Monday in an attempt to persuade regional powers upset by Britain's response to the Arab spring to buy more than 100 Eurofighter Typhoon fighter jets. The deals could be worth more than £6bn to Britain.

The prime minister, who is irritated by claims that he uses his overseas trips to sell defence equipment to countries with questionable human rights records, has made arrangements to minimise the media coverage of the trip.

Downing Street denied that the prime minister was seeking to limit press coverage of the trip. A No 10 spokeswoman said: "This is not a secretive trip in any shape or form. We have the media travelling on the plane with the prime minister – they will have access to the events he is doing in country.

But No 10 has been trying for two years to restrict media access to the prime minister's overseas visits. This would make him the only leader of a G7 country who is not accompanied abroad by a full press corps.

Cameron wants to persuade the UAE to buy the Typhoons to replace their ageing fleet of French Mirage jets. The Emiratis have expressed interest in ordering 60 of the jets. Oman has expressed interest in 12, while Saudi Arabia is considering placing a second order on top of the 72 they have already bought.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2012/nov/05/david-cameron-gulf-typhoon-fighter-jets

So, should we be selling arms to countries where the don't allow women to drive. They murder gays under Sunni law. They give the death penalty to female VICTIMS of rape. Is it moral to be dealing with them? Or does it simply not matter if it makes money and creates jobs for our country. And in the end, where do you draw the line?

You make some good points. It means nothing though as it's all about the money.

jayjay23 wrote:

So, should we be selling arms to countries where the don't allow women to drive. They murder gays under Sunni law. They give the death penalty to female VICTIMS of rape. Is it moral to be dealing with them? Or does it simply not matter if it makes money and creates jobs for our country. And in the end, where do you draw the line?

If we didn't deal with countries we didn't approve of we'd go bust quicker than Greece.

I hope he sells as many planes as he can.

If we make these things we are going to try to sell them. As repressive and medieval as Saudi is I am happy for us to sell them planes because if we don't the French or Americans will.

There is no benefit to us in not selling them planes and it won't make the slightest difference to their internal policies. And if you won't sell to the Saudis, where do you draw the line?

Of course we should

Entirely trustworthy sorts, them Saudis

My only fear is that they dont, in time, use them against us.

I bet the US are regretting selling arms to Iraq and Libya...

Reebok_Rebel wrote:
I bet the US are regretting selling arms to Iraq and Libya...

I read something a while back about how much money can be made from being at war. This is why America has a long history of invading countries and getting involved in wars. It's a win win situation for them if they first arm the people they're going to have a fight with.

Bernard Dennis Park wrote:

Reebok_Rebel wrote:
I bet the US are regretting selling arms to Iraq and Libya...

I read something a while back about how much money can be made from being at war. This is why America has a long history of invading countries and getting involved in wars. It's a win win situation for them if they first arm the people they're going to have a fight with.

Its a good job they didn't arm France then, that would have defeated the object of arming them before a scrap. the French simply wouldn't have turned up...

A little off topic, but I found it funny.

while I mention France, I like this story...

An elderly British gentleman
arrived in Paris by plane, At the French immigration desk, the man took a few
minutes to locate his passport in his carry-on bag.
"You
have been to France before, Monsieur?" the Immigration officer asked,
sarcastically.
The elderly gentleman admitted
he had been to France previously.
"Then you
should know well enough to have your passport ready.”
The British gentleman says, "The last time I was here, I
didn't have to show it."


"Impossible. The British
always have to show their passports on arrival in France!"
The elderly
gentleman gave the French Immigration Officer a long hard look.
Then he
quietly explained,
"Well, the last time I was here, I came ashore on Juno
Beach on D-Day in June 1944, and I couldn't find any bloody Frenchmen here to
show it to...

Reebok_Rebel wrote:A little off topic, but I found it funny.

while I mention France, I like this story...

An elderly British gentleman
arrived in Paris by plane, At the French immigration desk, the man took a few
minutes to locate his passport in his carry-on bag.
"You
have been to France before, Monsieur?" the Immigration officer asked,
sarcastically.
The elderly gentleman admitted
he had been to France previously.
"Then you
should know well enough to have your passport ready.”
The British gentleman says, "The last time I was here, I
didn't have to show it."


"Impossible. The British
always have to show their passports on arrival in France!"
The elderly
gentleman gave the French Immigration Officer a long hard look.
Then he
quietly explained,
"Well, the last time I was here, I came ashore on Juno
Beach on D-Day in June 1944, and I couldn't find any bloody Frenchmen here to
show it to...

I believe the above is actually a true story.

The Saudis are a law unto themselves but their money is just as good as anyone elses. Better the devil you know.

I definitely sell arms to to the Saudi's.......



- Money in return!

- Over 30,000 British in Saudi working!

- Discount for their oil!

- If we did end up fighting them or whatever, at least we know what arms they are using!

Lyric Todkill wrote:Of course we should

Entirely trustworthy sorts, them Saudis

We can sell them everything. No problems. If they ever try to kick it off with us we know all the possible Radar Jamming frequencies, and weapon release codes etc as we built the things. Plus, the Saudis especially rely heavily on Bae to actually keep the things flying in that hot sandy climate. I remember we had real problems with the Equipment Cooling System on the Tornado aircraft when we visited the area in 1990.