I know I am in a minority but today with its particular resonance towards the First World War is not just about remembrance but about the call that was made after of "Never Again".
It saddens me that in recent years this day has been turned into propaganda for the Military Machine and the constant view that the sacrifice of the past justifies the folly of the future.
In particular when it seems that it is compulsory to wear a Red Poppy on the BBC for weeks leading up today it appalling to talk about those who fought for freedom when denying those who refuse to join in the politicisation of today a voice.
On this Day we heard that former special envoy to Iraq Ann Clwyd says British soldiers could once again be sent there to confront the threat posed by Islamic State.
In tonight’s edition of S4C’s current affairs programme Y Byd ar Bedwar (The World on Four) the Cynon Valley Labour MP refuses to rule out sending combat troops back to the war-torn country.
The ITV Wales crew were the only journalists allowed access to a recent visit by Ann Clwyd and members of Westminster’s Foreign Affairs Committee to the Kurdish areas of northern Iraq. They travelled to a Kurdish military base where local Peshmerga soldiers are currently being trained by a dozen British troops to use 40 heavy machine guns donated by the UK Government.
While there, Ann Clwyd claimed the UK has a “responsibility” to ensure a stable government in Iraq after helping topple Saddam Hussein. She said: “IS have very powerful weapons and it’s important that those fighting against them also have modern equipment. They have enormous capability because of the money they have to buy weapons and the weapons they’ve already captured
Does Ann Clwyd accept any responsibility to the whole mess in the Middle East in a role as Tony Blair Bag carrier .
For a decade she has ben promising us that "The Green Roots of Democracy" are appearing in Iran and Afghanistan when there is only a wasteland.
Her Boss has gone on to make his fortune with the corrupt and despotic Saudi Royal Family. who treatment of Women is as almost as bad as the Taliban and who persecute those who do not share their shade of Islam.
A previously secret contract with a Saudi oil company headed by a member of the country’s royal family has been leaked showing Mr Blair charging £41,000 a month and 2 per cent commission on any of the multi-million-pound deals he helped broker.
The emergence of the Saudi deal led to new criticism of Mr Blair’s role as a Middle East envoy, but he strongly denied there is a conflict of interest.
Ms Clwyd does not seem to have benefited from her Middle East Folly at least.
Ann Clwyd faces re-selection to defend her seat at the general election, the Labour party has said.
The 77-year-old MP announced in February she was standing down after representing the area since 1984.
But in September Ms Clwyd said she had changed her mind after "many requests" from local voters that she reconsider., Though the Party decision to have all woman short list seems to have something to do with it
Welsh Labour said the candidate selection was already in process after she announced she was stepping down.
Anyone hoping that Labour will drop Tony Blair's bag carrier will ales be in vain, fears that she could stand as an Independent and win on the back of public sympathy and media backing will probably see her being reselected.
But she should not be reelected . I have no issue with her age but I certainly have issues with her record.
I for one will be chearing if in 2015 the people of the Cynon Valley ditch her.
2 comments:
Ann Clwyd had a long and honourable history of support for the Kurds, who certainly were attacked by Iraqi WMDs. I don't doubt that she actually believed that Iraq still had WMDs and that the great majority of Iraqi people would support the removal of Saddam. Can she be held responsible for the subsequent idiocy of US policies or for the lies of Bush and Blair?
In one thing she was proved right, the Kurds of Iraq were liberated from tyranny and now enjoy defacto independence. I'm sure Ann Clwyd is held in high regard in North Iraq at least.
lets hope this cheerleader for the illegal and genocidal invasion of iraq is dumped by her constituency party it is b-liar stooges like clwyd who helped make the disastrous invasion of iraq - and the subsequent slaughter of hundreds of thousands of innocent iraqis as a result - possible.
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