West supplying arms to Saudi Arabia unethical: Expert

Press TV has interviewed Saeed Shehabi, a Middle East expert in London, to discuss Saudi Arabia’s ongoing military aggression against Yemen.

The following is a rough transcription of the interview.

Press TV: Protesters today in Yemen were talking about the arms that are set to go towards Saudi Arabia - the western arms and ammunition. Do you think that will change the calculus on the ground?

Shehabi: First of all this is an outrageous move by the western countries, by the United States to supply Saudi Arabia with more than a billion dollar worth of weapons of death is simply outrageous and unethical and immoral.

Now whether they are going to change the status on the ground is not clear but what is clear is that the Saudis after eight months of continuous bombardment of that poor country have failed disastrously in dislodging the people of Yemen from their position. The Yemenis simply do not want the Saudi hegemony, domination, influence but the Saudis have their own imperialist and expansionist policies in the region. They are outrageous designs and the Yemenis have done well in standing firm against those designs. The West would have been morally taking position if it stopped supplying the Saudis with these arms. It is outrageous.

Only few days ago the British foreign minister said that we will stop supplying Saudis with arms if it is proven that they have committed war crimes in Yemen. Now Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, all of these organizations have confirmed that war crimes have been committed by Saudis in Yemen so what else do these countries want in order to stop the bloodshed in that country?

Press TV: I am wondering, does the West see the likes of Saudi Arabia like a cash cow where they can just go and sell their weapons and they will stand by the Saudis regardless politically because the Saudis are spending so much money?

Shehabi: I think they are making their calculations wrong. Yes, they may get some money now, they may get a billion dollar here, a billion dollar there but then they have to pay heavily in terms of terrorism.

They are aware, they know that Saudis are supporting terrorism. They know that now it is coming to haunt the West as we have seen recently in France, so these billions here and there are not going to make the western economy strong. In fact they are only supplying and supporting those who are supporting terrorism.

So I think these double standards are going to haunt the West and only the poor people in the streets of the western capitals are going to pay the price for this illogical and immoral policy.

Press TV’s website can also be accessed at the following alternate addresses:

www.presstv.co.uk