19 October 2006

Do as we say!

Less than a week ago there was encouraging news that the UK government was pressing Israel over its indiscriminate use of cluster bombs in Lebanon. Foreign Office Minister Lord Triesman said:

"It is for the Government of Israel to respond to the allegations, but we expect them to investigate any well founded allegations of the misuse of munitions by their armed forces, just as we would in the United Kingdom,"

That makes yesterday's news that the UK has joined the US, Russia and China to effectively scuttle a ban on the munitions which leave thousands of unexploded "bomblets", attractive to small children, in their wake which subsequently wound and kill innocent civilian long after the conflict is over.

What does the UK have in common with its allies in this? They are all among the world's leading arms exporters.

Never let lives get in the way of commerce. How's that ethical foreign policy working out then?

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