Saudi Arabia Tank Deal Reveals German Hypocrisy – OpEd
By Press TV
Germany’s decision to sell 200 Leopard 2 tanks to Saudi Arabia has been made at a time when the Arab kingdom lacks the most basic requirements of a democratic rule.
The sales, however, are a blatant example of the duplicity of the German officials, who have repeatedly repudiated any extensive ties to autocratic regimes.
The Saudi nation does not enjoy even the most basic human rights and any calm and peaceful dissent in the Arab country is suppressed in the most violent fashion by the Riyadh government. Saudi Arabia even plays an active role in the brutal crackdown on protesters in Bahrain through the deployment of its military forces there. Nevertheless, the German government has decided to sell armaments to the Arab kingdom.
The German government’s deal with Saudi Arabia for the sale of the technologically advanced Leopard tanks also was made despite the disapproval of the European country’s opposition parties and a sizeable portion of Chancellor Angela Merkel’s own ruling coalition party and in defiance of the majority of the German nation. The German government, which claims the advocacy of democracy, is even heedless of the public opinion of its own nation.
By deciding to sell the tanks to Saudi Arabia, Berlin has more clearly than ever demonstrated that the claim of its support for democratic governments is hollow, exhibiting its true face as a supporter of authoritarian regimes.
The German government seeks to deceitfully pave the grounds for more lucrative sales of the products of its national arms factories through propaganda campaigns in the region and the portrayal of Iran as a threat. It merits note that during the last few years, Germany has risen from the world’s fifth arms dealer to the third.
Contrary to their claims of opposing the spread of nuclear weapons and the necessity of adherence to the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), the Germans have also sold a number of submarines (Dolphin submarines) — capable of carrying and firing nuclear warheads — to the Zionist regime.
