France is behaving irresponsibly and helping to foment war.
Of course the same could be said for the British and
Americans who have also engaged in rather lucrative arms sales agreements with
Riyadh.
Al Jazeera continues to mystify me in recent years. The
Syrian War and the cozying of Qatar and Washington seem to be affecting their
coverage. Al Jazeera is fully on-board with Washington's Anti-Assad/Anti-Putin
narrative and yet is this story a case of Washington's traditional irritation
with France? That doesn't seem likely as Qatar purchases most of its weapons
from France and Paris has clearly signalled support for Doha vis-à-vis the
Saudi led Qatar crisis.
Maybe there's no 'angle' to the story though such exposures
would certainly please elements in Washington. France is often portrayed as the
agitator, the spoil-sport and the rival to Washington's interests in the Middle
East and Africa.
The truth is that France is a Techno-Industrial nation with a
large weapons sector. As with other Western nations these industries play a
large role in the economy and are utilised diplomatically. This is why Germany
especially wants to expand its own military footprint. It wants to bolster its
own arms industry and find outlets for export and international influence.
The story is about the Saudis and the war in Yemen but it's
about (or should be about) the nature of modern capitalist economies and how
the weapons trade dovetails with diplomacy and geopolitics, something few
people seem to understand.
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