Bill Hearld's lament that we spend so much money on war rather than helping victims of disasters, famine and disease (January 4) is particularly appropriate in the case of Indonesia. Under New Labour Britain has sold £375 million worth of arms to Indonesia.
While we were condemning and bombing a brutal regime in Iraq, we were supplying an equally brutal regime in Indonesia with Hawk aircraft, Scorpion tanks and Saracen armoured vehicles.
Those in Aceh who survived the tsunami are lucky indeed, because they have also had to survive Indonesian military aggression which has killed thousands of Acehnese in this century alone.
They were killed because they wanted independence from Indonesia, and Britain helped to kill them because, although independence would benefit the Acehnese, it may threaten British profits from gas and petroleum resources in the area.
If everyone who donated money to this latest Asian crisis demanded Britain stop selling arms abroad, then the people of Aceh, and across the world, would truly have hope for the future.
If we cannot convince our Government to put people before profits, at the next election we can choose leaders who will.
Tracy Shippey,
Danum Road,
York.
Updated: 09:43 Friday, January 07, 2005
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