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It makes for a depressing evening to hear that yet again, in fact, for the fourth time this week, a shooting has taken place at a US educational establishment. In this instance, five seven have died and a number injured when a youth armed with a shotgun and pistol entered a lecture hall of the Northern Illinois University outside Chicago and opened fire on the occupants.

How much longer will Americans allow this to go on?

About three years ago Sparrow Chat began a series of posts entitled, “Guns Save Lives – No ?” It began at ‘No 1’, but rapidly increased until the number became too ludicrous, and the incidents too numerous, to continue cataloging.

The title for these posts was chosen because it was the motto of, perhaps, the most irresponsible, cold-blooded, institution in the United States today – the National Rifle Association – whose members oppose any form of gun control, backed by a powerful political lobby in Washington.

The continuing deaths and injuries of America’s young people are directly attributable to this body, and its warped and dangerous mindset.

Following on from such tragic news, was a BBC America interview with George W Bush. It was my intention to comment on the event at some length, but listening to the somnambulant mind of America’s president regurgitating the ‘same old, same old’ on Iraq, Africa, China’s human rights, and a historical legacy that will certainly label Bush, at least in his own mind, as the savior of mankind, all became too much for comment.

His reference to ‘the Dalai Llama’s crowd’, while discussing opposition to human rights violations by China, was only equaled by the comment that Abu Ghraib, Guantanamo Bay, and renditions should send a signal to the world that “America is going to respect law, but is going to take actions necessary to defend itself.”

That George Bush is totally out of his depth became crystal clear when he stated he was:

“….the first president to propose a two-state solution on Israel and Palestine…”

Note: the Clinton Peace Plan of 2000 stated:

“The solution will have to be consistent with the two-state approach – the state of Palestine as the homeland of the Palestinian people and the state of Israel as the homeland of the Jewish people.” [my bold]^[1]

Obviously, the efforts of his predecessors have slipped George Bush’s mind.

Listening to George W Bush waffle over Matt Frei’s questions, brought two separate images to the fore. First, I was reminded of Zimbabwe’s Robert Mugabe, a man who believes he can talk down criticism of his policies, even though they are totally at odds with the majority of his countrymen. Second, Bush reminded me of a sloppy painter and decorator whitewashing a wall, but oblivious to the large areas that his less than expert handiwork left uncovered.

To critique George Bush is akin to dissecting the political opinions of a not-too-bright eighth-grader with little hope of achieving the standards necessary for further education.

While I may not enjoy the highest intellectual ability for political affairs, assessing the utterances of a dim-wit schoolboy is certainly beneath me.

If that is considered exaggeration, judge for yourself:^[2]

^{[1] The Clinton Peace Plan, 23 December 2000.}

^{[2] BBC – Bush Interview}

Filed under: Going downhill

In a recent interview with the BBC’s Matt Frei,^[1] George W Bush was asked ‘….. whether America still occupies the moral high ground after Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo Bay.’

Bush’s response, according to the BBC, was ‘a crisply and blunt answer’:

“Absolutely,” he replied. “We believe in human rights and human dignity. We believe in the human condition. We believe in freedom.”

Obviously, he has no notion that he is the one western political leader in two centuries who has come closer than any other to giving ‘democracy’ a bad name.

^{[1] BBC – “Bush defends US record on Darfur”}

^{See the full interview tonight (Thursday) on BBC America – 1900 ET}

Filed under: Clueless

February 14th may well be celebrated as the most romantic day of the year; a day when starry-eyed lovers send each other cards and gifts, and swear undying love, but February 14th, 1945, was the day a host of unwelcome gifts fell from out the sky.

At least, that’s what the people of Dresden in East Germany remember.

It was the date when hundreds of Lancasters and Halifaxes of RAF Bomber Command began a series of raids on the city. Each aircraft dropped a selection of explosives, ranging from 500lb HE bombs to 4,000lb (two ton) “Blockbusters” that could destroy a whole city block. Each aircraft also carried around 100 30lb incendiary devices. These night attacks were followed up with daytime raids by the USAF – hundreds of Flying Fortresses dropping 771 tons of mixed HE and incendiary devices.

The result was a firestorm that massacred both the city and its people. Historians still argue over the numbers of dead. The figure stands somewhere between 25,000 and 100,000. At that time, the city’s population was swollen by thousands of refugees fleeing the Russian advance from the east. The German army was falling back, and in just over two months Adolf Hitler would commit suicide.

An account from one survivor, Lothar Metzer:^[1]

“It is not possible to describe! Explosion after explosion. It was beyond belief, worse than the blackest nightmare. So many people were horribly burnt and injured. lt became more and more difficult to breathe. lt was dark and all of us tried to leave this cellar with inconceivable panic. Dead and dying people were trampled upon, luggage was left or snatched up out of our hands by rescuers. The basket with our twins covered with wet cloths was snatched up out of my mother’s hands and we were pushed upstairs by the people behind us. We saw the burning street, the falling ruins and the terrible firestorm. My mother covered us with wet blankets and coats she found in a water tub.

We saw terrible things: cremated adults shrunk to the size of small children, pieces of arms and legs, dead people, whole families burnt to death, burning people ran to and fro, burnt coaches filled with civilian refugees, dead rescuers and soldiers, many were calling and looking for their children and families, and fire everywhere, everywhere fire, and all the time the hot wind of the firestorm threw people back into the burning houses they were trying to escape from.

I cannot forget these terrible details. I can never forget them.

Horrific, and just one of many such accounts.

Arguments for and against the destruction of Dresden have rolled on now for more than six decades. Those in favor argue it shortened the war and “saved lives”. Similar excuses were bandied after the nuclear destructions of Hiroshima and Nagasaki by the Americans six months later.

Frankly, the use of such barbarism against innocents, most of whom played no active role in the war and just wanted it to stop, can never, ever, be excused by attempting to manipulate statistics. Yet it happens in every war, and those responsible are never brought to justice, because they are the victors.

The winners are never guilty of war crimes, only the defeated. Axis officials were tried and executed for what was done to Allied soldiers and civilians, but similar crimes perpetrated on Axis nations are still, in many instances, not even recognized as such.

Winston Churchill tried vainly to distance himself from the attacks on Dresden, blaming RAF Chief, Arthur Harris, for the decision. Both were equally to blame. The crime was not only in the massacre of civilians, but in the orders that sent hundreds of young men as assassins to commit the terrible deed. For them there was no choice; orders had to be obeyed. Many suffered the psychological effects of their actions for the remainder of the lives.

War has that effect. Invariably, since the third decade of the twentieth century, the term ‘cannon-fodder’ has meant civilians rather than soldiers.^[2]

It’s time we stopped the politicians from playing their lethal games with our lives and liberty. It’s time we stopped listening to their lying indoctrinations, and justifications, for actions that will leave thousands dead, maimed, and suffering.

Thousands of us; never of them.

The people of Dresden have learned.

February 14th is a commemoration of their St Valentine’s Day Massacre. Remember that as you read the expressions of love on the card you receive from your wife, or husband, boy or girlfriend, and ask yourself which is the most precious to you – that love, or the word of a politician happy to destroy it for you.

The people of Dresden know the answer.

^{[1] – The Fire-bombing of Dresden, an eye-witness account.}

^{[2] – A Panel of Timewitnesses.}

Filed under: Crime of war