Sweden Becomes Key Arms Provider for the World’s Worst Dictatorships

Sweden, along with the US, UK, France and China, has recently begun signing massive weapon deals with Saudi Arabia in order to “stabilize the region”. In Sweden, Saab has agreed to become one of the key providers of weapons to one of the worst dictatorships in the world.

Last Monday Peter Rådberg, the Green Party’s defense policy spokesperson, told the TT news agency that instead of arming the worst dictatorship in the world Sweden instead should focus on buying food. Rådberg’s strong reaction came in response to the fact that the Swedish-based Saab has decided to close a whopping arms deal with the Saudis worth 4.5 billion kronor ($669 million) for a Saab-produced advanced early warning radar system to Saudi Arabia.  

As reported in the Local, the Swedish Agency for Non-Proliferation and Export Controls (Inspektionen för strategiska produkter - ISP) recently disclosed “that Saudi Arabia received arms shipments from Sweden as recently as August this year.  Swedish military products were also sent to Saudi Arabia in March, April and May.
The exports in August and March were classified as combat material, which could include missiles, rockets, torpedoes, bombs, etc.”

As noted in today’s online edition of the southern newspaper Sydsvenskan, authors Erik Magnusson and Hassan Ammar seem to be more interested in why Israel has not opposed the massive deal that Saudi Arabia most probably will close with the US. The article reads: “The US makes sure to involve Israel in their goal towards stabilization. The government in Washington lets the Israelis buy warfare materiel which is more modern then of what is sold to Arab neighboring countries… this is one of many reasons as to why Israel doesn’t oppose the US record order from the Saudi armed forces.”.

If the US congress approves of the arms deal with the Saudis, the deal will be the most beneficial one ever closed in the US. It is expected that by arming Saudi Arabia the US will make a profit of 60 billion dollars and at the same time create some 75,000 new jobs.

It is known that Sweden helped to arm Germany with steel during World War II. Now we have proof that it also aims to help arm Saudi Arabia—one of the world’s worst dictatorships. The Saudis’ record on women’s rights, lack of religious freedom, and the fact that outside the country’s oil-soaked elite there is a population that is both poor and illiterate, all point to a dismal and oppressive regime.

While Sweden claims to be a small and neutral country far from conflict, it seems that with its huge new arms deal with Saudi Arabia, to have desires of playing with the big boys in the international arms sales arena.