Libya, the dream land of arms dealers...
Having received the work of my colleague from Le Point (and columnist at the Télégramme de Brest), Jean Guisnel,"Weapons of Mass Corruption", I had promised myself to read it and review it this weekend. I actually read it, I was even taken by the book and... by the news, which came to both delay and influence this chronicle. A must-read book! Plan a little time. It reads like a detective novel. But it's full of clues and characters... However, I can't resist the pleasure of putting you in appetite with this chapter on Libya ("Scenes of hunting in Libya").
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Jean Guisnel was there, in fact, in October 2006 to make the trip to Tripoli with the Minister of Defense at the time, Michèle Alliot-Marie (MAM). It is indeed a question of celebrating the great reunion between the two States and of moving on to the concrete: the conclusion of arms deals.
A trip to Tripoli with MAM
A case that does not date from yesterday ... "Despite the embargo which still affects Libya, Paris secretly authorizes (in 2001) several arms groups to resume commercial contacts, including Eurocopter, Dassault and Thales." Faithful to their "Gallic" temperament, which earned them some setbacks, the French industrialists, however, pull the plug: "Dassault wishing to offer its Rafale when Thales would prefer an electronic upgrade of the Mirage F-1s sold in the 1970s in order to remake them into real combat aircraft" (*). And Sagem arrives at this by proposing a third solution. The State is obliged to intervene. In 2006, when the Minister of Defense arrived in Tripoli (after a first trip in February 2005), she seemed The "guide" welcomes him by asking for news... of his companion, Patrick Ollier, president of the Franco-Libyan friendship group (in the French national assembly)."A true African"as the Libyan leader confided to other visitors earlier.
The competition is tough
The French are not then the only ones to act before the official lifting of the arms embargo. THE Americans "begin a more radical normalization process, prepared by the secret services British". (...) THE Russians (traditional suppliers to the Libyan army) are in the running with an offer of Sukhoi 35 Flanker Plus and Mig 29 Fulcrum. And the methods leave no room for doubt: "If there is a country where the times of old-fashioned corruption are not over and where intermediaries act in full view of everyone, or almost it is Libya". (...) THE Italian are also there who apparently do not mind pouring the "'15% to 20% commission'. The government agree(ant) to integrate these 15% of bribes in the general expenses of the company. And the Ministry of the Economy (de) taxes (r) these bribes at 10%" !
It is not only Libya to use the weapon of corruption!
This book does not include only this passage. Jean Guisnel reviews the various markets (Pakistan, India, Angola, Iraq...) where traders of all stripes have rubbed shoulders. It dissects some of the methods of active and passive corruption, such as commissions and kickbacks. And this famous profession of intermediary, apparently indispensable. Even if it knows a lot of unexplained accidents, unfortunate falls out of the window... when it doesn't turn explosive (several DCN engineers have paid the price in Pakistan). He also details all the lost opportunities to sell the Rafale. Blame it on others who do not respect the rules of the game, say the French. A bit easy...
The Germans and British very "active" in this market
In terms of arms markets (as in major public markets, energy or transport), the moral rule also seems elastic, as demonstrated by the 300 pages of the book. According to the author, the British with Tony Blair were, in a way, the champions of the "double game". Bae systems having been caught red-handed several times has thus seen several investigations stopped in extremis by the political power. "It is through corruption that the British defense industry has won some of its finest contracts", indicates the author. As for the Germans, useless to fantasize, they are not paragons of virtues, either. "Corruption is so embedded in the business culture that this behavior often appears as a structural fact“he writes highlighting the system put in place by Siemens.
• "Weapons of Massive Corruption. Secrets and tricks of gun dealers"by Jean Guisnel, Editions la Découverte, 392 pages, 22 euros.
(*) These same Mirage which have had the honor of the news with the arrival of two planes this Monday, in Malta. Read : 2 Mirage of the Libyan army have taken off… (maj3)
