The Call to Arms

Once again we are heading into yet another conflict with no clear reason or purpose. Our Parliament has been recalled to debate the finer points. Or to waste their time and breath if the latest reports stating that an attack is a done deal stitched up between Obama and Cameron in the wee small hours.

Not too many years ago the Americans put pressure on the then government of Harold Wilson to join them in their Vietnam catastrophe. Thankfully Harold and his Cabinet resisted. He was helped in this by the fact that several members of his cabinet had seen active service in World War Two. Dennis Healey for one had won the Military medal in Normandy. Many MPs in the Commons were also war veterans. They knew from deep personal experience about the costs of war. 

They did not know about  ‘collateral damage,’ the euphemism coined by the Americans in Vietnam, which insulted dead civilians inconvenient enough to get in the way and irrelevant enough not to count when all the numbers were added up.

The fiasco of the build up to the Iraq War, followed by the dreadful events in that benighted country, appears to have left the Reverend Blair untouched. Yet again the man of god is banging the war drums as the envoy for peace in the Middle East. 

Has this ‘envoy’ not read the New Testament yet? 

David ‘Heir to Blair’ Cameron appears to be reveling in the drama of it all. Has he learnt nothing? A commentator calling himself Foster6the6imposter6 had this to say:

“I would solve the problem by having anyone who calls for war spend time shovelling up body parts left after their side has blown people to bits. There should not be a problem...they say they are in favour of such carnage...but probably only for as long as they do not have first hand experience.

Seldom do old soldiers speak in favour of war.”

Finally, we are entering the world of the weird.

“The bizarre thing is that if the UK supports & participates in an attack on Syria to change the balance against Assad, the UK will be on the side of the groups in the region who are allied with violent jihadists, or who are violent jihadists. And yet it is the threat from potential allies in Syria that justifies the attacks on our liberty.”  Kristinekochanski

Whatever happens, you can be assured that increased surveillance at home will be called for to protect us from the terrorist threat.

Madness. Absolute bloody madness.