terrorism – Writer-insighter

I used to research things. That was my job. I stopped doing it when the internet told everyone they knew everything anyway, because we live in an entitled world of stupid. And I couldn’t be bothered with telling people what they were already paid to know. I didn’t have the patience any more to sit there while people just wanted their prejudices confirmed and blamed the research and therefore me if their prejudices were shown to be just that and nothing more. Especially then.

Stupid people wear me out. Especially when they pay people not to call them stupid.

The decision to bomb Syria must count as one of the most stupid things I’ve seen in a long time, just on statistics alone.

The ISIS attack on the cafe in France killed over 150 people. It was utterly horrible. Nobody there deserved to die. So how much more horrible must it be when over ten times that many people are killed?

Imagine 1,700 people killed and 180,000 injured, not just once, but over and over again? Every year. In the UK.

Please don’t say that’s really horrible, because you don’t think it is. In fact, you think that’s an acceptable fact of life in exchange for the convenience of driving to the supermarket.

Meanwhile, the average number of people killed in the UK per year is……5. That’s the average from 2001 to 2011, including 7/7, which bumped up the average massively.

Five people dead is too many. Nobody could argue with that.

And at the same time 1,700 is just one of those things.

I don’t understand how that works.

This morning two things were reported which ought to scare you senseless.

The Defence Minister whose idea of defence includes blowing people up in foreign countries any time he feels like it said he’s fine with that. The RAF launched a drone, a big explodey model airplane and controlled it from Lincolnshire.

It killed two British people in Syria. According to the Prime Minister they’d been going to threaten our way of life. Again. Before he collected himself the Prime Minister said they’d been going to kill the Queen. So far as I remember in the tabloids they were going to do that the other weekend as well. Then he used the magic word:

“Such actions are required to prevent a terrorist attack.”

He didn’t once use the phrase extra-judicial murder, which was odd. The plaintiff “We have to work extremely hard” just sounded a bit pathetic tagged on the end.

It’s terrorism though, you see? The Attorney General said it was ok and if he wants to keep his very nicely paid job and pension then as every previous one, he’d better. So it’s ok to fly an airplane somewhere and blow people up. You don’t need a trial or any of that old nonsense. You can just go and kill them. It’s fine. Because terrorism.

The final solution

As Michael Fallon said, there was ‘no other way’ to deal with people accused of terrorism. After all, we’ve tried all that arresting people and putting them on trial and witnesses and burden of proof and all that he said but she said and ah-yes-but-m’lud and frankly, where does it get you? Maybe Rebeka Brooks can tell David Cameron some time.

Seconds later on BBC Radio 4’s one o’clock news today we were told a 28 year-old policeman had been arrested along with several others for conspiracy to pervert the cause of justice. That’s serious. You can go to jail for life.

THAW — Just because his lapels are like that doesn’t make it not scary.

For reasons which were never made clear, as Hunter Thompson used to say, the Birmingham policeman had made-up a story. Which sadly isn’t totally unknown among police officers as any cursory viewing of the Sweeney will tell the impartial observer. But this story was different.

This story was that terrorists had been going to kidnap a police officer. Except there weren’t any terrorists. It was all made-up.

Do you see a problem yet? Maybe you should. Because now you don’t need proof to go and kill people any more. Just someone’s say so. For example, a lying policeman’s word on it.

If you’re ok with this kind of drone strike it’s probably best if you don’t even look at people the wrong way in future. The party of conservatism is taking us a long, long way from Dixon of Dock Green. Mind how you go.

Tag: terrorism

Risking it

Because I said so

The final solution