[According to CBSnews.com (4 hours ago), "Andrew, as U.K. trade envoy, may have shared confidential info with Epstein Emails to Epstein from a sender labeled "The Duke" show forwarded reports from overseas trade missions." We have found out in the Epstein files that Epstein was trained "in the field" as a weapons dealer after his stint at Bear Stern. How involved was Andrew, as UK trade envoy, in weapon sales with Epstein?]
Lords of War: The British Monarchy And The Arms Trade
Feb 4 2023
Prince Andrewhas proven to be an enthusiastic advocate for the arms trade as well. In 2002, The Guardian reported that the Duke of York was spotted at a SOFEX (Special Operations Forces Exhibition and Conference) arms fair in Jordan, mingling with British army personnel and employees of the British Defense Manufacturers Association, an organization which lobbies on behalf of British weapon firms. UK troops oversaw the handover of Challenger tanks to Jordan—the same month King Abdullah’s regime shut down a major civil society group, according to political scientist Jillian Schwedler.
Though the press portraysPrince Andrewas a blundering liability, a Buckingham Palace spokesman explained why the Duke of York is so useful to the arms industry: “He brings immeasurable value in smoothing the path for British companies…because of who he is.” Royal prestige and clout open doors, especially among the Gulf dictatorships’ princely and status-conscious elites. In April 2013, for example, Prince Andrew hosted a lavish state visit for President Sheikh Khalifa, the UAE’s absolutist ruler. Journalist Phil Miller says this visit came at a time when London was eager to secure an arms deal worth billions of pounds with the UAE.
Moreover, The New Statesman published in 2007 a photo of Prince William shaking hands with two of Indonesia’s most senior generals in Windsor—a meeting which raised many eyebrows. Jakarta was looking to “build defense relations” with London and perhaps, once again, a royal seal of approval sweetened whatever deal occurred behind the scenes. Human rights activists were quick to remind the public that an indicted war criminal renowned for his atrocities in East Timor, Colonel Burhanuddin Siagian, served as military commander in occupied West Papua at the time. It is quite revealing that tribal leader Benny Wenda, a West Papuan independence advocate, had to write a letter in 2011 urging Prince Andrew not to sell British-made jets used to bomb opposition groups and civilians, as noted in The Times. This strongly implies that London helped Jakarta wage genocidal counter-insurgency operations against Indonesia’s restive Melanesian minority.
Yet King Charles III is by far the most influential salesman in the Windsor family. Journalists Mark Curtis and Phil Miller amply demonstrated how “Charles of Arabia” promoted approximately 14.5 billion worth of British arm exports to eight repressive monarchies for a decade following the Arab Spring. Despots in Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Bahrain, the UAE, and Oman, unwilling to surrender power to pro-democracy movements or religious minorities, orchestrated a vicious and region-wide counter-revolution. The British arms industry backed this feudal reaction to a hilt.
Charles visited Oman in March 2013 to “promote Britain’s diplomatic, commercial interests”, which involved convincing Muscat to purchase twelve Typhoon and eight Hawk jets from BAE Systems. Although Charles goes to considerable lengths to burnish his image as an admirer of Islamic heritage, he is seemingly unaware that the Omani Sultanate has spent years eradicating cultural and linguistic remnants of the Shihuh tribe in Musandam. Political analyst Catherine Perez-Shakdam says Shihuh villages are routinely emptied, demolished, and replaced with military infrastructure.
In addition, Charles’ alliance with a Saudi monarchy committing apocalyptic crimes in Yemen cannot be overlooked. A few days before visiting Oman in 2013, Charles celebrated the 50th anniversary of the British Military Mission in Riyadh. This occasion coincided with BAE’s attempts to sell Typhoon jets to the Kingdom. Five years later, Charles held a dinner for Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman at Clarence House. BAE again inched closer to selling 48 Typhoons to Riyadh a few days after the meeting. Oxfam recently concluded that the UK fuels “a pattern of violence against civilians” in Yemen. Coalition forces used British and American arms in a quarter of the 1,700 attacks on Yemeni non-combatants last year, although the death toll- 87 killed over a fourteen month period- is likely to be a gross underestimate.
https://theowp.org/reports/lords-of-war-the-british-monarchy-and-the-arms-trade/