Then again, this is really a continuation of my last post, sadly enough.
As I write, the UK Parliament is just about an hour and a half away from voting on whether to start bombing in Syria or not.
The situation there, to be frank, is one massive clusterfuck: It's as if a world war is being waged in a very small piece of land. Actually, scratch the 'as if' - that's exactly what's going on.
Pay attention to history: we've been here many, many times before, but what this most precisely reminds me of is the Spanish Civil War, in particular the clear deployment of new weaponry and techniques in an experimental theatre of war.
Guernica, anyone?
The big difference is that Guernica happened once: In Syria, it's being enacted every day. Just as technology has accelerated the pace of life, so the dark arts of war have accelerated the pace of death, and the numerous ways in which to die.
And it seems that nations large and small are dying to die. Forget the fact that DAESH are a death cult - I can't see a reason why we can't level the same phrase at those who have jumped into this war zone. What else is it, to unleash hell hither and yon?
Bearing this in mind, I cannot see how a bombing campaign from this country can possibly help, except in the very narrowest of senses, by allowing certain politicians to appear on the top table of politics. We should also factor in the financial aspects, by the way: There's always a lot of money to be made from the suffering of others: for example, the alleged fact that Israel has already given oil prospecting rights on Syrian soil to a company owned by Rupert Murdoch.
Are we so in love with money that we are thus in thrall to death?
I cannot see the ethical or moral case for bombing. I cannot see the political case for bombing. I cannot see the economic case for bombing.
I can see the opportunistic case, however. I can see the mendacious case. I can see the cynical case.
More than that, I see the case made by those too lazy to think or feel.
Should DAESH be stopped? Utterly, totally undoubtedly. But bombs are dumb - we need smart responses, not hard ones.
It is up to all people of good will to do what they can to prevent malice and fear and hate. Maybe I can't do much in a physical sense, but I will use what is available to me: My mind and my ability with words - let these be my sole weapons in a world swimming with blood.
