The Good Samaritan/Hamas/Hezbollah/Islamic State. Or, the extremely Good Baddie!

The Good Samaritan/Hamas/Hezbollah/Islamic State.  Or, the extremely Good Baddie!

When it comes to the Good Samaritan, Jonathan, Jesus in my opinion, is saying love your enemies, if you must have an enemy; think of others, even other nations, as better than yourself and even better than your own nation.  In this story, Jesus was being constructively critical of his own authorities and also showing how to be positive, constructive and helpful.  A lesson, individually and as a nation, we are not exactly excelling at!  Hence, last century was the most destructive and violent in the history of humanity. Courtesy of?

Jesus had the knack of singling out for praise the most unexpected people. No wonder he was called the friend of tax collectors and sinners and rather badly upset the powers that be of His day!

Which side does the most aggression and violence?

We are expected and encouraged to loath Islamic State and to support the killing of every member in Syria, Iraq, Libya,Tunisia and elsewhere but, we imprison anyone who, in the UK, openly and eloquently supports IS and refuses to condemn their violence - like Anjem Choudary.

Is this a correct analysis or a correct reading of the situation?

Are we white Westerners in any way responsible for instability, turmoil and warfare in the Middle East?

From our track record of warfare, around the globe, in every single year since, at least 1914, we are probably killing more humans in Syria and Iraq than Islamic State is.  Did we stir things up in the region in the first place, over ten decades of cheeky, oil motivated, military intervention in the Middle East?  Especially, since the end of our war in Afghanistan on 31 December 2014, the end of our warfare in Iraq and our support for rebellion called the Arab Spring?

Unlike Western behaviour in their region, at least Islamic State with their conquests, give the inhabitants the choice of staying put and remaining Muslims if they convert to their fundamental interpretation of Islam or, converting to Islam if not Muslims or, paying taxes to Islamic State or, moving out.  The Western way was to bring God, guns and germs to the original inhabitants in the case of our North American conquests of the 17th and 18th centuries.

Killing the adherents of Islamic State in an attempt to exterminate the lot of them, seems to me to be a rather tall order.  Indeed, futile.  Far better to stop our violence and aggression and to welcome those fleeing Islamic State and Western/Russian air strikes.  At least, we can then be sure that all the refugees are fleeing Islamic State and not Western/Russian bombs.

Western policy is to remove the legitimate government in Syria and to extinguish Islamic State.  Russia policy is to support the Syrian government.  You could argue that we, once more, are over throwing a government down the barrel of a gun and the communist/capitalist Russia are upholding the lawful government.

Fortress Europe and Fighting Europe

My thoughts after reading 'Fight for the heart of Europe' in 'New Internationalist', Jan/Feb 2016

My very biased, unbalanced, self critical and jaundiced view of what the rich and powerful nations do to the weak, poor and defenceless nations that we can attack without fear of them attacking us.  I know they are also escaping Islamic State but, I think, their thousand of fighters is the whirlwind from NATO sowing the wind over 100 years of drawing straight line boundaries and overthrowing governments in the Meddle East to get the 'right' governments that toe the American/Western line.

​​

​Migrant rush to N Europe to escape American, European (and now Russian since Sept 2015) death from the air, only to face death from the sea that the European governments allow.  Very nasty behaviour.

or,

We have a second go at wiping them out by refusing to give them safe passage from our fire and flame from the air.  Very immoral.

or,

Fugitives from American and European rocket fire flee to our shores to be on the safe side of the attackers, instead of remaining on the dangerous ​side of the attacked.  Very sensible.

Never before has there been such a chaotic, disorganised, free for all to get away from wars that we have initiated or revolutions (Arab Spring and regime changes) that we support.  We end up killing people with our direct attacks in the Meddle East.  Those that escape our drones and precision air strikes then have to run the gauntlet of death by drowning or hypothermia in the Med.​

We do nothing or very little to stop the desperate from dying because too many are already arriving successfully to take our jobs, our green belt with their housing and our NHS beds.  The cheek of it!  But this is a most dishonourable and immoral stance, especially when we are largely responsible for the wars they are fleeing from.  And wars, in every single year since 1914, has been a natural and normal part of our foreign policy around the globe - to this day.

CONGRATULATIONS!

​

Dear James and team

Congratulations for winning the vote last night.  When will you win our wars in the Meddle East?

After four years of war, when will your side overthrow Assad to install our democratically elected, Western sympathetic leader?

Your side overthrew the Russian sympathetic President Yanukovych in Ukraine to replace him with our man, Petro Poronshenko.  War in eastern Ukraine ever since.  When will you win that war, James?

Your side has now lost four wars against 'weak', 'powerless' Afghanistan since the first 1839-42 war.

Your side overthrew Saddam but lost everything else; certainly, lost the peace in Iraq.

Your side overthrew Gaddafi (the friend of Tony Blair for a time) but gained anarchy in Libya.

You allowed terrorists to drive us brave Brits out of Palestine in 1947 to install our Judeo-Christian State in the Muslim Meddle East in 1948.  Many wars, over 67 years, ever since.  A failed state in successfully turning its neighbours into enemies. 

Your side overthrew democratically elected Mosadeq in Iran to install our man, the Shah.  Success for a time but little love and respect for the West for doing so, ever since.

Your side overthrew democratically and fairly elected Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt to put in our Western sympathetic military government in Cairo.

After this 100 year record of Western and Christian misbehaviour, no wonder a very small minority of Muslims are radicalised and are raging against us!

When will your side make it safe, once more for white faces to move freely in the Meddle East and Tunisia without fear of kidnap and death?

The 'Today' programme this morning said that, in the second year of bombing there have, so far, been 7,500 air strikes to wipe Islamic State off the face of the earth.  Yet, the mightiest military force the world has ever seen, is nowhere near winning.  What is so inept about our armed forces, please James?

Winning votes for war to take place far from our shores, is so easy in safe and secure UK.  Victory in wars to bring tolerance and peace throughout the Near East and Meddle East is never delivered by your side.  Not even in our own powerful and WMD armed Israel!

Best wishes for the start of some true success for your side in 2016.  You certainly need it.

Tim

Andrew Neil's condemn more; understand less

This was from the heart, of great passion that our side is always right, good and wonderful but what the enemy has done is the epitomy of evil and blame.  Yet, it failed to remind viewers that our Western, European ancestors have done it all first, over the centuries.  And the last century was the most destructive and violent in the history of humanity that was in no way the responsibility of Muslims!

Galloway called it "peerless thunder".  "You would never confuse me with a liberal."   "You have to be iron and steel hard."  "A murder gang; a death cult"  I would shoot them with my own hand.  I want to see them all dead in the street.  Sunni fighting Sunni, said George.  A shoot to kill policy is a bad idea.  I have absolute admiration for Liz Kendall, a person of principle and bravery."

With this war on Islamic State, both our side and IS have killed many more Muslim non-combatants than IS fighters have died at our hands.  Our side must have killed more non-combatants than IS fighters, and even greater numbers this week with the huge increase in French air strikes.

A righteous foreign policy of constant killing and military intervention on foreign soil, in every year, for 101 years!

JUST KILL THE LOT OF THEM FOREIGN POLICY AND BE DONE WITH IT, YOU WIMP CORBYN.  No need to bother with the judiciary or any law apart from our victor's Law of the Jungle.  Of course, WE are untouchable.  (I am caricaturing right wing politics)

Today it has been announced that the murderer of our Western hostages in Muslim majority countries has been drone killed to keep the streets of Britain safe.  Yet, Islamic State rose to power out of the invasion of white armed forces, with the occupation of, and warfare on, Muslim majority countries.

The white, Western powers have been involved in the Middle East to ensure their supplies of oil, originally for their warships and war planes, for 100 years.  The War of Terrorism from 7 October 2001 in Muslim majority countries to the present day has been particularly provocative for some Muslims.  Now, their beheadings of Westerners and a Japanese man in the desert and their intention to bring about another Caliphate in Iraq/Syria has been equally provocative and unacceptable to the 'Christian' Westerners of NATO.  Hence, the killings must continue until Islamic State is eradicated - like the eradication of Communism, Nazism, Fascism and, before that, of German imperialism of the late 19th and early 20th centuries.  After all, we can't have any rival upstart threatening our power and influence over the world.  And, of course, we only kill the individuals who pose a direct threat to us from 3,000 miles away - like Emwazi, shot to kill today, and threats from Saddam and his WMD in Iraq for all those years that Saddam was about to wipe us out before we finally did something.

Only the West knows Best and don't you forget it.

To be deadly serious, Corbyn is NOT a warrior, NOT a warmonger .  He does NOT believe in upping the violence to turn friends into enemies and, then, with more retaliation from our side, making even more ferocious enemies.

Questions for Radio Scotland Big Debate

Is the panel horrified or relieved that Jeremy Corbyn has said that he would never press the nuclear button if he was PM?

Are those responsible for the car emission test also at fault for not picking up that there must have been a much higher proportion of VW Group diesel cars passing the emission test when compared with other manufacturers?

If VW Group engineers felt it was necessary to put in defeat devices to meet emission standards, does that indicate that the emission test was far too rigorous for even the world's top car engineers to meet?  Even they could not possibly reach the target that was required!

Should not the expenditure and effort go towards minimising harmful emissions as quickly as possible?  VW already make some of the cleanest cars.

What is the point of Real Driving Emissions testing, that is so vital for Patrick McLoughlin, if vehicle manufacturers cannot meet the standard?  Does it not already happen?  In fact, more of it should be taking place on the road to clean up or remove the most polluting vehicles.

"I am pushing hard for a joined up re-testing programme across Europe."  Patrick McLoughlin, letter to Louise Ellman MP, 9 October 2015  But not pushing hard to reduce the cocktail of poisonous gases that all petrol and diesel vehicles spew out.

Should our 0.7% of GDP overseas aid budget be used to build a prison in Jamaica to facilitate British born Jamaican prisoners repatriated to Jamaica?

QUESTION for BBC Radio Scotland's The Big Debate on Friday 2 October, at Wigtown Book Festival (that I am attending in the ten days)

and, copied to my heavily war reliant MP, James Morris (Halesowen and Rowley Regis)

When we are told this week that it is going to be years before Islamic State is defeated (if ever), is it not immoral, illegal and pointless to drone kill Syrians and Iraqis that we think, we hope, are members of Islamic State?

It continues our 101 year foreign policy of every single year ('Guardian' 4 page spread of evidence on 12 Feb 2014) attacking other countries to protect our vital strategic interests in so many countries around the world, who have not declared war on us.

We have every right to execute evil terrorists, whenever we like. So there!

Very many thanks, Tom for all these thoughts of yours, particularly for the following that I do think is true:

"It seems to me that we as humans are a warring breed. The human race has warred with each other since we were created and throughout our evolution. I'm going back to biblical times and Well before. Wars generally speaking are largely about territory, retaining our way of life and reclaiming territory we believe to have been taken from us. Another factor is the need for world domination. Muscelling in on others people's territory and way of life. As a result, people have had to defend themselves against aggressors in order to defend their territory and ways of life which they have worked hard to build."

At its height, the British Empire had world domination of about one third of the known world.  We went to war on 4 August 1914 to make clear to upstart Germany who was the world's ruler - US.  And, now, we remain the world's ruler with the full support of the USA with whom we are in tandem!

Just because we have an innate​ instinct for revenge and violence does not mean we should give in to those instincts.  Should we not have more self-control and resist all our aggressive urges?

I do think that we all have to be far less gullible; far more sceptical about whether it really is necessary, let alone ethical and legal for us to attack other countries.  Don't trust the politicians when they tell us we must go to war.  We should think things out for ourselves.  No blind obedience, please!

It now seems that our declaration of war on the 4 August 1914 was premature, when Germany never had any intention of invading the UK nor, at any time during the four years.  The German leaders wanted to control more European territory, certainly.  (One hundred years on, Germany is now the respected and acknowledged leader of the European Union under Angela Merkel, a right wing politician who is liked by both Europe and Russia.)  We should have lived up to our nickname of 'perfidious Albion' and, yet again, broken our outdated 1839 treaty with Belgium and, secondly, refused to go to the aid of France when she was attacked.  Unthinkingly tying ourselves to an alliance with France and going to war 100 years ago when we had a small professional army (100,000 in the UK), and no conscription was sheer stupidity.  We were very lucky to get away with it - and nearly did not!  Unfortunately, one-sided disarmament and reparations and folly was seen with the Treaty of Versailles in 1919.  Even our former Tory leader, Ian Duncan Smith believes that it led to the rise of the Nazis and the 1939 war.

Hence, one 20th century, European, Christian war that led to world war because all these Christian nations had their own colonies all over the world.  And we, clean living Brits were the worst offenders, with the biggest empire ever seen in the history of humanity.  All this, in direct contravention with what our Founder said and did in His temptations before his public ministry!  Every British monarch, for centuries, had been commanded in their Coronation to submit themselves to the "living oracles of God" (the Bible).  Our forbears betrayed Christ and, His life and teaching.  Our Christian nation has engaged in warfare in every single year, ever since (1914).  Shameful!

Now, it seems, our Judeo/Christian based nations are wanting to exterminate every single member of Islamic State.  As if they could!  Israel is engaged in exterminating every member of Hamas by drones that we build, here in the West Midlands (Stafford)  As if Israel could ever bring about such complete slaughter.  We fully support Israel in killing cold blooded murderers without the delay and cost and inconvenience of judicial process.  Never any sanctions against our good friend, Israel.  Then, we bulldoze their homes as further punishment.  We then get all indignant when they try and kill us Brits and Israelis, whether it is in Muslim lands or in our own lands!

For every single year for at least the last one hundred years (Guardian 12.2.2014) we have persistently shown violence to expand our territories or to hold them.  Now, we are reaping what we have sown over our military interventions in the Middle East - more violence from those we have attacked.  In addition, with yet more nuclear weapons as we replace Trident at the cost of £100 billion of irreplaceable resources and gruesome greenhouse gases.  As if a fleet of submarines can stop the rise of Islamic State in Muslim majority Syria and Iraq!  One nuclear warhead from one sub, could wipe out most of humanity.  But that is what most of the electorate think is a very good idea indeed - if it comes to it!

Just because Christian believers, Muslims and the rest are so aggressive and violent, does that give the rest of us an excuse for being equally violent and aggressive, Tom?

Conscience is my god.  But for the children of Abraham (Jews, Christians, Muslims who all have the same God with three names), this is heretical.  At Zion Christian Centre last week, I heard Jeff Lucas, a Christian leader, speaker and author, downplay the importance of conscience as not being adequate when God's Laws and His Will are pre-eminent!

In short, international law and the UN Charter allows nations to defend themselves but not to be aggressors and to attack other nations, as we do.  Therefore, I am not a pacifist although, like Christ, I do believe in non-violent direct action and passive resistance.  Therefore, for me, the COs were the real heroes between 1914 and 1918.  All the others were badly hoodwinked by the politicians who preached patriotism, nationalism and militarism - and the people gladly swallowed the lies.  The politicians told us to: 'Be silent.  Consum​e.  Die.'  Exactly what happened to so many of them.

True national hero who has not had to engage in warfare to be a hero.

​

Dear Ian Kirk-Smith - and copied to my war voting MP, James Morris Esq

I drove over to a meeting with Ludlow Quakers last night to hear your outstanding and veteran, national hero, John Lynes speak about the history of the Middle East and its present turbulence.

For 

​one

 decade, John 

​was

 part of Christian Peacemaker Teams, observing and recording man's inhumanity to man.  He explained that such work does have a moderating effect in abating violence.  If these brave men and women are held, they and their spouses have signed that no ransom is to be paid and no rescue launched.

From last night's meeting I have concluded that talking to terrorists is invariably done, sooner or later and that Islamic State, that we call murderous barbarians, akin to Hamas trying to wipe iron clad Israel off the face of the earth with pinpricks on a map, are wanting a caliphate based on the First Caliphate of the 7/8th century.  John said that it was a golden age of Islam, with a level of civilisation well ahead of that of Europe. 

​

 Jews and Christians mostly lived peacefully in Muslim countries, but often had to pay an additional tax.  Before the 18th century, Jews were certainly better treated by Muslims than by Christians.

I was reminded that Islamic State is fighting for a caliphate free from Western interference, and modeled on earlier caliphates.  Perhaps, we can hardly be surprised at that after 100 years of off and on Western military intervention and of British duplicity in the Middle East!

Further, can UK aerial bombing of Islamic State be justified when our Parliament chose to commence air strikes only after two American held hostages were beheaded in retaliation for American bombing of Islamic State?  Free humanitarian gifts from the air for all the refugees would be more in line with the life and teaching of the non-violent Christ of the Gospels whom some Muslims feel that the 'Christian' West should be following.

Finally, when I mentioned to the organiser that I was a visitor, he kindly gave me a copy of the outreach issue of 'The Friend' and invited me to write when I said, "What I would really like is for Quakers to conscientiously abstain from voting for the three main political parties who so love to conduct their crimes of aggression and warfare in the Middle East."  I might also have added that there might be a non-violent Green Party candidate standing, however, that would fit the bill nicely for the ethical voter!

Yours sincerely

Life for the unborn and the dying but death for the rest!!

Joan asked me for evidence, the other evening.  All I can offer is an absence of specific evangelical engagement in stopping the killing of civilians in our UK wars of aggression on first Communists and, now Muslims.

Working in the UK's major arms industry and in the armed forces has never been off limits for 95% of true, born again Christians for the last 1700 years.  Yet, it was 95% unheard of for the followers of the Way in the first 300 years.  Indeed, some Bible believing Christians (in line with Deuteronomy 20 v 1-20 and, in Joshua and Judges) argue for the extermination of Hamas, Islamic State, and all jihadists, as the West achieved over the Nazis in 1945 and as the Nazis failed to do with the Jews and the other minority groups in Germany.  All out total war is the only answer!

Yet, there are specific evangelical organisations campaigning for the life of the unborn and for the prolonging of life for those who, like me, want the option to be assisted to die in their last days or hours.  No evangelical campaigning organisation for the poor civilians in the prime of life, who don't want their life ended, who get cut down by our immoral but so well-meaning and foolish foreign policy!  Hence, my jaundiced thinking now, compared with my young, know it all, idealistic, Westhill days of Eric Rolls rightly calling my RE teaching "dogmatic and doctrinaire".  I did not last long!

Death of Alan Henning

Dear James Morris

Your vote last week helped to seal the fate of Alan, who is now dead.

You have always been in full agreement with a foreign policy, since the War of Terrorism began on the 7 October 2001, that has killed, injured and displaced many hundreds of thousands of Muslims in Afghanistan and Iraq.  Perhaps, millions in 13 years of warfare and rising.  You and your fellow politicians, so well meaning but deluded, have slaughtered innocent men, women and children in lands far from our shores and, it has now led to the rise and advance of Islamic State, it seems.

Deluded because your foolish foreign policy led to 7/7 in London, the death of drummer Lee Rigby and others, when your unethical foreign policy was supposed to make the UK safe from such horrors.

Think again.  Develop a more empathic and sensitive conscience.  Work for more humane and tolerant foreign policies that will implement UN resolutions and that stop the sale of our weapons ending up in the arms of Islamic State.  Our weapons should be there in case we get invaded by a foreign power or, put at the disposal of the UN.  Not to attack other countries in a crime of aggression.  Or, to be sold to any old dodgy regime - democratic or dictatorial makes not a scrap of difference - that we prop up with our armaments of every size, shape and description.

Tim

re Stephanie's letter to Archbishop Welby

Excellent letter, Stephanie that I fully agree with.

I wrote this before I read Jeremy Bowen, 'The Making of the Modern Middle East', published

For me, vapourising mainly Muslims, largely civilians since the 7 October 2001, in horrific fire and flame from our safe, secure, aircraft cockpits or missile launchers or from our computers operating drones, is far more reprehensible than one-to-one beheadings of a handful of 'Christian', Western journalists and aid workers.  And, their deaths it seems, came from the reactivation of our attacks on the Muslim military in Iraq.  This time, known as Islamic State.

Since we have our democratic, capitalist 'Judeo-Christian' states, even in the very heart of the Arab Middle East (Western-aligned Israel is our regional superpower), is it really so surprising that some fundamentalist Muslims want their own Islamic state on what they strongly believe to be holy, Muslim soil for only Muslims to tread?  We even have much difficulty in letting them have two or three Muslim schools in Birmingham!

There seems to be almost total incomprehension of the Muslim point of view, as well as abject ignorance of the non-violent Christ of the Gospels, whom many of us in the wicked West claim to follow!