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« Like Shooting Fish In A Rathole | Main | We're all going to die. No, really! » November 17, 2004Margaret Hassan: martyr for the Labour causeGuardian - Kidnapped aid worker blindfolded and shot: The video, which emerged a week ago but was kept secret, has been studied by experts, and both British diplomats and relatives of Mrs Hassan said they now believed it showed the 59-year-old and that she had been killed. Given that I spoke out against the brutal and unlawful killing of a wounded and unarmed insurgent yesterday, you might very well ask me (as many RWCs do) where my anger is for the tragedy of the slain hostages in Iraq. Particularly for someone as innocent and as selfless as Margaret Hassan. Here's my anger, Jack.... It should be obvious now to anyone who's been paying attention that there are people on one side of the war on terror who will commit any outrage to further their cause. And they're enabled by those on the other side, who actually dare to try and frame and shape tragic events rather than fighting the threat itself. I'll get back to this in mo. Hang in there. Yesterday, The Sun spared 188 words for the man who had lay wounded for a day and was shot dead by a marine for not being perky enough to sit up. Today, Margaret Hassan gets over double that; 420 words. And that's just the core article. She also gets two-thirds of the front page, an opinion piece (well, actually, that's more about the "scum" who killed her) and top billing in the editorial, which urges us to learn from this important lesson (a lesson that's presented short of a vital chapter or two).
Today Katie (19, from Liverpool) can't wait for this year's I'm A Celebrity to kick off. She says: "The last three shows have just got better and better and I know the new series will be must-see TV. Watching all those stars battle creepy crawlies in the jungle is hilarious. Roll on Saturday!" So, in summary; great tragedy, dead martyr, killed by scum, strengthen your resolve... but try not to think too hard about it. Because if you did think to hard about it, you might begin to wonder why the only (only) reference to Margaret Hassan's stance on the war is this statement in the editorial: "Margaret had absolutely no connection with the coalition forces."
The overall suggestion being that Jack Straw and Tony Blair have also spent much of their time working for the good of the people of Iraq... just like dear old Margaret. So together we must.... well, you know the rest. But Margaret Hassan did have a connection to the coalition forces. She was vehemently opposed to their presence in Iraq and the policy that preceded it. (Sorry there's only a Google cache of this. More articles of this kind should pop up soon...)
Now, after her death, all of the good she stood for and all of the good she did is hijacked and corrupted by those who wish to convince us that the current Iraq policy is right and good. There it is. There's my anger.
And it was us that brought terrorism to Iraq. But, again, the line is blurred. It's all part of the War on Terror. We didn't enhance the threat, we focused it. Oh sure, a few innocent Iraqis got caught up in it, but don't worry. As we continue to play this game, their anger will grow and more of them will oppose us and/or the blurred edges will get wider and wider. So before too long they'll be the enemy anyway. And the 'lesson' will be that we must strengthen our resolve not to save them, but to kill as many of them as possible. And it will serve them right for being so ungrateful. - UPDATE - Peter Gasston - Another pointless death: No-one gains anything from the murder of Margaret Hassan; not the (terrorist? insurgent? criminal?) group who took her, not the Anglo-American alliance that created the conditions for her death, not the people of Iraq who have lost a tireless champion and certainly not the family who have lost someone they dearly loved. Posted by Manic on November 17, 2004 9:58 AM in the category It's War! It's Legal! It's Lovely! Comments Post a commentThanks for signing in, . Now you can comment. (sign out) (If you're new to Bloggerheads, you may need to be approved by the moderator before your comment will appear. Until then, it won't appear on the entry. Thanks for waiting.) | |