The Guantanamo Bay Concentration Camp
At last the remaining British guys in the Guantanamo Bay concentration camp (and we should all begin referring to it as a concentration camp) are to be released. The five guys released last year were initially detained by the Met police, but then sent home without charge and I believe are not even under supervision or bail orders. The US will also be releasing without charge an Australian chap who has been there for 3 years.
Jack 'man of' Straw announced proudly and with no trace of irony how his negotiations had secured the release. He failed to comment on the House of Lords' decision last month that the he is illegally detaining 12 men in UK jails without charge and under the most woolly of anti terrorist legislation, but I guess in all the excitement it slipped his mind. Would it be cynical to suggest that, as Bliar helped Bush with his election campaign by sending Black Watch troops to their death last year this is payback, as the embryonic election campaign begins here? Let's face it both the major parties will struggle to get much of a Muslim vote. Maybe, just maybe, a few major media organisations outside The Guardian, The Independent and C4 news will now highlight these continuing blots on the humanity of all of us. It would mean having to ask serious questions about the Blair administration and their relationship with the Bush gimp though, so we can rule the BBC out.
On a vaguely similar line, guess which one of my favourite columnists made this tasteful comment in her round up of 2004?
Tactful eh, but just to make sure she really offends, the tsunami relief effort is also suitable for a quip
And nothing snaps a right wing bigot to attention sharper than the revelation that there are a vast number of people in the world who actually care for humanity as a whole, and who feel the collective pain of a continent which is for the moment lost in a sea of confusion and despair, but which will in time, with a collective effort of will and determination well beyond the imagination of an introspective, jingoistic maniac like Ms Coulter rebuild and get on with their lives.
Did anyone see the Sri Lankan chap on BBC News 24 last Saturday? An inspiration and true example of the strength of human spirit. He said and I paraphrase; "Last week I was worried about my job, my financial situation, my small house which barely contained my family. Today I am a happy man. I have no job, I have no house, but I am happy because I am alive, my wife is alive and our 3 children are alive." I wept; I'm man enough to admit it.
What problems do we, any of us really have?
Jack 'man of' Straw announced proudly and with no trace of irony how his negotiations had secured the release. He failed to comment on the House of Lords' decision last month that the he is illegally detaining 12 men in UK jails without charge and under the most woolly of anti terrorist legislation, but I guess in all the excitement it slipped his mind. Would it be cynical to suggest that, as Bliar helped Bush with his election campaign by sending Black Watch troops to their death last year this is payback, as the embryonic election campaign begins here? Let's face it both the major parties will struggle to get much of a Muslim vote. Maybe, just maybe, a few major media organisations outside The Guardian, The Independent and C4 news will now highlight these continuing blots on the humanity of all of us. It would mean having to ask serious questions about the Blair administration and their relationship with the Bush gimp though, so we can rule the BBC out.
On a vaguely similar line, guess which one of my favourite columnists made this tasteful comment in her round up of 2004?
"On the basis solely of media coverage, Abu Ghraib was the biggest story of 2004, maybe the biggest story ever. And for good reason: An American soldier was caught on film not only humiliating Iraqi prisoners -- but smoking!"
Tactful eh, but just to make sure she really offends, the tsunami relief effort is also suitable for a quip
"The Washington Post criticizes Bush for not rushing back to Washington in response to the tsunami amid unfavorable comparisons to German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder, who immediately cut short his vacation and returned to Berlin. Nothing snaps a German to attention like news of mass death."
And nothing snaps a right wing bigot to attention sharper than the revelation that there are a vast number of people in the world who actually care for humanity as a whole, and who feel the collective pain of a continent which is for the moment lost in a sea of confusion and despair, but which will in time, with a collective effort of will and determination well beyond the imagination of an introspective, jingoistic maniac like Ms Coulter rebuild and get on with their lives.
Did anyone see the Sri Lankan chap on BBC News 24 last Saturday? An inspiration and true example of the strength of human spirit. He said and I paraphrase; "Last week I was worried about my job, my financial situation, my small house which barely contained my family. Today I am a happy man. I have no job, I have no house, but I am happy because I am alive, my wife is alive and our 3 children are alive." I wept; I'm man enough to admit it.
What problems do we, any of us really have?
posted by phylos @ 11:42
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