The End of Civilisation

How angry am I right now?? How furious was I when I read the front page of The Guardian today? So angry, I sat down and wrote this entry out on my lunchbreak on an A4 pad (the old fashioned way) and set about venting my anger. Now I am no fan of our government, I'm sure you have worked this out by now, particularly Tony Blair. However, I have a special place in my heart for 'Dr' John 'attack dog' Reid - an obvious tool (or should that read 'fool') of the American government as anyone. This is not the first time I have taken the 'attack dog's' name in vain, and I'm sure it won't be the last.

'Dr' John 'attack dog' Reid has 'demanded sweeping changes' to International Law. Apparently, these irritating laws 'hinder' (oh yes, 'hinder') UK troops. Not only that, but current conventions make Guantanamo Bay an 'anomaly' (or 'illegal', as us lovers of English would have it). Am I surprised by this? No. We should not be surprised by this as the UK government has been complicit in many activities that would have led to our 'enemies' being prosecuted in a War Crimes Tribunal. Detention without trial, extraordinary rendition, torture....the list goes on and on. This is a clear attempt to subvert these laws so as to legitimise their actions. As it stands at the moment, we are breaking every known agreement of the past 60 years. They know this, but they hope that we don't and they know that most people don't care - mainly due to the fear factor that is carefully managed by the men in suits.

The reason for our complicity is obvious. The US is the only world power and we want a slice of the action....after all, it was us once you know. Slowly, but surely established conventions, essential to develoop civilised societies, are being dismantled. Our governments wish to wage a war that has no precedence - at least, not in such a blatant form. They want to dismantle the very things that mark us out as civilised. We are indeed seeing 'barbaric terrorism' (as 'Dr' Reid calls it) not by some phantom, organised bogeyman, but by the state. We are witnessing the beginnings of very dangerous times, not seen since the 1930s.