aw. RE: The Nobel Prize for War 2009 goes to ...

[John Carvill]

> Kai Frederik Lorentzen:
>
> Same in this country.
>
> A-and it will be 'very harmful'.
>
> Thank you!
>
> Kai
>
> PS to US-folks: Believe it or not: Obama's Cairo speech DID reach lots
> of Muslim peole all over the world. But now, of course, old hatred is back
> i

These are very frightening times. Probably the recent appearance, on
[popular prime-time BBC TV panel discusssion programme] Question Time,
of Nick Griffin, leader of the BNP (British Nationalist Party,
successor to the National Front), did not make such a splash in the US
as it did here in the UK. One of the most worrying aspects of the
affair was the extent to which large sections of the populace
subscribed to the 'freedom of speech' point of view, claiming that
Griffin had every right to appear on Question Time, irrespective of
how odious his views may be. This was, in my view, a huge mistake on
the part of the programme makers (although we must allow the
possibility that it was no mistake at all, and that they were
deliberately fuelling sensationalism). An even more worrying aspect
was the popular view that, oh well, Griffin and the BNP are a bit mad,
and, well *I* don't agree with them, as such, but you can kind of see
where they are coming from..... This dovetails nicely with the even
more popular view that "mainstream politicians have abandoned the
working class, who therefore feel disenfranchised and fearful, leading
them to support extremists. We should engage with these people, and
listen to their views, even though  these views may be fairly
reactionary..." I cannot overstate how prevalent this view is here.

The BNP have, as they will readily admit, been gifted by our 'New
Labour' government, with the twin, related issues of immigration and
'the war on terror', the latter often translating as 'the war on
Islam', terror and Islam having been conflated in the minds of huge
swathes of the population, in a way that, say, Catholicism and the IRA
never were.

Islamophobia is rampant in this country, to an extent which is
sufficient to suggest a very grim future. The current UK government
have been happy to play the race card, and have been instrumental in
helping the BNP achieve an unprecedented amount of power.  The
imminent (and, at least for a generation or so, irreversible) return
to power of the Conservative party - the party which propped up
Apartheid and told us that Nelson Mandela was a terrorist - will alter
this dynamic, but it would be a brave man who would be willing to
predict exactly how this will pan out. Meanwhile, the 'wars' in Iraq
and Afghanistan are deeply unpopular, but only because British troops
keep coming home in body bags. Almost certainly, though, Britian's
presence in, and attitudes to, the Middle East, will not undergo
significant changes once the Blue Meanies return to power.