Does anybody know which members of the EU have stopped selling weapons to Mubarak?

[EFerrari]

I've completely lost track. Is it France, Germany and Spain? The UK refuses to stop?

[hughee99]

1. Luxembourg maybe? n/t

:shrug:

[EFerrari]

2. Here's AFP report, France suspends.

http://www.spacewar.com/reports/France_suspends_arms_sales_to_Egypt_999.html

[EFerrari]

3. UK refuses to suspend: Germany has.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/feb/08/uk-arms-exports-egypt

[EFerrari]

4. 2/4 Mullens said we should continue military aid to the army

because they have been neutral.

http://www.voanews.com/english/news/US-Military-Chief-Says-Aid-to-Egypt-Should-Continue-115295794.html

That was before the military police started arresting protesters and journalists, though.

[EFerrari]

5. Egypt's MIC (Guardian, 2/4)

Published on Friday, February 4, 2011 by The Guardian/UK
Egypt's Military-Industrial Complex
With US-made tear gas canisters fired on protesters in Cairo, Washington's role in arming Egypt is under the spotlight

by Pratap Chatterjee

In early January 2010, Bob Livingston, a former chairman of the appropriations committee in the US House of Representatives, flew to Cairo accompanied by William Miner, one of his staff. The two men were granted meetings with US Ambassador Margaret Scobey, as well as Major General FC "Pink" Williams, the defence attaché and director of the US Office of Military Cooperation in Egypt. Livingston and Miner were lobbyists employed by the government of Egypt, helping them to open doors to senior officers in the US government. Records of their meetings, required under law, were recently published by the Sunlight Foundation, a Washington, DC watchdog group.

Although the names of those who attended the meetings have to be made public, the details of what was discussed are confidential. I called Miner to ask him about their meetings, but he referred me to Karim Haggag, the spokesman for the Egyptian embassy in Washington, who did not respond. Miner did confirm that he was a retired Navy pilot who had worked for clients like the Egyptian government, as well as several military contractors.

The cozy relationship between the lobbyists, members of the US Congress, Pentagon officials and the Egyptian government is easily explained: much is at stake. Egypt has received over $70bn in economic and military aid approved by the US Congress in the past 60 years, according to numbers compiled by the Congressional Research Service. Maj Gen Williams is the man in charge of the $1.3bn in annual US military aid supplied to the country.

Specifically, the aid money pays for US-designed Abrams tanks assembled in suburban Cairo under contract with General Dynamics. Boeing sells Egypt CH-47 Chinook transport helicopters, Lockheed Martin sells F-16s, Sikorsky Aircraft sells Black Hawk helicopters. Lockheed Martin has taken in $3.8bn from Egypt in the last few years; General Dynamics $2.5bn; Boeing $1.7bn; among many others.

http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2011/02/04-8

[tekisui]

6. I hadn't seen Spain yet. I know France and Germany have, and UK refuses

to stop.

I don't know how many other provide arms to Egypt, though.

[EFerrari]

7. Maybe I only imagined Spain.

You'd think the EU would have acted by now.

I just read that the Leahy Law stipulates we cannot provide training or weapons funding to foreign units (battalions) that engage in gross human rights abuses. It looks like this is circumvented by funding contractors sometimes. But it sure looks like in aggressively arresting journalists, the Egyptian army (and the weapons funds we are giving them) is in violation. :shrug:

This is the wiki entry:

The Leahy Law or Leahy provision is a human rights stipulation in U.S. congressional foreign assistance legislation.<1> The Leahy Law prohibits U.S. military assistance to foreign military units that violate human rights with impunity. It is named after its principal sponsor, Senator Patrick Leahy of Vermont.<2>

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leahy_Law

I don't expect the US to suspend aid since we kept on funding Colombia right through the discovery of mass graves filled by the army. But still, it looks like this law is being violated.

[ProgressiveProfessor]

8. It is really of no importance in the short run

You suppress the revolution with the tools and goons you have, not the one you wish you had.

[EFerrari]

9. Yes, it is important in the short run to object publicly to human rights abuses. nt

[ProgressiveProfessor]

10. I agree that public statements are indeed important

but whether or not there are additional shipments is not going to impact things on the ground

[readmoreoften]

11. What about us? Just curious.

[EFerrari]

12. Mullens says we shouldn't stop anything

and at this point, any weapons funding we do may be in violation of the Leahy Law. I put a link up in #7. We're not supposed to fund weapons to units that commit gross human rights violations.

But, that's just the law.