This is a true honour. Wilfred Owen was a great poet. He articulated the
tragedy, the horror and indeed the pity – of war – in a way no other poet
has. Yet we have learnt nothing. Nearly 100 years after his death the world has
become more savage, more brutal, more pitiless.
But the "free world" we are told (as embodied in the United States and Great
Britain) is different to the rest of the world since our actions are dictated
and sanctioned by a moral authority and a moral passion condoned by someone
called God. Some people may find this difficult to comprehend but Osama Bin
Laden finds it easy.
What would Wilfred Owen make of the invasion of Iraq? A bandit act, an act of
blatant state terrorism, demonstrating absolute contempt for the concept of
International Law. An arbitrary military action inspired by a series of lies
upon lies and gross manipulation of the media and therefore of the public. An
act intended to consolidate American military and economic control of the Middle
East masquerading – as a last resort (all other justifications having failed
to justify themselves) – as liberation. A formidable assertion of military
force responsible for the death and mutilation of thousands upon thousands of
innocent people.
An independent and totally objective account of the Iraqi civilian dead in the
medical magazine The Lancet estimates that the figure approaches 100,000. But
neither the US or the UK bother to count the Iraqi dead. As General Tommy Franks
(US Central Command) memorably said: "We don't do body counts".
We have brought torture, cluster bombs, depleted uranium, innumerable acts of
random murder, misery and degradation to the Iraqi people and call it
"bringing freedom and democracy to the Middle East". But, as we all know, we
have not been welcomed with the predicted flowers. What we have unleashed is a
ferocious and unremitting resistance, mayhem and chaos.
You may say at this point: what about the Iraqi elections? Well President Bush
himself answered this question only the other day when he said "We cannot
accept that there can be free democratic elections in a country under foreign
military occupation".
I had to read that statement twice before I realised that he was talking about
Lebanon and Syria.
What do Bush and Blair actually see when they look at themselves in the mirror?